Game #8 Matchup: Washburn (7-0, 2-0 MIAA) vs Truman State (2-5, 0-2 MIAA) Date: Saturday, Dec. 13, 2008 Time: 5:30 p.m. CST Site: Kirksville, Mo. - Pershing Arena (2,400) Radio: AM 580 WIBW with play by play with Mark Elliott calling all the action with Bruce Steinbrock. Coaches: Washburn head coach Ron McHenry is 221-44 (.831) in his ninth season. McHenry is 16-2 against Truman. Truman's Michael Smith is in his first season with the Bulldogs. He is Smith has a 2-5 record at Truman. He was 102-34 at Moberly Community College. Rankings: Washburn is ranked No. 2 in the WBCA Coaches Poll. Truman is unranked. Series Record: WU leads the all-time series 34-8 Streaks: WU has won the last 12 in the series Last Meeting: WU 80-75, 2/16/08 in Kirksville Last WU win: same Last TSU win: 76-71, 2/1/03 in Kirksville Worth noting: Washburn's last six games in Kirksville have been decided by an average of 12 points in favor of the Lady Blues.

Radio: AM 580 WIBW AM580 Web Stream (free) Internet: www.themiaa.tv (free) Live Stats: Through Truman Washburn Lady Blues Game Notes Roster Statistics Schedule Truman Game Notes Roster Statistics Schedule

No. 2 ranked Lady Blues hit the road for the 1st time this season to face Bulldogs . . . 
The No. 2 ranked Washburn Lady Blues will play their first regular season game away from Lee Arena this season as they travel to Kirksville, Mo., to take on the Truman Bulldogs. Washburn (7-0, 2-0 MIAA) is coming off a 67-48 win over Northwest Missouri on Saturday. The Bulldogs (2-5, 0-2 MIAA) dropped a 77-56 decision to Pittsburg State on the road. Washburn will travel to the Cruzin' Classic near Miami, Fla. to take on Barry on Dec. 18 and Nova Southeastern the following day before returning to MIAA play against Missouri Western on Dec. 29.

Lady Blues on radio . . .
Washburn's game with Northwest Missouri will be on AM 580 WIBW. 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. Pregame show starts 15 minutes before tip.

The coaches . . .
Washburn head coach Ron McHenry has posted a 221-44 (.833) record overall and 114-30 (.789) record in the MIAA with five MIAA regular season championships and the 2005 NCAA National Championship.  McHenry has also led the Lady Blues to four MIAA Postseason Tournament titles including four of the six played in Kansas City. McHenry has the highest winning percentage (.833) 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 6 of notes.)
Truman head coach Michael Smith is in his first season with the Bulldogs after spending time as an assistant coach at Division I, Arkansas-Little Rock and head coach at Moberly Area Community College. Smith was102-34 at MACC. He is 2-5 in his first season at four-year colleges.

Last time out for the Lady Blues. . .
Dec. 6, 2008 -  TOPEKA, Kan.  -- The No. 2 ranked Washburn Lady Blues had five players score at least eight points as they defeated Northwest Misssouri 67-48 in Lee Arena. The win was the 25th straight for the Lady Blues over the Bearcats in Topeka.
The Lady Blues (7-0, 2-0 MIAA) trailed at 12-8, but a 14-2 run over the next six-plus minutes reversed the game and gave Washburn a 22-14 lead with 5:54 to go in the first half. The Bearcats (4-4, 0-2 MIAA) cut back into the lead reducing the margin to five at 24-19, but back-to-back 3-pointers by Hope Gregory and Kalee Silovsky propelled Washburn to a 34-25 halftime lead.
In the second half, Washburn limited the Bearcats to 7 of 23 shooting from the field as Washburn held Northwest to at least a 10-point deficit the remainder of the game taking the 19-point win.
Janice Bright scored a game-high 13 points to lead the Lady Blues. Gregory finished with 10 points hitting three 3-pointers on the night in four attempts. Meghan Brue led the Bearcats with 11 points. Four different Lady Blues had four rebounds.
Washburn finished the game hitting 21 of 50 from the field while the Bearcats finished 16 of 47. Washburn was 18 of 27 from the free throw line and Northwest was 13 of 17 from the charity stripe.
 
Notes from the Northwest Missouri game . . .
Washburn leads the all-time series 39-9 with 25 straight wins in Lee Arena … Washburn improved to 5-5 all-time on Finnish Independence Day … Washburn improved to 43-4 all-time in the month of December under head coach Ron McHenry … Washburn is now 190-12 under McHenry when leading at the half … Washburn is now 154-14 when they hold their opponents under 60 points under McHenry. 

