PITTSBURG — Mikaela Burgess scored all 16 of her points in the second half as the Pittsburg State University women's basketball team held off Washburn University, 66-58, Wednesday (Dec. 16) at John Lance Arena.

The Gorillas improved to 9-1 overall and 4-1 in the MIAA with the victory in front of 1,070 partisan fans, while the Ichabods slipped to 6-4 overall and 2-2 in conference play.

Pitt State had a seven-point lead, 42-35, 34 seconds into the fourth quarter on Cathy Brugman's layup, but Washburn used a 7-0 run to knot the score at 42-42 with 8:25 remaining.

Burgess then made two free throws to retake the lead and after a WU turnover Brugman, who finished a game-high  17 points and 10 rebounds, knocked down a jumper for a four-point margin.

Alyxis Bowens trimmed the Pitt State margin to 46-44 but Burgess then knocked down a pair of 3-pointers on successive possessions – with an Ichabods basket inbetween – to get the lead back to six.

Washburn got as close as two points, 52-50, with 4:17 to go, but Hayden Herlocker made a 3-pointer to put the Gorillas back up five. Haley Pfau got WU back within three points on a driving basket, but Burgess and Brugman each converted a pair of free throws and Paige Imhoff hit a jumper with the shot clock running down to push the Gorillas lead back to seven with 53 ticks remaining on the clock.

Imhoff added 11 points in the game, while Shelby Lopez scored eight first-half points for the Gorillas. Pitt State overcame a 36 percent shooting night (22-61) by limiting WU to 37 percent shooting (22-59) and forcing 14 turnovers. The Gorillas also converted 16 of 20 free throws in the game, including 15 of 16 attempts in the second half.

WU got 14 points apiece from Bowens and Erin Dohnalek.

The Gorillas will return to action Saturday (Dec. 19) when they play host to Emporia State University at 1:30 p.m. (CST). The third-ranked Lady Hornets (8-2, 2-2 MIAA) dropped a 71-58 road decision to Missouri Southern State University (9-2, 3-2 MIAA) Wednesday at Joplin, Mo.