TOPEKA, Kan. --- The Washburn women's basketball team will open the 2016-17 season on Friday with an exhibition game against Kansas State at Bramlage Arena with tip-off slated for 5:30 p.m. The contest will be part of a doubleheader with the men's basketball to follow.
ICHABODS BASKETBALL NOTES
Tip-off
The Washburn Ichabods open the the 2016-17 schedule with an exhibition contest against Kansas State on Nov. 4 at Bamlage Arena ... The Ichabods finished the 2015-16 season with a 15-14 record and tied for sixth in the MIAA with an 11-11 mark ... The Wildcats are coming off a 19-13 season with a 8-10 record in the Big 12 ... The Icahbods were picked third in the MIAA Preseason Coaches' Poll ... Washburn's exhibition games against the Wildcats is the first of two match-ups against Division I opponents ... the Ichabods will conclude its preseason schedule on Nov. 6 when they travel to take on the Kansas Jayhawks ... The contest with Kansas State is part of doubleheader with the men's team who will follow at 8 p.m ... Head coach enters the 2016-17 season 11 wins shy of 400 ... McHenry would be just the second coach in program-history to reach the milestone ... Washburn returns 10 players from last season ... Senior foward Alyxis Bowens led Washburn during 2015-16 in scoring (333) and points per game (11.5) while shooting 58.4 percent from the field to finish second ... Senior guard Erika Lane finished the 2015-16 with team-best in assists per game (3.1), was second in points/game (10.0) and was the only player to start all 29 games ... Lane shoot .841 from the charity stripe and .411 from 3-point distance ... Senior center Felisha Gibbs was second on the team last season in blocks (22) and per game rebounding (5.5) and third in points/game (8.6) ... Gibbs had a team-high .584 shooting from the floor ... Senior guard Julie Ravn started in 23 games last season before going down to injury ... Ravn finished with 8.0 points/game and averaged 28.0 minutes ... she knocked down 35.0 percent of her 117 3-point attempts ... In 2015-16, senior guard Erin Dohnalek had six starts and appeared in 29 games ... finished the season with 8.5 points/game and completed 81 of 229 shot (.354) from the field.
Exhibition History
Washburn is 10-18 all-time in exhibitions under Ron McHenry since 2000-01 ... The game against Kansas State will be the ninth time the teams have faced each other since 2007 ... under McHenry, WU is 4-14 against NCAA Division I opponents all-time ... The Ichabods went 1-1 last season in preseason play with a loss to KSU and win against Nebraska-Omaha.
Last Season - Quick Hits
Washburn's 2015-16 campaign with a three consecutive wins and a 4-2 mark through the first six games ... it closed the season 15-14 overall and finished tied for sixth in the MIAA at 11-11 ... The Ichabods entered the MIAA Tournament as the No. 7-seed and lost in the first round to No. 10-seed Central Missouri, 74-70 ... Erika Lane was named All-MIAA Third Team while Felisha Gibbs and Alyxis Bowens garned Honorable Mention nods.
MIAA Preseason Poll
Emporia State topped the preseason poll with 12 first-place votes and 168 total points ... Pittsburg State followed with 156 points and two first-place votes ... Ichabods were third (132) ... Fort Hays State was forth (127) and Missouri Western fifth (124) -- full poll below.
Washburn on the Radio
Washburn games will be broadcast on KTPK 106.9 FM radio with Jake Lebahn and Dan Lucero calling the action. Games will also be streamed live on wusports.com by following the listen live links on the women's schedule page.
New Faces
Washburn has seven new players on its 2016 roster, including one NCAA Division I transfer, three junior college transfers and three true freshmen ... Charisma Alexander joins the Ichabods after one season at Division I Stephen F. Austin. Alexander averaged 4.2 points, 4.0 rebounds and 25.4 minutes while appearing in all 31 games for the LadyJacks and helping them win the Southland Conference championship ... Tatiana Grant played two seasons at Pratt Community College is the most decorated of the three junior college transfer as she earned the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference MVP in 2014 before later being named an NJCAA All-American after finishing 27.4 points/game and 8.6 rebounds/game ... Shambrey Budd played two seasons at Northwest Kansas Technical where she averaged 10.9 points/game and shot 32.7 percent from 3-point range her sophomore year ... Macy Myers joins Washburn following two seasons with Otero Junior College where she finished her career averaging 19 points/game for the Trojans ... the crop of true freshmen are made up of Cara Donley, Reagan Phelan and Jo Roepke ... Donley was multi-sport letterwinner at both Abilene and Scared Heart HS where she earned various individual accolades ... Phelan was also a multi-sport athlete during her time at Central Plains where she was named the 2015-16 KBCA Miss Kansas Basketball ... Roepke played for Valley Hieghts where she lettered in basketball, volleyball and track and was the 2016 Kansas 2A long jump champion.