Washburn/Truman series notes . . .
Saturday's meeting will be the 43rd all-time. The Lady Blues lead the all-time series with Truman 34-8. The Lady Blues have won the last 12 games in the series. The Bulldogs' last win in the series was Feb. 1, 2003 season by a score of 76-71 in Kirksville. The Lady Blues have won the last 21 games in Topeka as the Bulldogs won in their first trip to Topeka during the 1979-80 season, but have lost every game since then. In Kirksville, the Lady Blues have won the last five meetings and they are 11-6 all-time in Pershing Arena. The teams have met twice in the MIAA Tournament with the Lady Blues winning 77-48 in the quarterfinals in Kansas City on March 6, 2003 and again in the quarterfinals last season on March 2, 2006 in a 63-36 win in Kansas City.

About Truman . . .
Truman is 2-5 on the season and 0-2 in MIAA play. The Bulldogs have lost two straight to open conference play with a 71-65 setback at Missouri Southern on Dec. 3 and at Pittsburg State 77-56 on Dec. 6.
The Bulldogs average 64.6 points per games, while opponents stand just above at 70.4. They are shooting .455 (175-385) as a team from the floor, including a .323 shooting percentage from 3-point land. Truman holds a +2.1 rebound margin over its opponents. A big weakness for the team has been turnovers as it is averaging 22.0 a game.
Georgia Mueller leads the team with a 15.4 points per game average. She sits just below a double-double per game with 8.0 rebounds. She also leads the team with eight blocks on the year. Laura Joya added 12.1 points per game and is the team's leading rebounds with 8.0 boards per game. She also leads the team with 4.0 assists per game.

Last time out for Truman . . .
Dec. 6, 2008 – Despite shooting 50% from the floor, the Truman women's basketball team lost 77-56 to Pittsburg State on Saturday afternoon.  The Bulldogs were led by Laura Joya's 14 points.
Truman led for most of the first half and were up six with just over three minutes left when Pittsburg State started to hit their stride.  The Gorillas closed the half on a 9-0 run and a three-pointer by Kayla Hruby gave Pitt State a lead they would not give up.
The turnover bug and offensive rebounds were the difference for the Bulldogs as they fall to 2-5 and 0-2 in the MIAA.  Truman had 29 turnovers and allowed Pittsburg State to gather 21 offensive boards.  The Bulldogs were outscored in the second half 47-29.
Joya added six boards, five assists,, two blocks and three steals to her stat total for the day, while Georgia Mueller finished with 10 points, eight rebounds and a pair of blocks as well.  Malorie Kiecker added 13 points.
Pittsburg State was led by Nichole McCombs who scored 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting.  McCombs added 12 rebounds for the double-double.

Last meeting between Washburn and Truman . . .
(Feb. 16, 2007) KIRKSVILLE, Mo. -- The No. 18 ranked Washburn Lady Blues led from tip to buzzer in an 80-75 win over the Truman Bulldogs. With the win, Washburn improves to 19-4 and 11-3 in the MIAA and will face Northwest Missouri on Wednesday in Lee Arena at 5:30 p.m.
Washburn blitzed the nets in the opening half connecting on 62 percent of their shots jumping out to leads of 22 to 6 five minutes into the game eventually reaching a 36 to 20 advantage with 8:06 to go in the half, but the Bulldogs sliced the lead back to five at 41-36 going into the halftime break finishing the opening period on a 16-5 run. Washburn was 18 of 29 from the field in the first half led by Renata Germano's nine points off the bench as she hit 4 of 6 field goal attempts to go along with a team-high six rebounds.
In the second half, Washburn scored the first eight points of the half stretching the lead to 13 at 49-36 with 17:29 to go in the game. The Bulldogs again rallied to cut the lead to seven at 55-48 with over 13 minutes to play in the game and eventually the Bulldogs would trim the lead back to five at 59-54 with 8:32 to go before Washburn pulled away to a double digit lead at 67-57 with 5:46 left.
With Washburn leading 75-63 with 1:47 left, the Bulldogs cut the lead as few as four on two different occasions but could not get any closer as the Lady Blues took the five-point win.
Corkey Stiger led the Lady Blues with her second straight 21-point performance with 10 coming in the second half. Janice Bright scored 10 of her 16 in the second frame after hitting 3 of 4 from the field and all four free throw attempts. Amanda Holmes scored 11 points.
Truman's Georgia Mueller finished with a game-high 25 points and ten rebounds.
Washburn shot 51 percent from the field for the game hitting 31 of 60 attempts compared to Truman's 24 of 55 (43 percent).
Truman edged the Lady Blues on the boards 33 to 30.
Washburn outscored the Bulldogs 46 to 24 in the pain and converted 17 turnovers into 21 points.

