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UNK women pick up a tightly contested win and the Loper men lose to the third-ranked team in the country as both squads open up conference play at home against Washburn University.
Jillian Aschoff was two rebounds away from a double-double as the Lopers knock off the Ichabods 66-61. The Lopers (7-2) tie the series 10-10 against the Ichabods and have won 9 of the last 10.
The Lopers got off to a good start in the first half courtesy of a 2-2 effort from Aschoff, who totaled 5 points and added four boards to her line. The Lopers’ shooting efforts cooled off later in the second half, as they made just three shots in nine attempts and finished 12-32 from the floor to close 20 minutes of play.
The Ichabods’ Payton Sterk led all scorers into halftime with 15 points on 6-13 shooting. Sterk knocked down her first three-game shots, including a step-back three.
“ I felt like at the end of the second quarter we didn’t play with a ton of confidence,” said UNK head coach Drew Johnson. “ They had two starters out and they walked in with a different gameplan than maybe we were expecting or prepared for”
The Lopers shot a little bit better in the second half, and once again led by Aschoff who totaled 8 points, a team-high, in the second half. Sophomore guard Jordan Sears tallied 7 points on just one missed shot. Sears also knocked down 3-4 FT attempts.
Things started to get tight late in the fourth quarter as the Lopers carried just a 60-58 lead. A foul by Peyton Sterk but Aschoff at the line, Aschoff would go 1-2. The Lopers would then force desperation fouls and would end up picking up a 66-61 win over the Ichabods. The Ichabods move to 4-5 overall and 0-1 in conference play.
It was doubleheader action as the Loper men (1-5) had the number three ranked team in division two coming to the Health and Sports Center.
The Lopers jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead to start the game, but it was all Ichabods from there as the Lopers would not lead the rest of the contest. The Ichabods would take care of the Lopers 87-52.
The Ichabod men would go on to shoot 16-30 in the first half with guard Jacob Hanna going 3-5 and having 11 points and 6 boards. The Ichabods had three double-digit scorers in the first half.
Overall, the Ichabods shoot 53.4% from the floor.
The Lopers had a strong effort from Redshirt Senior Chase Thompson who had 16 points and 5 boards. The only other double-digit scorer for the Lopers was Allen Taylor who had 10 in this contest.
With the loss, the Lopers move to 1-6 and 0-1 in conference play.
It will be another doubleheader to close out the opening weekend of conference play for both Loper squads. The Lopers welcome in Central Missouri on Saturday with the women’s game starting at 2 P.M.
