Complete Game Notes

Washburn begins 2nd half of MIAA season in 4-way tie for first . . . 
The Washburn Lady Blues (14-4, 6-3 MIAA) enter the second half of the MIAA season in a four-way tie for first place in the MIAA race as they will entertain Missouri Western at 5:30 p.m. in Lee Arena. Washburn is knotted with Northwest Missouri, Southwest Baptist and Emporia State in the conference standings all sharing a 6-3 MIAA record. The Lady Blues fell 69-61 last time out in Lee Arena on Jan. 30 to Missouri Southern snapping a 17-game homecourt winning streak. The Griffons (9-8, 4-5 MIAA) fell at Southwest Baptist on Jan. 29 in Bolivar, Mo., 77-60. Washburn will travel to Joplin on Feb. 6 to take on the Lions for the second time in a week before wrapping up the regular season with five of seven games in Topeka.

Quick Facts
Matchup: Washburn (14-4, 6-3 MIAA) vs Missouri Western (9-8, 4-5 MIAA)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 2
Time: 5:30 p.m. CST
Site: Topeka, Kan. - Lee Arena (4,197)
Radio: KTPK 106.9 FM / Topeka with play by play with Mark Elliott and Bruce Steinbrock
Online Audio: Through wusports.com (free)
Online Video: Through themiaa.tv ($5.50)
Live Stats: Through livestats.internetconsult.com/washburn/wbball/
Coaches: Washburn head coach Ron McHenry is 202-41 (.831) in his eighth season - McHenry is 12-9 against Missouri Western.
The Griffons are coached by Lynn Plett. He is 9-8 in his first season at MWSU. He is 194-186 in his 14th season overall.
Rankings: Washburn is ranked No. 12 in the WBCA/USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll., No. 2 in the NCAA South Central Regional Poll.
Series Record: MWSU leads the all-time series 37-36
Last Meeting: WU 65-52 on Jan.2, 2008 in St. Joseph.
Last WU win: same
Last MWSU win: 49-47, 1/27/07 in St. Joseph
Worth noting: WU has won two straight in the series.

Lady Blues on radio . . .
The Lady Blues game with Missouri Southern will be broadcast live on KTPK 106.9 FM with Mark Elliott calling the action and Bruce Steinbrock providing color commentary. 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.

The coaches . . .
Washburn head coach Ron McHenry has posted a 202-41 (.831) record overall and 104-29 (.788) record in the MIAA with four MIAA regular season championships from 2003-06 and the 2005 NCAA National Championship. McHenry has the highest winning percentage (.835) in MIAA history of coaches who have at least 200 wins.
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.)
Lynn Plett is in his first guiding the Griffon program. He comes to MWSU from Lewis University in Romeoville, Illinois where he led the Flyers program for the previous five seasons (2002-2007). He is 9-8 in his first season at MWSU and he is 194-186 in his 14th season overall.
Plett earned a bachelor's degree in Physical Education and another in Humanities and Biblical Studies from Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kansas where he competed in basketball and soccer. He and his wife Brenda have a son, Matt and a daughter, Stacy.

Last Time Out for the Lady Blues . . .
Jan. 30, 2008 - Missouri Southern 69, No. 12 Washburn 61 • TOPEKA, Kan. -- The No. 12 Washburn Lady Blues dropped a 69-61 decision to Missouri Southern Jan. 30 in Lee Arena. The loss snapped a 17-game winning streak for the Lady Blues and placed them in a four-way tie for first place in the conference standings with Northwest Missouri, Southwest Baptist and Emporia State.
The Lions, who entered the game No. 6 in the South Central Regional Poll which was released today, led from start to finish over the No. 2 regionally ranked Lady Blues, opened the game on a 19 to 8 run over the first 9:23 of the game. The Lions would increase the lead to as many as 12 in the half before Washburn rallied to cut the lead to six at 34-28 going into halftime.
In the second half, Washburn could not get any closer than six as the Lions built a lead as many as 19 at 53-34 with 11:32 remaining cruising to the win.
Corkey Stiger led Washburn with a game-high 23 points. Also in double figures were Jessica Mainz with 11 and Amanda Holmes with 10.
Tynesha Pierce paced four Lions in double figures with 17 points.
The Lions finished the game shooting 25 of 47 from the field for a 53 percent clip becoming the first team in 89 games to hit better than half its shots in a game against Washburn. The last time a team shot at least 50 percent was Angelo State on March 12, 2005 in the NCAA Regional Tournament.
Washburn finished the game 18 of 50 from the field and was outrebounded 30 to 28.

