MANKATO, Minn. – Reese Schaaf scored a career-high 35 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for her team and MIAA-high 19th double-double of the season, helping the No. 4-seeded University of Central Missouri Jennies Basketball Team to a 64-55 victory over the No. 5-seeded Washburn Ichabods in the First Round of the NCAA Division II Central Regional on Friday, March 13, inside the Taylor Center on the Minnesota State University campus.
With the win, the Jennies (26-6) advance to the Central Regional Semifinals for the first time since 2018-19 and will take on No. 8-seeded Minnesota Duluth (21-8) on Saturday night, March 14, at 7:30 p.m. in Mankato. Minnesota Duluth upset top-seeded and tournament host Minnesota State in the opening round Friday, winning 72-63.
Central Missouri led 16-13 with just under nine minutes remaining in the second quarter before going on an 11-0 run to gain a 27-13 advantage after
Makenzie Farmer made two free throws with 4:48 to go. Schaaf scored nine of UCM's 11 points during the run, with two layups, a jump shot, and a three-pointer.
UCM would go into halftime leading, 29-22.
The Ichabods were able to cut the Jennies' lead to five, 43-38, with 1:38 to go in the third quarter, but
Jayla Griffith drilled a three-pointer 13 seconds later, pushing the UCM lead back to eight, 46-38. That was as close as Washburn got the remainder of the game, sealing the victory for UCM.
Schaaf went 15-of-23 from the field, 1-of-3 from three-point range, and 4-of-6 at the free-throw line for her career-best 35 points. Farmer added eight points,
Neely Schaaf had six points,
Rylee Vierthaler tallied five points, Griffith had four points, and
Hayden Heim and
Taylor Weishaar each had three points, rounding out the Central Missouri scorers in the game.
For the game, UCM shot 50 percent from the field (24-of-48), 31 percent from three-point range (5-of-16), and were 55 percent at the free-throw line (11-of-20). The Jennies outrebounded Washburn (24-8), 37-30, and outscored the Ichabods in points-off-turnovers, 14-11.
Yiibari Nwidadah (14 points) and Payton Sterk (12 points) led Washburn, respectively.
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