Jennies fall to No. 1 Washburn, 65-51 in regional semifinals

For 30 minutes, the Central Missouri State Jennies gave the undefeated Lady Blues all they could handle, but fell in the NCAA South Central Region semifinals, 65-51 at Lee Arena in Topeka, Kan.

The Jennies (22-10) fell behind early before going on an 8-2 run to retake the lead 16-7. Washburn (32-0) answered right back with an 8-1 run to close the gap but CMSU put together a 12-6 rally to end the half and head into the locker room up 32-23. Lindsey Maple led the Jens with eight points in the opening frame and Anna Rorvig added 7 more.

Central Missouri scored the first bucket of the second stanza to push the lead back to 11 on a Rorvig layup but Washburn turned up the defensive intensity and scored six straight to cut the lead to five. Maple hit a three to extend it back to an eight point game but the Lady Blues took control of the game with an 11-2 run over the next six minutes to take their first lead since the first half, 48-42. The Jens closed to within four with just over a minute left on a Kara Rewert's three-point basket, however it was as close as they would get. After two Jennifer Harris free throws put WU up six, Rewert's three-point attempt came up short and the Jens were forced to foul. The final minute saw two intentional fouls called on Central Missouri and a technical on head coach Dave Slifer with Washburn making six-of-seven from the foul line for the final margin.

Maple led the Jennies with 15 points and Rorvig finished with 11. Tiffany Vincent pulled down seven rebounds to lead the Jens.

Harris had a game high 33, scoring 25 in the second half while Brooke Ubelaker added 11.