Notes from the Missouri Southern game . . .
The Lions snapped an 11-game losing streak in Lee Arena ... the 28 rebounds were a season-low for the Lady Blues ... with the loss, Washburn still leads the all-time series 37-24 ... the loss snapped a five-game winning streak for the Lady Blues overall in the series ... the Lions became only the ninth team to shoot at least 50 percent against the Lady Blues under head coach Ron McHenry ... Washburn is 4-5 in those games.

Washburn/Missouri Western series notes . . .
Saturday's meeting will be the 74th between the Lady Blues and the Griffons. Washburn is 36-37 against the Griffons as Washburn has won 12 of the last 14 meetings after losing both regular season meetings during the 2006-07 campaign while taking the last meeting on March 4, 2007 in the MIAA Tournament Championship game. The teams have met twice in the NCAA Tournament with Missouri Western winning both match-ups. The Griffons won 66-62 on March 11, 1994 and March 9, 1995 73-57.
 
Last Meeting Between Washburn and Missouri Western . . .
(Jan. 2, 2008) ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The No. 4 Washburn Lady Blues were held scoreless for the first 6:48 of the game falling behind 11-0 and by as many as 13-2 in the opening period, but they rallied to knock off the Griffons 65-52 in their MIAA opener in St. Joseph in the Lady Blues' 999th game in school history. Washburn will play their first home game since Nov. 26 when they take on Central Missouri (5-5, 0-1 MIAA) at 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 5 in Lee Arena.
After the Griffons jumped out to a 11-0 lead as Washburn (9-1, 1-0 MIAA) missed its first eight shots from the field, Regiane Araujo put the Lady Blues on the board with a lay-up at the 13:12 mark of the half.
The Griffons would lead by as many as 11 on two different occasions before Washburn would tie the score at 21 on a Kalee Silovsky bucket 3:21 before the half. Missouri Western would regain the lead at 25-23, but Washburn scored 7 of the final 9 points of the half to take a 30-27 lead into the break.
In the second half, Washburn pushed the lead to as many as 17 in the second half as Corkey Stiger scored 14 of her game-high 22 points in the second half as she hit 5 of 9 from the field including 4 of 7 from 3-point range. She also added seven rebounds in the second half with two assists and two steals in the final 20 minutes.
With Washburn holding a 37-36 lead with 13:47 left in the game, Stiger would hit back to back 3-pointers pushing the lead back to seven. After a Janice Bright lay-up, Stiger added another three increading the lead to nine at 48-39.
Washburn held the Griffons to 8 of 27 from the field for a 30 percent clip and 18 of 56 from the field (32 percent).
Joining Stiger in double-figure scoring was Amanda Holmes, who had 11 points and eight rebounds and Araujo had a career-high 10 points on 5 of 7 shooting.
Jill Johnson led the Griffons with 17 points.
Washburn held a 42 to 34 advantage on the glass as their bench outscored the Griffon bench 24 to 5.
 
