Complete Game Notes

No. 6 Lady Blues to open season with Lady Moundbuilders ... 
The No. 6 ranked Washburn Lady Blues will open the 2007-08 season at home against Southwestern College in Lee Arena on Saturday at 7 p.m. The Lady Moundbuilders have already played four games coming to Topeka with a 3-1 record.  The Lady Moundbuilders will have an exhibition game against Fort Hays State on Thursday.

Quick Facts
Matchup: Washburn (0-0) vs Southwestern College (3-1)
Date: Saturday, Nov. 17, 2007
Time: 7 p.m.
Site: Lee Arena (4,178)
Radio: AM580 WIBW / Topeka with play by play with Paul Carr
Online Audio: Through wusports.com
Live Stats: Through wusports.com
Video Webstream: not available
Coaches: Washburn head coach Ron McHenry is 188-37 (.836) in his eighth season - McHenry is 1-0 against Southwestern College.
Dave Denly is in his 10th season at SC … he is 171-104 overall.
Rankings: The Lady Blues were ranked No. 6 WBCA/USA Today/ESPN Preseason Coaches Poll.

Lady Blues on radio . . .
The Lady Blues game will be broadcast on AM 580 WIBW radio with Paul Carr calling the action. The games will also be streamed live online by clicking the live audio button under Lady Blues Basketball on the WU web site at www.wusports.com by clicking the live audio link under Lady Blues Basketball.

Lady Blues in exhibition play . . .
The Lady Blues were 1-1 in exhibition play falling at Kansas State 76-39 and rebounding to beat Livin' the Dream 96-50.
Nov. 1 vs Kansas State recap - MANHATTAN, Kan. – The Washburn Lady Blues fell in their exhibition opener 76-39 to Kansas State. Washburn will be back in action on Nov. 9 at 7 p.m. in Lee Arena against Livin' the Dream in another exhibition game.
The Lady Blues trailed the entire game as the Wildcats opened up a 40-21 halftime lead on 53 percent shooting. Washburn was held to 27 percent from the field hitting 8 of 29 shots, including 4 of 11 from behind the 3-point arch.
In the second half, the Wildcats increased their lead doubling up the Lady Blues 36 to 18. Washburn shot 32 percent in the second half.
Janice Bright led the Lady Blues with 11 points. She was 4 of 12 from the field and 3 of 7 from 3-point land. Amanda Holmes led Washburn with a team-high nine rebounds.
Karla Tailele came off the bench to score seven points on 2 of 3 from long range. Corkey Stiger also had seven points.
Kimberly Dietz led four Wildcats in double figures with 14 points.
Washburn was outscored in the point 40 to 14 by the Wildcats while turning 26 Lady Blues turnovers into 25 points. K-State held a 20 to 2 advantage in fast break points.
Nov. 11 vs Livin' the Dream recap - TOPEKA, Kan. -- The No. 6 ranked Washburn Lady Blues put four in double-figure scoring led by Corkey Stiger's 17 points in a 96-50 win over Livin' the Dream in Lee Arena. Washburn will open the regular season on Nov. 17 against Southwestern College at 7 p.m. in Lee Arena.
Washburn led from start to finish as they opened up leads of 9-2, 23-12 and 42-20 as they cruised to a 42-25 halftime lead. The Lady Blues were 17 of 33 from the field in the first half while they held Livin' the Dream to 9 of 25 shooting and forced nine turnovers. Stiger had 10 points going a perfect 4 of 4 from the field including hitting both shots from behind the 3-point line.
In the second half, the Lady Blues pushed the lead to as many as 48 late in the game shooting 51 percent from the field.
Joining Stiger in double figures was Janice Bright with 16, Amanda Holmes with 12 and Jessica Mainz with 10. Washburn outrebounded their opponents 58 to 20 including pulling down 28 offensive rebounds.

The coaches . . .
Washburn head coach Ron McHenry has posted a 188-37 (.836) record overall and 98-26 (.790) record in the MIAA with four consecutive MIAA regular season championships from 2003-06 and the 2005 NCAA National Championship. He was named the Lady Blues head coach prior to the 2000-01 season. He is second among active women's NCAA Division II Coaches in winning percentage. McHenry was named the MIAA's Coach of the Year in 2005 and in 2006 and the Division II Bulletin National Coach of the Year in 2005. (complete bio on page 2 of notes.)
Southwestern College coach Dave Denly is entering his tenth year as the Head Women's Basketball Coach at Southwestern College.  He has built a program from scratch into one of the best in the KCAC.  An up-tempo, aggressive style has enabled the Lady Builders to finish no lower than fourth in every season competing in conference play.  Denly's overall record at the helm of the Lady Builders' is 166-102.  He guided his team to two consecutive 20-win seasons, setting school records in overall wins and conference wins (13).  Before he took over the women's program at Southwestern College, Denly served as an assistant coach for Brad Horstmann and the men's program at Southwestern College .   During that time the Moundbuilders qualified for the National Tournament and won the KCAC conference tournament.

