Coming off a 55-50 victory over Oklahoma Central on the road, the Washburn women’s basketball faced Northeastern State Jan. 24 in Tahlequah, Okla.

The Northeastern State Riverhawks had lost four straight and suffered back to back 30 point losses coming into the contest. But the Ichabods had to play without their starting center, Honor Duvall, who was suspended.

Washburn got off to a hot start right out of the gate. Senior guard, Casyn Buchman scored the first five points for the Ichabods.

The strong start was a result of solid defense and a balanced effort offensively. Seven different players scored in the first half for Washburn.

With a 21-8 lead with just under eight minutes before halftime, Washburn had a comfortable lead and all the momentum.

But the momentum shifted over to the Riverhawks after they finished the last seven and a half minutes of the first half on a 15-4 run. What was once a solid lead by Washburn had shrunk to a mere 2-point advantage, setting the score at halftime 25-23.

The Ichabods hit a lot of their shots early on, but finished the first half shooting 33 percent from the field and went 1-5 from beyond the arc.

NSU scored just eight points in the first 12 minutes, but ended up shooting 39 percent from the field and 30 percent from 3-point range in the first half.

The Riverhawks gained their first lead of the game by a score of 32-31 with 14 minutes to go in the second half. For the next six minutes both teams were hitting 3-pointers back and forth. Then NSU climbed to an eight point lead after they went on an 8-0 run to make the score 48-40 with seven minutes remaining.

With a 54-46 lead with under two minutes to play, NSU looked like they were going to come out on top. But Casyn Buchman put the Ichabods within striking distance after she scored 8 points on three consecutive possessions to make the score 56-54 with eight seconds left.

Washburn was forced to foul and NSU made their free throws to close out the game. NSU won the contest 58-54.

Early in the first half, the Ichabods dominated and had a commanding lead of 21-8 ,but then there was a turning point late in the first half and NSU had the momentum the rest of the game.

Although it was a tough loss, Casyn Buchman had an impressive afternoon and led Washburn in scoring with 20 points. The Ichabods takes on Nebraska-Kearney 5:30 p.m. Thursday at home.