Washburn celebrates special day in Kansas City, winning 2 basketball tournaments
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- Washburn won both MIAA men’s and women’s titles, earning D-II NCAA bids.
- Men routed Rogers State 91-59; every starter scored and team outrebounded rivals.
- Women upset top-seeded Central Missouri 53-44, rallying with a dominant fourth quarter.
Washburn pulled a basketball double in Kansas City on Sunday.
The Ichabods captured the women’s and men’s MIAA tournament titles at Municipal Auditorium, taking the league’s automatic bids into the Division II NCAA Tournaments.
The women were up first, and upset top-seeded Central Missouri.
After the postgame celebration was cleared, the Washburn men easily handled Rogers State 91-59 for their first tournament title since 2021. The winning margin was the largest for a title game in the event’s 46-year history.
The double championship — the MIAA run the women’s and men’s tournament during the same week at Municipal — is the first since the Ichabods did it in 2012.
“This is very special,” Washburn athletic director Loren Ferre said. “We’ll remember this for a long time.”
The men’s team was playing without second-leading scorer Dillon Claussen with a calf injury. No matter. The Ichabods opened a double-digit lead less than four minutes into the game, and led by 24 at halftime. It was never close.
All starters reached double figures, led by Bryson Smith’s 21. Washburn outrebounded Rogers State 52-21 and got 15 boards from Brady Christiansen.
Washburn, ranked third in Division II, improved to 31-1.
Washburn women close strong
A big fourth quarter lifted the women’s team in a 53-44 victory. The Ichabods trailed by one entering the fourth quarter, but outscored the Jennies 18-8 the rest of the way. Gabi Giovannetti, a senior who played at Bishop Miege, hit all six of her free throws in the final 50 seconds and scored 17 points.
Third-seeded Washburn, 24-7, took control of the game early in the fourth quarter when Payton Sterk scored eight straight, including a pair of 3-pointers, to open a 47-39 lead.
The Ichabods won the conference tournament for the first time since 2012. UCM, 25-6, had won 13 straight games and was bidding for its first tourney title since 2020.
Brackets for them men’s and women’s tournaments will be announced Sunday at 9:30 p.m.
This story was originally published March 8, 2026 at 4:18 PM.