 Washburn/Southwestern Series notes . . .
Saturday's meeting is the ninth between the two squads with the Lady Blues leading the series 5-3. Counting Saturday's game, the Lady Blues have played the Moundbuilders only three times since the Feb. 3, 1973. The Lady Blues won last season 69-36 on Dec. 4, in Topeka, 97-61 in Lee Arena on Nov. 17, 2001 and Southwestern College won 52-42 on Feb. 3, 1973 in Winfield.

Last time out vs the Moundbuilders . . .
Dec. 4, 2006 - TOPEKA - The No. 2 Washburn Lady Blues held Southwestern College to 12 points and four field goals in the second half in a 69-36 win over the Lady Moundbuilders in Lee Arena. With the win, Washburn improves to 5-0 on the season.
With the defense holding Southwestern scoreless for a stretch of the final 2:10 of the first half and the first 9:59 of the second half, Washburn turned a 1-point lead at 25-24 to a 28-point lead at 52-24 to put the game out of reach.
Senior Megan Sullivan led the Lady Blues with 14 points. Amanda Holmes scored 13 and had a game-high and career-high 12 rebounds. Brooke Ubelaker had 10 points. Holmes also added a new career-high with four blocks as the Lady Blues swatted 10 as a team.
Southwestern was led by Kara Beal who scored 13 points as the only Lady Moundbuilder in double figures. 

About the moundbuilders . . .
The Moundbuilders are 3-1 this season after picking up wins against Manhattan Christian College, Southwest Assemblies of God and Mid-America Christian by scores of 65-50, 78-47 and 65-55  respectively. The lone loss came at the hands of Oklahoma Science and Arts by a 75-67 score. Kara Beal had 15 points and 10 rebounds to pace SC against MAC.

Lady Blues notes . . .
3 – Brette Ulsaker – Transfer from Utah who started 28 of 29 games as a true freshman
4 – Amanda Holmes – Second team all-MIAA last season, needs 422 points to reach 1,000
11 – Renata Germano – Played in 27 games after transferring from Southeastern Illinois
13 – Jessica Mainz – Joined Lady Blues for exhibition game against Livin' the Dream after winning second consecutive MIAA Soccer MVP award.
14 – Alyssa Mullen – A three-year starter at Lee's Summit West High School
20 – Hadleigh Meek – Averaged 13 points, four assists, three steals and three rebounds as senior
21 – Corkey Stiger – Returning honorable mention all-American without starting last season
23 – Jacki Tipping – Transfer from Brock University in Canada
24 – Karla Tailele – Returning from knee injury suffered last season
32 – Janice Bright – A McDonald's High School All-American out of high school
30 – Kalee Silovsky – Transfer from Southern Mississippi reunited with prep teammate Holmes
33 – Hope Gregory – Returning after stress fracture in foot missing all but 5 games as freshman
44 – Emily Gibson – Averaged 10.8 ppg, 7.6 rpg … finalist for the DiRenna Award in Kansas City for top high school player.
50 – Regiane Araujo – Averaged 13.2 points and 7.8 rebounds at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M

Lady Blues in Lee Arena . . .
Entering their 24th season in Lee Arena, the Lady Blues are 288-55 (.836) overall at home.  The longest winning streak was 44 games from Dec. 1, 1990 to March 20, 1993.
The Lady Blues were 15-0 in Lee Arena in the 2004-05 season, out scoring opponents by a 78.2-49.9 average. The Lady Blues were 13-1 in Lee Arena in 2003-04, 16-1 in 2002-03 and 15-1 in 2001-02. The Lady Blues have won 30 straight regular season non-conference games in Lee Arena. The last defeat by a non-conference team in the regular season was to Missouri-St. Louis in a 59-51 setback on Dec. 30, 2000.
Washburn is 96-10 (.901) in home games under Ron McHenry.

Lady Blues history . . .
Washburn is 669-320 (.678 in 989 games) in its 38th season of intercollegiate action.

WU in the national poll . . .
The Washburn Lady Blues were picked No. 6 in the WBCA/USA Today/ESPN Division II Top 25 Preseason Poll which was released on Oct. 31. The Lady Blues were ranked No. 8 in the final poll of the 2007-08 season after finishing with a 29-4 overall record. The poll marks the 88th consecutive week the Lady Blues have been ranked.

Lady Blue Tip ins. . .
• The Lady Blues are 20-3 in home openers in Lee Arena. Their last loss in the first game in Lee Arena was on Nov. 16, 1998 in a 73-60 setback to Nebraska-Kearney.
• Under head coach Ron McHenry, the Lady Blues are 7-0 in season openers as well as home openers.
• Amanda Holmes starts senior season 432 points from 1,000 for her career - she scored 184 as a sophomore and 384 as a junior.
• Holmes also is carrying a streak of five games in a row scoring in double figure points dating back to last season … she is averaging 15.8 ppg during the streak.
• Corkey Stiger scored nine points against Southwestern last tie out on Dec. 4, 2006. She hit 3 of 4 3-point attempts.

Up Next . . .
Following the game with Southwestern College, the Lady Blues will play host to Baker on Nov. 20th at 7 p.m. Then the Lady Blues will host C.W. Post on Nov. 22 at 7 p.m. and Texas A&M-Commerce on Nov. 23 at 3 p.m. in the Capitol Plaza/AM 580 WIBW Holiday Classic.