Early Success / Monthly Breakdown
Under Ron McHenry, Washburn has put together 12 perfect Novembers, including a 6-0 mark in 2014-15 and a 3-0 mark so far in 2015-16 ... Washburn has no more than two losses in November under McHenry ... a month-by-month breakdown of the Ichabods under Coach McHenry is below.
Where Are They From?
Washburn's 2016-17 roster has a wide mix of hometowns geographically, with its 17 players hailing from three different countries (United States, France and Denmark) and six different states within the US ... There are 10 players from Kansas (Shambrey Budd, Jharian Bowen, Alyxis Bowens, KayLee Farmer, Erika Lane, Reagan Phelan, Jo Roepke, Cara Donley and Madison and Makayla Vargo) ... Arkansas (Felisha Gibbs), Colorado (Macy Myers), Missouri (Erin Dohnalek), Texas (Charisma Alexander) and Wisconsin (Tatiana Grant) are the other US states represented on WU's roster ... traveling abroad, Cindy Demosthene (France) and Julie Ravn (Denmark) are international players on the Ichabods' squad.
The Coaches
Washburn's Ron McHenry is in his 17th season with the Ichabods ... during that time he has amassed a 389-108 record ... was named the fifth coach in program-history in 2000 ... his .782 winning percentage to start the 2016-17 season is the best by any coach to lead the Ichabods/Lady Blues ... McHenry has 12 seasons with 20 or more wins and three seasons topping 30 ... in his first 16 years, McHenry has coached 21 All-American selections, 42 All-MIAA nominees and one WNBA draft pick ... during the 2004-05 campaign McHenry steered the program to an NCAA Division II title ... McHenry also has a combined 15 MIAA regular-season and tournament championships ... McHenry is 11 wins from No. 400 ... McHenry graduated from Washburn in 1984.
Kansas State's Jeff Mittie has been with the Wildcats since 2014 and enters the season with a 38-27 record while at the helm ... 2016-17 marks MIttie's 25th season coaching ... his all-time record is 492-262 (.653) ... prior to joining KSU, Mittie led TCU (1999-2014, 303-176); Arkansas State (1995-99, 75-42) and MIAA member Missouri Western (1992-95, 76-17) ... led the Griffons to a 31-3 record and berth to the NCAA Division II Final Four during 1994-95 campaign, the team finished the season ranked No. 3 nationally ... at Division I, Mittie has 17 appearances in either the NCAA or WNIT Tournaments ... MIttie graduated from Missouri Western in 1989.
Last TIme Out for the Bods
Central Missouri 74, Washburn 70 -- Feb. 29, 2016
TOPEKA, Kan. – Seventh-seeded Washburn saw its 2015-16 season come to an end in the MIAA Tournament Opening Round as it fell to 10th-seeded Central Missouri, 74-70 ... Washburn shot 50 percent from the field in the game, nearly matching the Jennies who finished 50.9 percent on field goals. From beyond the arc, Washburn outshot the Jennies, 7-6, but it was a 14-3 free throw deficit that stung the Ichabods in the loss ... WU stretched out its lead thanks to another string of nine unanswered from 3:48 to 0:59 in the second quarter, taking a 42-35 lead into the half ... It was all UCM early in the third as the Jennies outscored Washburn, 17-4, for the first 5:17 of the second half to built a six-point lead (52-46), but the Ichabods settled down and regained their control, even stretching the lead back to five (60-55) at 9:21 in the fourth thanks to a 12-2 WU rally. Down the stretch, Jennies used 7-0 and 6-0 runs in the game's final six minutes to hurt the Ichabods ... Erika Lane paced the Ichabods with 22 points and six assists on the evening, dropping a team-high four three-pointers as one of three Ichabods in double figures. Alyxis Bowens just missed a double-double as she recorded 19 points and nine rebounds, while Erin Dohnalek dished out five assists to go with 10 points. Jayna Smith pulled down 10 rebounds and had six points as well.
About K-State
The Wildcats finished the 2015-16 with a 19-13 overall mark and an 8-10 record in the Big 12 where they finished sixth in the standings ... Head Coach Jeff Mittie welcomes back five seniors including the top two scorers from a season ago in Breanna Lewis and Kindred Wesemann ... Lewis tallied 16.7 points per game in 2015-16 ... the 6-5 center capped the season with 7.5 boards a night and 82 blocks while shooting .550 from the floor ... Lewis also 27.8 minutes last season while starting at 32 games for KSU ... Wesemann led the club in minutes played (1,069) and minutes/game (33.4), free throw shooting (.831) and from 3-point distance (85-214/.397) ... the guard was second on the team in points/game (12.1) and assists (104) ... Kansas State will conclude its preseason schedule against Newman Nov. 7 before opening its regular season at home four days later against Chicago State.
'Bods History
The 2016-17 marks the 48th season of Washburn women's basketball ... the Ichabods are 869-393-1 all-time ... the program has seen 23 seasons with at least 20 wins and had made 17 trips to the NCAA Division II Championship ... in 2004-05 Washburn won the NCAA Division II Championship and finished the season 35-2.
