TOPEKA, Kan. – The Central Missouri Jennies basketball season will continue to Kansas City after defeating Washburn 74-70 Monday night in Topeka in thrilling fashion.
The Jennies overcame a 12-point second-period deficit in a game that saw seven lead changes and three ties.
Five Jennies scored in double-figures led by
Shelby Winkelmann's 22. Central Missouri held the Ichabods scoreless in the final 3:17 to lock down the win.
In addition to Winkelmann,
Paige Redmond scored 15 and was 5-for-7 from the field.
Ashley Jones put in 11 and
Tayler Weiks and
Ashley Duffy each scored 10.
The Jennies did not get off to the start that they had hoped. Washburn raced out to the first four points of the game and hit their first five shots from the field. Less than four minutes into the game, they held an 11-6 lead to force a UCM timeout.
As hot as the teams were to start, they went ice cold the latter half of the quarter. Neither team scored the final 3:51 of the frame, and the Ichabods held a 21-14 lead after 10 minutes of play.
Washburn pushed their lead to a game-high 12 in the second period using a 9-0 run, helped out by the Jennies going 3:03 without scoring.
Central Missouri flashed some life at the end of the half, as Winkelmann splashed a triple and a Redmond steal sprung Winkelmann for an easy two with three seconds in the half. They still trailed at intermission though, 42-35.
That momentum carried into the start of the third period. UCM opened the frame on a 12-4 run and took their first lead, 47-46 on a layup from
Ashley Duffy at the 6:24 mark.
They held that lead for most of the period, but an 8-1 run gave the Ichabods the lead back. After Dohnalek hit a three with under a minute, Washburn took a 57-55 lead into the final period.
Washburn hit a three on their first possession of the fourth and seemed to have slow down the Jennies.
The Ichabods continued to lead and stretched it to six, 67-61 after a three from Haley Pfau with 6:07 left.
The Jennies though went on a 7-1 run to regain the lead, capped by a layup from Redmond with 3:39 left.
Washburn quickly took that lead back hitting a three on their next possession. But they went 0-4 the rest of the way as the Jennies clamped down defensively and Winkelmann gave the Jens the lead for good knocking down a pair of free throws.
Redmond made it a two possession game hitting a pair of clutch free throws in the final seconds, to give UCM their 74-70 final score.
The Jennies survived an Ichabod team that shot 50% from the floor won the rebounding edge 35-22. It is just the second time this season they Jennies have won a game where they were outrebounded.
UCM did a great job limiting turnovers as they committed just six for the game, a season-low.
UCM now moves on to the quarterfinal round of the MIAA tournament. They'll play second-seeded Pittsburg State Thursday, March 3 at 2:15 p.m. at Municipal Auditorium.
