Chemia Woods and Jessica Mainz earned spots on the MIAA all-defensive team this week and matched up against each other in the first round of the MIAA tournament Thursday.

Ironically, both surpassed their season scoring averages with Mainz getting the best of Woods – 15-12. Mainz, who averaged 6.6 points a game during the regular season, went 5-of-6 from behind the arc.

“Jessica is a great basketball player and great point guard. But she is not one of those players in the scouting report you say face guard her the entire game because that’s not really part of her game,” Woods said afterward. “Tonight obviously it was.”

Western hoped to exploit Washburn’s post players on the perimeter and get its transition offense rolling for from much-needed open layups. Neither happened Thursday. The Lady Blues played at whatever tempo they wanted, and Amanda Holmes proved Jill Johnson’s equal on the perimeter.

Corkey Stiger and Mainz combined to go 12-of-20 from behind the arc – just another thing the Griffons couldn’t afford to have happen if they wanted their season to last past Thursday and become the first eight seed to beat a one seed in the history of the MIAA women’s tournament.

“No chance you think they are going to hit 15,” Washburn coach Ron McHenry said of his team’s program-tying record of 15 3s. “But I did know that Mainzy was going to have to hit some shots because everybody has the idea to back off her. She is a good shooter. That’s just not her mentality.”

Of course Western’s big skeleton hung prominently in the closet Thursday as well –defensive rebounding. The Griffons gave Washburn 14 extra possessions by allowing offensive rebounds, which was about 10 too many for a team hitting 3s like the Lady Blues did Thursday. Washburn finished with 18 second-chance points compared to Western’s four.

All of this added up to a game that was over by halftime. The Griffons battled to the best of their ability in the second half, which was good enough to beat Washburn’s backups in the final four minutes. But this wasn’t a matter of hustle, desire or focus. The Lady Blues just played really well, and the Griffons didn’t have any magic bullets.

Still, Western can at least feel as if it salvaged its season by making a late-season run following that seven-game losing streak. Javois admitted as much afterward.

“Half the people in this gym didn’t expect us to be here. We believed in ourselves all year and fought and clawed to get into the tournament,” she said. “Obviously things didn’t go our way, but just to get here, I take my hat off to these freshmen who played hard all year and dealt with us seniors who have been on their backs, yelling and cussing at them sometimes. But we got here, and that’s something to be proud of.”

And Griffon fans can feel good knowing Tierra Ford, Lauren Nolke and Rachel Luteyn have three more years at Western. I think all three showed the potential throughout this season to very good players in the MIAA, and this trio complements each other very well.

Now Lynn Plett just needs to find a couple of point guards and a way to stymie the emerging offensive force known as Jessica Mainz. Maybe Plett and Western soccer coach Jeff Hansen can collaborate on that effort (Mainz is an All-American forward for the Lady Blues’ soccer team as well).