About Missouri Western . . .
The Griffons enter the game with a 9-8 record overall and a 4-5 MIAA mark. The Griffons have dropped their last two games falling at Emporia State 84-64 and at Southwest Baptist 77-60.
Yanique Javois leads the Griffons with 17.7 ppg. Jill Johnson is scoring 16.9 ppg and Tierra Ford is scoring 10.5 ppg. For her career Jill Johnson has averaged

Last time out for the Griffons. . .
(Jan. 28, 2008) -- BOLIVAR, Mo. – Missouri Western fell to 9-8 overall and 4-5 in the MIAA with a 77-60 loss to the Southwest Baptist Bearcats in Bolivar, Mo. This is the first time the Griffons have lost to the Bearcats since January 22, 2003 when the Bearcats defeated the Griffons 94-80 in Bolivar, Mo.
The Bearcats came out ready to play in the first half of the contest against the Missouri Western Griffons as they jumped out to a 12-2 lead. In the half the Griffons were hurt by the Bearcats offensive rebounding and three-point shooting as they snared 11 offensive boards and made 8-of-17 three point shots. The Griffons did claw their way back into the contest but a three point shot at the end of the half by the Bearcats gave them a 40-31 lead after the first frame.
Missouri Western did outshoot the Bearcats in the first half shooting 37.5-percent (12-of-32) from the field to 36.6-percent (15-41). The Bearcats out-rebounded the Griffons by six 26-to-20 and 11-to-6 on the offensive end of the floor. The Griffons had five steals to four for but had ten turnovers to the Bearcats nine.
The Griffons were led by Yanique Javois in the first half as she had 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting. Jill Johnson led the way on the boards as she had seven rebounds in the half. The Bearcats were led by Courtney Creed and Kelly Reinkemeyer as they both had 8 points in the first frame.
The Bearcats opened up the second half going on a 13-7 run to build their lead to fifteen with 14:21 left to play in the game. The Griffons use a 7-0 run of their own to cut the lead to 53-45 with over ten minutes to play in the game. The rest of the game the Griffons would get outscored 24-15 as they would lose their second road game in three days.
In the game the Griffons were led by Yanique Javois as she had 18 points on 8-of-15 shooting. Lauren Nolke had 15 points and Jill Johnson recorded her seventh double-double of the season scoring 10 points and snaring 13 rebounds.
The Bearcats were led by Erika Souza as she had 17 points and dished out 9 assists. Courtney Shewmaker had 14 points, Katelin Cutbirth had 12 and Darla Gatschenberger had 11 for the Bearcats.
The Griffons shot 35.9-percent (23-of-64) from the field and snared 15 offensive rebounds to the Bearcats 14. The two teams both had 42 rebounds in the contest but the Griffons turned the ball over 21 times to the Bearcats 16. The Bearcats also had 22 assists to the Griffons 10.
The Bearcats made 41.9-percent (13-of-31) of their three point shots and 39.4-percent (28-of-71) of their field goals. The Bearcats also made all eight of their free throw attempts in the game.

Lady Blues player Notes . . .
#, Name, Pos., class, ppg, rpg, apg
#3, Brette Ulsaker, G, 5-9, So., 2.9, 2.3, 1.8, Missed second straight game with stress fracture in her foot against MSSU
#4, Amanda Holmes, F, 6-2, Sr., 10.0, 7.8, 1.3,    15 of 22 from free throw line in final five minutes of games this season
#11, Renata Germano, C, 6-2, Jr., 2.4, 2.6, 0.3, Moved into 27th on the all-time block chart with her 19th at SBU
#13, Jessica Mainz, G, 5-9, Jr., 5.3, 3.9, 3.5,    Eight field goal attempts at MSSU tied career high
#14, Alyssa Mullen, F, 5-11, Fr., 1.5, 1.0, 0.4,      14 minutes a career-high; 4 points vs MSSU tied career high
#20, Hadleigh Meek, G, 5-8, Fr., 1.4, 0.3, 0.4, Scored four points in 17 minutes of play in last two games
#21, Corkey Stiger, G, 5-9, Sr., 16.9, 4.0, 2.9,      37 minutes of play vs MSSU a career high
#23, Jacki Tipping, G, 5-10, So., 0.8, 0.3, 0.0, Career high 4 points against Truman hitting both field goal attempts
#24, Karla Tailele, G, 5-6, Rs-Jr., 5.9, 1.4, 0.8,     12 of 29 from 3-point land in MIAA play (.414)
#30, Kalee Silovsky, F, 6-0, Jr., 2.2, 2.4, 0.8,       Hit all 3 free throw attempts at Pitt State (7 of 10 for the season)
#32, Janice Bright, G, 5-9, Jr., 10.3, 4.7, 1.6,       Has hit last 10 free throws
#33, Hope Gregory, G, 5-10, Rs-Fr., 3.6, 3.6, 0.6, 10 of 13 from free throw line this season
#44, Emily Gibson, F, 6-1, Fr., 1.7, 0.9, 0.1,      Hit 1 of 2 free throw attempts at Pitt State
#50, Regiane Araujo, C, 6-4, Jr., 5.8, 2.8, 0.4 Averaging 6.9 ppg in MIAA play hitting 26 of 47 from the field (.553)

