Complete Game Notes

The No. 4 ranked Washburn Lady Blues will head to Emporia, Kan., to take on arch-rival Emporia State in the first edition of the 2007-08 Turnpike Tussle. The Lady Blues are 10-1 overall and 2-0 in the MIAA after topping Central Missouri 68-47 last time out in Lee Arena. The No. 16 ranked Lady Hornets are 8-3, 1-1 in the MIAA after falling at Southwest Baptist last time out 76-73. Washburn is playing its first game in a stretch of three straight games away from Lee Arena.

Quick Facts
Matchup: Washburn (10-1, 2-0 MIAA) at Emporia State (8-3, 1-1 MIAA)
Date: Wednesday, Jan. 9
Time: 5:30 p.m. CST
Site: Emporia, Kan. - White Auditorium (5,000)
Radio: WIBW 580 AM / 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: not available
Coaches: Washburn head coach Ron McHenry is 198-38 (.836) in his eighth season - McHenry is 13-7 against Emporia State.
ESU head coach Brandon Schneider is 235-56 (.807) in his tenth year as head coach. He is 11-12 against Washburn
Rankings: Washburn is ranked No. 4 and Emporia State is ranked No. 16 in the WBCA/USA Today/ESPN Preseason Coaches Poll.
Series Record: ESU leads the all-time series 39-33
Streaks: WU has won 10 of the last 14 meetings
Last Meeting: WU 73-61 in MIAA Tournament semis on 3/3/07
Last WU win: same
Last ESU win: 74-67, 2/17/07 at ESU
Worth noting: Both teams have been nationally ranked the last 14 times they have played  and 11 of the last 14 games have been decided by less than ten points.

Lady Blues on radio . . .
The Lady Blues game with Central Missouri will be broadcast live on AM 580 WIBW 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 198-38 (.839) record overall and 100-26 (.792) record in the MIAA with four 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.)
ESU head coach Brandon Schneider is 235-56 (.807) in his tenth year as head coach. He is the winningest coach in Lady Hornet history and is responsible for over one third of ESU's all-time victories. He is the third winningest active coach by percentage in Division II and is the only coach in MIAA history with an .800 winning percentage and at least 200 wins. The Lady Hornets have gone to the NCAA Tournament in eight of his nine seasons as head coach.

Last Time Out for the Lady Blues . . .
Jan. 5, 2008 - #4 Washburn 68, Central Missouri 47 • TOPEKA, Kan. – The No. 4 Washburn Lady Blues topped Central Missouri for the ninth straight time in Lee Arena and the 14th straight time overall as the Lady Blues picked up a 68-47 win in the 1,000th game in program history.
The Lady Blues (10-1, 2-0 MIAA) led from start to finish as the Lady Blues jumped out to an 8-0 lead to open the game and the Jennies (5-6, 0-2 MIAA) would not get any closer than seven points the remainder of the game.
Corkey Stiger led the Lady Blues in scoring for the eighth straight game with a game-tying high 18 points on 7 of 11 shooting including a 4 of 8 performance from 3-point range in the game.
Joining Stiger in double figures were Karla Tailele who scored a career-high 13 points off the bench on 5 of 6 shooting and Janice Bright who tallied 9 of her 11 points in the first half.
Washburn finished the game hitting 25 of 50 from the field after hitting 12 of 22 from the field in the opening period. The Lady Blues limited Central Missouri to 7 of 30 from the field in the first half and 6 of 23 in the second half for a 25 percent clip for the game.
Lindsey Maple led the Jennies with 18 points off the bench.
The Lady Blues held a slim 35 to 33 advantage on the boards despite allowing Central Missouri to grab 18 offensive rebounds.

Notes from the Central Missouri Game . . .
Washburn is now 28-11 all-time against the Jennies … Lady Blues head coach Ron McHenry picked up his 100th win in MIAA play as he is now 100-26 in his eighth season on the Washburn bench … In 1,000 games in the programs' history, Washburn is now 679-321 overall … Washburn is now 294-55 in Lee Arena and McHenry is 102-10 in home games.

