The Lindenwood women's basketball team opened the New Year with an 81-74 loss to Washburn in Topeka, Kan. on Saturday night.
 
The Lady Lions held a 16-12 lead after the first quarter, but the Ichabods climbed back to tie the game at 26-26 heading into halftime.  Washburn stayed strong through the second half and held on to a slim lead for its eighth victory of the season.  Jenny Rocha dropped 20 points to lead the team, Kassidy Gengenbacher scored 15, and Kylie Ferguson tallied 14 points.
 
Lindenwood jumped out to an 11-5 lead with the help of four points by Rocha and a three-pointer by Ferguson.  Rocha added another layup and Gengenbacher nailed a three ball to put Lindenwood up 16-12 at the end of the first quarter.  Charisse Williams opened up the second quarter with a jumper and Rocha followed with a two-pointer of her own to give the Lady Lions an eight-point lead.
 
Washburn went on a 10-4 run to pull within two points with 3:23 remaining in the first half.  With less than a minute remaining, the Ichabods made back-to-back free throws to tie the game at 26-26 to end the first half.  Rocha finished the first half with eight points while Gengenbacher tallied just four points.
 
The Ichabods put up the first points of the second half, but a Ferguson three-pointer regained the lead for the Lady Lions.  Lindenwood played from behind the entire third quarter and found itself in an eight-point hole to end the third quarter.  Washburn extended its lead to 10 to start the fourth quarter and continued to hold a solid lead for the majority of the fourth quarter.
 
The Lady Lions began to claw back and with just over two minutes remaining, Ferguson drained a three-pointer to put Lindenwood down by one.  For the next minute, Washburn slowly extended its lead to six points.  Ferguson again came through with a big three-pointer to make it a 72-69 Ichabod lead with just over 30-second remaining.
 
Lindenwood could not keep Washburn of the board and fell 81-74.  Washburn significantly outrebounded the Lady Lions 43-24 and had 16 second chance points. 
 
"Rebounds tell the story!" said Head Coach Tony Francis, "We cannot give a home team 16 second chance points, regardless of the level."  Francis continued, "I thought our kids fought hard, but now we regroup, learn, and get ready for another tough test on Monday."
The Lady Lions scored 21 points off of turnovers, but the Washburn bench produced 43 points as opposed to just 12 for Lindenwood.  Ferguson was a hot 4-for-5 from behind the arc, while Gengenbacher made just 2-of-11.
 
The loss sets Lindenwood back to 7-5 on the year and an even 3-3 in the MIAA.  The Lady Lions will travel to Emporia, Kan. to take on No. 3 Emporia State on Monday for a 5:30 p.m. start.