Lady Blues in Lee Arena . . .
In their 24th season in Lee Arena, the Lady Blues are 295-56 (.841) overall at home.
The longest winning streak was 44 games from Dec. 1, 1990 to March 20, 1993.
The Lady Blues have won 35 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 103-10 (.910) in home games under Ron McHenry.

Lady Blues history . . .
Washburn is 685-324 (.680 in 1,009 games) in its 38th season of intercollegiate action.

WU in the national poll . . .
(Jan. 29) The Washburn Lady Blues fell from eighth to No. 12 in the latest USA Today/ESPN Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll which was released today. The poll marked the first time since the final poll of the 2003-04 season Washburn has not been in the top 10 when they were ranked No. 17. Washburn was preseason No. 9 in the 2004-05 coaches poll and have been in the top 10 in the last 57 polls. Overall, Washburn has been ranked in the last 97 consecutive poll. Washburn was ranked No. 6 in the 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.

Lady Blues Individual Tip Ins . . .
• Corkey Stiger moved into seventh all-time at Washburn in 3-pointers with 96. She needs 13 more to move into sixth place all-time.
• Stiger's 295 3-point attempts is fifth all-time.
• Amanda Holmes is 13th all-time with 222 free throws made and 11th in free throw attempts with 332.
• Holmes is 13th all-time in rebounds at Washburn with 530.
• Holmes' 93 career blocked shots is fourth all-time at Washburn needing nine to move into sole possession of third place.
• Corkey Stiger is averaging 18.1 ppg in home games this season.
• Amanda Holmes has averaged 9.8 points, 8.2 rebounds in the last four games.
• After scoring 13 points in the first 16 games of the season including five DNP's - Alyssa Mullen has scored seven in the last two games.
• Corkey Stiger has recorded a blocked shot in each of the last six games.

Lady Blues Team Tip Ins . . .
• Washburn has not lost back to back home games since the 2000-01 season in head coach Ron McHenry's first season when they fell to Pittsburg State on Feb. 10, 2001 (69-57) and Southwest Baptist on Feb. 3, 2001 (73-65). The streak was a three-game slide losing to Missouri Western on Jan. 20, 2001 (83-46).
• The Lady Blues have held their opponents under 100 points in 269 consecutive games.
• Washburn is averaging 68.5 ppg in MIAA play.
• The Washburn bench is outscoring their opponents this season 402-267.
• For only the second time this season, the Lady Blues were outscored in the paint by Missouri Southern (30-26).
• In the last five minutes of games, Washburn is outscoring their opponents 180 to 178 or 10.0 points to 9.9 points down the stretch.

Up Next . . .
Following the game with the Griffons, Washburn will take on Missouri Southern for a rematch with the Lions on Feb. 6 in Joplin. Washburn will then finish the MIAA slate with five of seven games in Lee Arena beginning with Pittsburg State on Feb. 9 in a game which will be broadcast on KTWU beginning at 5:30 p.m.