Box score | Season stats

TOPEKA, Kan. -- After trailing by 17 points in the early stages of the second half, Rachel Graves and the SBU Bearcats rallied to close the gap but came up short, falling 77-68 to the #13 Washburn Lady Blues. Graves, held scoreless in the first half, flipped the switch in the second half with 20 points. Courtney Heady added 15 points. Graves and Heady each hit 3 of 9 from long distance.

"Washburn prepared for us well and guarded the three in the first half," said SBU head coach J.C. Carter. "In the second half, we started attacking the basket. Initially we just didn't assert ourselves. When we play with confidence, we can play with anybody. Our players don't give up and they play hard the whole game. After that rough stretch at the first, we were even the rest of the way."

Carter said that Graves had been battling the flu the last few days, but fought through it with her second half performance. Graves and Whitney Malone led with four rebounds each, as the Bearcats were outrebounded 38-20. The Lady Blues' Hope Gregory had a career high 15 boards. Freddie Sims had nine points and three assists for SBU.

Washburn (20-3, 14-3 MIAA) was led by Dayna Rodriguez with 32 points. Rodriguez also had seven rebounds.

Washburn jumped out to an early 9-0 edge, and later extended that to 24-7 with six minutes left in the first half. The Bearcats used a late run to trim the lead and trailed 29-18 after an low-scoring first half.

A layup from WU's Rodriguez gave the Lady Blues a 39-22 edge, before the Bearcats came back. During a 19-2 Bearcat run over a five minute stretch, Graves had 11 points including two treys. Heady and Sims also hit from outside during the comeback. The Bearcats stayed close before the Lady Blues extended their lead to 12 points during the last five minutes of the game.

SBU (6-17, 4-12 MIAA) returns home and will host Fort Hays State on Thursday, February 18, beginning at 5:30 p.m. Fans are encouraged to bring (old or new) shoes to donate to the earthquake relief efforts in Haiti.