Pittsburg State Uses 4th Quarter Rally To Move Past Washburn, 71-63

Women's Basketball | 3/1/2018 5:06:37 PM

Kansas City, Mo. – The No. 3 seed Pittsburg State University Gorillas utilized a 10-0 run in the fourth quarter to defeat No. 7 Washburn 71-63 and advance to the semifinals of the 2018 MIAA Tournament inside Municipal Auditorium today.
 
Pittsburg State (23-6) was led by Mikaela Burgess and Meghan Maher with 21 points each. Maher hit seven threes, while Burgess knocked down five. Paige Imhoff added nine assists and Madison Northcutt had nine rebounds
 
 Washburn (20-10) was led by Axelle Bernard with 25 points and Reagan Phelan with 15. Bernard led the team with eight rebounds.
 
Pitt raced out to an 11-4 lead midway through the first quarter after a jumper from Athena Alvarado and a three from burgess with 3:02 left gave the Gorillas a 19-11 lead. The lead would be 20-15 after one quarter.
 
Washburn tied the game at 23 and went ahead 25-23 on a layup from Axelle Bernard to cap a 14-4 run with 4:11 left in the 2nd quarter. Pitt tied the game at 28 with 1:37 left in the half, but Washburn closed the half on a 5-0 run to lead 33-28 at the break.
 
The Ichabods led 39-33 with 7:28 left in the third, before back-to-back-to-back threes from Megan Maher and Burgess had the Gorillas within one (43-42) midway through the quarter. The Ichabods would lead after three, 52-48.
 
Stingy defense and timely three-point shooting helped PSU to an 8-0 run early in the fourth quarter to put the Gorillas up 57-56 with 5:43 to go. A three from Burgess with two to go pushed the Gorillas’ lead to 68-63 and a three from Maher the next trip down made it 71-63 with 1:28 left.
 
Pittsburg State will now go on to face off with Fort Hays State at noon on Saturday in the semifinals.