SHAWNEE, Okla. – SWOSU women's basketball opened the season at the GAC/MIAA Challenge against Washburn on Friday afternoon. After a tight first half, the Lady Bulldogs pulled away in the second half for a 63-58 win.

SWOSU enjoys the win and a 1-0 record for the time being. They have a quick turnaround as tomorrow they take on Pittsburg State at 1:00 pm in the second game of the crossover challenge. The victory avenges a 71-55 loss to the Ichabods last season.

The teams took some time to get into a flow in the first half. The first basket came three minutes into the game, as both Washburn and the Lady Dawgs had some offensive rust to open the season. Defensively, SWOSU was locked in from the jump. They came out in a full court press and hounded ballhandlers the entire 94 feet.

The second quarter brought more offense. The Ichabods found their stride and shot 71% from the field in the quarter but SWOSU hit a trio of three-pointers to their none. SWOSU took a 30-29 lead into halftime after a back and forth first half.

The third quarter is where the Lady Dawgs full court pressure began to cause real havoc. Coming out of the break, they caused four straight Washburn turnovers. Just in the third quarter alone SWOSU turned WU over 10 times. This defensive prowess led to a seven-point SWOSU advantage heading into the final quarter.

The Lady Bulldogs extended their lead to as many as 12 early in the fourth. With SWOSU shooting just 3-14 from the field in the fourth quarter, Washburn made a final push towards a comeback. The lead was cut down to three with 1:28 to go, but multiple clutch stops from the defense allowed SWOSU to hold on for the victory.

The story of the game was the turnover battle. SWOSU forced 27 turnovers, the most by women's basketball since December 4, 2021. They scored 20 points off those forced turnovers.

SWOSU finished the game 23-65 (35.4%) from the field and 7-30 (23.3%) from three.

Rees Berkey led the way in her first game in a Lady Bulldog uniform with a team high 14 points and five rebounds. Averi Zinn added in 12 points with six assists and four steals. Hailey Grant put in 10 points, four rebounds, and four steals as well.