Box Score

Bolivar, Mo. - Southwest Baptist Women started conference play Thursday night at the Meyer Sports Center hosting the 20th ranked Ichabods from Washburn University. The Bearcats started off strong pushing to an 8-4 lead right out of the gates going into the first media timeout. The Bearcats went into the half all squared with the Ichabods 37-37. The second half came down to the wire with the Washburn edging out SBU 78-71.

It might have been a bone chilling 20 degrees outside, but the battle was heating up on the court in the first conference matchup of the season. The SBU women took the charge from a highly ranked Washburn team and held their ground. This was a physical first half, with SBU holding a marginal lead (19-15) with 9:59 remaining. SBU were led by Brook Duncan and Dilonna Johnson with 9 and 7 points each in the first half. The Bearcats continued to fight, as Washburn posted a late charge going into the half tied 37-37.

The second half picked right back up where it left off in this physical matchup. The Ichabods edged out the Bearcats by one point through the first five minutes with the score 48-47 Washburn. As the game pressed on it become evident this game would be a fight to the buzzer as SBU was still down by one halfway through the second half (54-55). The Ichabods increased the lead to five with 4:49 left in the game (60-65). Washburn closed it out with key free throw shooting late in the game to hold off the Bearcats 78-71.

Junior Dilonna Johnson led the Bearcat charge with a team high 19 points shooting 7-15 from the floor and 1-2 from the free throw line. Lissette Plasencia contributed to the Bearcats 71 points, scoring 14 points tonight, while sophomore Brook Duncan had a good game shooting scoring 12 points. The Bearcats shot 35.7% from the field, 37.5% from beyond the arc, and 66.7% from the free throw line.

The Bearcats are back in action on Saturday, December 7 as they host Nebraska-Kearny at the Meyer Sports Center. The SBU Women are set to tip off at 1:30 p.m. central standard time.