Washburn/Emporia State series notes . . .
Wednesday's meeting will be the 73rd in the series. The Lady Hornets lead the all-time series 39-33. Washburn has won 13 of the last 18 games in the series. Both teams have been nationally ranked the last 13 times they have played and they have both been in the top ten during 11 of the last 12 meetings. Eleven of the last 14 games between the two have been decided by less than ten points with four games decided by two points or less. The Washburn/Emporia State series in the most-played series for the Lady Blues. The Lady Blues have played Missouri Western 72 times, Pittsburg State 65 times, Missouri Southern 60 times and Fort Hays State 58 times.

Last Meeting Between Washburn and Emporia State . . .
(March 3, 2007) KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The No. 6 Washburn Lady Blues advanced to their third straight MIAA Tournament Championship game and their eighth overall after topping No. 11 Emporia State 67-50 in the tournament semifinals.
Washburn was led by Amanda Holmes, who scored a career-high 22 points while recording four blocks to pace the Washburn attack. Corkey Stiger scored 21 points with 16 coming in the first half. Stiger hit 7 of 14 from the field including a 5 of 7 performance from behind the 3-point line. Holmes hit 10 of 11 free throws.
In the first half, Washburn led by as many as 11 as Washburn shot 45 percent from the field. However ESU outrebounded the Lady Blues 19 to 13. Adding to the Lady Blues success was them committing only two turnovers while forcing nine Lady Hornet turnovers turning them into 10 points.
In the second half, Washburn pushed their lead to 14 at 59-45 after Holmes hit the second of two free throws with 9:33 remaining. ESU would then go on a 7-0 run over the next two-plus minutes cutting the lead to 7. But the Lady Blues then would go on a 7-0 run on their own stretching the lead back to 14 at 66-52 with 4:06 left. ESU would not get closer than nine the rest of the way.
Brooke Ubelaker scored 13 points and started in her 130th career game breaking the MIAA's record for games started in a career.
Washburn was 20 of 22 from the free throw line, but was outrebounded 39 to 34 by ESU.
 
About Emporia State . . .
The Lady Hornets are 8-3 and 1-1 in the MIAA after dropping a 76-73 decision at Southwest Baptist last time out on Jan. 5.
ESU is led by senior All-American forward Michelle Stueve who is scoring 26.2 points and 9.2 rebounds per game holding a first and third rankings in the MIAA stats entering this week.
Junior transfer Ida Edwards is averaging 14.5 points per game in four games this season. Also averaging double figures is junior forward Allie Renberg at 11.5 ppg and junior guard Andrea Leiker at 10.7 ppg. Overall, ESU has six players averaging at least 8.7 points per game.

Last time out for Emporia State . . .
 (Jan. 5, 2008) -- BOLIVAR, Mo. -- The 13th-ranked Emporia State Lady Hornets rallied from a 12-point second-half deficit to tie the game late, but Southwest Baptist was able to pull out a 76-73 victory Saturday afternoon (Jan. 5) at the Meyer Sports Center.
It was the Lady Bearcats' first win in the last 12 meetings with Emporia State.
SBU (9-2, 1-1 MIAA) never trailed after taking a 13-12 lead with 11:47 remaining in the first half, although Emporia State (8-3, 1-1 MIAA) tied it four times over the remaining 29-plus minutes of action.
The Lady Bearcats held a 67-55 lead with 5:44 to go when the Lady Hornets made their last run at them. An 18-6 spurt, capped by a three-pointer by sophomore G Cassondra Boston, knotted the game at 71-71 with 1:35 left in the game.
SBU was able to score five of the last seven points in the game, going 3-of-4 at the line and getting a bucket from senior C Kelly Reinkemeyer. ESU had two shots in the last five seconds to tie the game, but Boston and senior F Michelle Stueve missed their late three-point tries.
Junior G Cortney Shewmaker led five Lady Bearcats in double-figure scoring with 16 points, while senior G Erika Souza added 15 points with a game-high nine assists.
Freshman G/F Katelin Cutbirth scored 13 off the bench, while Reinkemeyer had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds and sophomore G Rachel Graves also scored 10 points.
Stueve passed Central Missouri's Barb Sorensen (1986-90 -- 1,977) for eighth place on the MIAA's career scoring list, finishing with 15 points to raise her career total to 1,978. Stueve also had 11 rebounds to pass UCM's Rachel Matakas (1993-96 -- 855) for seventh in league history with 863.
Junior F Ida Edwards also added a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, and junior G Andrea Leiker scored 14 points -- seven coming in the last rally attempt by ESU. Boston and junior F Allie Renberg each scored 10 points.

