Lady Blues win opening round game with PSU

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Brooke Ubelaker scored seven of her game-high 27 points in a pivotal stretch to end the first half as the No. 2-seeded Washburn Lady Blues eliminated the Pittsburg State Gorillas, 71-58, in the first round of the Sonic/MIAA Women's Basketball Championships Thursday night (March 4).

The freshman forward for WU (25-3, 15-3 MIAA) spearheaded a 9-3 run after PSU (12-15, 7-11 MIAA) had taken a 23-21 lead with 6:01 left in the opening half. Her points came in succession for the Lady Blues to give them a 28-23 advantage with 2:14 left.

Lora Westling added a pair of free throws before the Gorillas broke the run at the end of the half on three foul shots by Kami Scrivner, as the Lady Blues held a 30-26 halftime lead.

Pittsburg State was within two points of tying the game four times in the first four minutes of the second half. Washburn then put together a 16-5 outburst over the next seven minutes to pull away, with 11 of those points coming from Ubelaker, for a 56-41 lead.

Ubelaker ended the night 9-of-12 from the field, including a 5-for-5 effort from three-point range. Juwanna Rivers contributed 15 points for Washburn.

The Gorillas were led by senior Katie Spieker's 16 points, while senior Stephanie Shanline added 14 and Scrivner 12.