Lady Blues Notes . . .
#3 – Brette Ulsaker – At least one rebound in last seven games
#4 – Amanda Holmes – Averaging 11.6 ppg and 8.0 rpg in last 3 - 17 of 21 from FT line during same span
#11 – Renata Germano – Made third career start against Central Missouri
#13 – Jessica Mainz – At least five assists in each of last three games
#14 – Alyssa Mullen – Hit only field goal attempt against Central Missouri on Jan. 5
#20 – Hadleigh Meek – Hit only field goal attempt against Central Missouri on Jan. 5
#21 – Corkey Stiger – Double figure scoring in last eight games (19.1 ppg)
#23 – Jacki Tipping – Both rebounds are offensive this season
#24 – Karla Tailele – Career-high 13 points on 5 of 6 shooting against UCM
#30 – Kalee Silovsky – Nine rebounds against MWSU was a career high
#32 – Janice Bright – Scored 9 of 11 points in 1st half against Jennies
#33 – Hope Gregory – 6 of 7 from FT line this season
#44 – Emily Gibson – Tied season high with eight minutes played against UMSL
#50 – Regiane Araujo – Hit only field goal attempt against Central Missouri on Jan. 5

Lady Blues in Lee Arena . . .
In their 24th season in Lee Arena, the Lady Blues are 294-55 (.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 102-10 (.910) in home games under Ron McHenry.

Lady Blues history . . .
Washburn is 679-321 (.679 in 1,000 games) in its 38th season of intercollegiate action.

WU in the national poll . . .
The Washburn Lady Blues climbed from No. 7 to No. 4 latest USA Today/ESPN Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll which was released Jan. 1. 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. The poll marks the 93rd consecutive week the Lady Blues have been ranked.

Tip Ins . . .
• Head coach Ron McHenry is 28-19 against ranked teams and 26-11 when both teams are ranked in the WBCA National Poll.
• Ron McHenry won his 100th MIAA game at Washburn. He is now 100-26 in his eighth season at Washburn.
• The Lady Blues have not allowed an opponent to shoot above 50 percent in a game in a streak of 82 contests - Angelo State was the last opponent to hit 50 percent of their shots in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Springfield when they connected on 26 of 52 shots on March 12, 2005.  Under McHenry, the Lady Blues are 194-34 when their opponent shoots under 50 percent overall. Washburn is 4-4 when their opponents shoot over 50 percent.
• The Lady Blues have held their opponents under 100 points in 262 consecutive games.
• Washburn is 128 of 327 (.391) from the field in the first half of games this season and 139 of 317 (.438) in the second half.
• The Lady Blues are 39 of 57 from the free throw line in the last five minutes of the game (.684) compared to 31 of 43 (.721) for their opponents.

Under Lady Blues head coach Ron McHenry . . .
• The Lady Blues are 169-7 when outshooting their opponent.
• Washburn is 65-1 when holding their opponents under 50 points or less. The lone loss was to Missouri Western on Jan. 27, 2007 in a 49-47 loss in St. Joseph, Mo.
• Washburn is 70-0 they score at least 80 points.
• Washburn is 189-7 when leading with 5 minutes remaining in the game.
• Washburn is 58-2 when shooting 50 percent or better.
• Washburn is 47-17 all-time in the month of January.
• Washburn is 169-7 when shooting better than their opponent.

Up Next . . .
The Lady Blues will return to the turnpike to play two more games on the road at Northwest Missouri (Jan. 12) and Fort Hays State (Jan. 16) before returning home to face Truman on Jan. 19. Following the game with the Bulldogs, the Lady Blues will have two more road games at Southwest Baptist on Jan. 22 and at Pittsburg State on Jan. 26 before returning home to play 7 of their final 10 MIAA games in Lee Arena.