Lady Blues in Lee Arena . . .
In their 25th season in Lee Arena, the Lady Blues are 308-56 (.842) overall at home. Washburn won their 300th game against Emporia State on Feb. 23, 2008. The longest winning streak was 44 games from Dec. 1, 1990 to March 20, 1993.
The Lady Blues have won 40 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 117-11 (.909) in home games under Ron McHenry. Five of the 11 losses came in his first year on the Lady Blues bench. In the last seven seasons, Washburn is 109-6 (.944).
Overall, Washburn has won 13 straight home games with the last defeat coming on Feb. 6, 2008 to Missouri Southern in a 69-61 setback.

Lady Blues history . . .
Washburn is 702-327 (.682 in 1,029 games) in its 40th season of intercollegiate action.

WU in the national poll . . .
(Dec. 9, 2008) The Washburn Lady Blues basketball team remained No. 2 in the WBCA USA Today ESPN Division II Coaches Poll which was released today. The Lady Blues lost a first place vote from last week's poll as they received only one this week after going 2-0 with wins over Nebraska-Omaha and Northwest Missouri. The Lady Blues have been ranked in 98 consecutive top 25 polls and have received votes in the last 113 top 25 coaches polls.

Lady Blues Notes . . .
3 • Brette Ulsaker • G • 5-9 • Jr. • Four assists against UNO tied a career high
^4 • Stanecia Graham • F • 6-1 • Sr. • 19 of 28 from field in last three games (averaging 15.1 ppg)
5 • Jacki Tipping • G • 5-10 • Jr. • Will miss season after having ankle surgery in late September
10 • Lauren Henry • G • 5-4 • Fr. • Had appendix removed after the Drury game
11 • Renata Germano • C • 6-2 • Sr. • 4 rebounds against Northwest Missouri was a season-high
^13 • Jessica Mainz • G • 5-9 • Sr. • 6 of 12 from field in last three games, 2 of 3 from 3-point range (6.7 ppg)
14 • Alyssa Mullen • F • 5-11 • So. • 13 of 26 rebounds this season have been on offensive glass
20 • Hadleigh Meek • G • 5-8 • So. • Set new career high with four assists against Southwestern
21 • Cassie Lombardino • C • 6-3 • Fr. • 3 of 6 from the field this season
24 • Karla Tailele • G • 5-6 • Sr. • 11 of 28 from 3-point range this season (.393)
25 • Stevi Schultz • G • 5-9 • Fr. • Scored four points in three minutes against NWMSU on Saturday
^30 • Kalee Silovsky • F • 6-0 • Sr. • Averaging 9.5 ppg and 3.0 rpg in last two (8 of 11 FG's)
^32 • Janice Bright • G • 5-9 • Sr. • Averaging 14.0  ppg in last four games
^33 • Hope Gregory • G • 5-10 • So. • Leads team with 14 3-pointers (14 of 27 --- .519)
40 • Dayna Rodriguez • F • 6-2 • Jr. • Has hit at least one 3-pointer in four of last five games
42 • Raychel Boling • F • 6-0 • Jr. • Will sit out the season after transferring from Fort Hays State
44 • Emily Gibson • F • 6-1 • So. • Has hit all four free throw attempts this season (11 of 15 for career)

Tip-Ins . . .
• Washburn is 6-1 all-time on Dec. 13. The only loss was a Dec. 13, 1980 loss at Midland Lutheran in a 86-58 loss.
• Washburn is 43-4 all-time in the month of December under head coach Ron McHenry.
• Washburn is 35 of 42 in the last five minutes of games from the free throw line hitting 83 percent. The Lady Blues' opponents are 10 of 14.
• Jessica Mainz is 8 of 10 from the free throw line in the last five minutes of games.
• Washburn is 190-12 under McHenry when leading at the half.
• Washburn has kept opponents under 100 in 291 consecutive games.
• Washburn is 68-0 when scoring at least 81 points under McHenry.
• When opponents are held to 70 points or below, Washburn is 165-31 … when opponents are to 60 points or less, the Lady Blues are 154-14 with McHenry on the sidelines.
• Washburn is +8.9 scoring in the first half of games and +11.3 in scoring margin in the second half.
• In the first half of games this season, the Lady Blues are 82 of 210 (.390) from the field. In the second half, the Lady Blues are scorching the nets hitting half of their shots going 92 of 184 (.500) from the field.

Up Next . . .
After the Lady Blues' first road test of the season at Truman on Dec. 13, they will travel to the Cruzin' Classic to take on Barry on Dec. 18 and Nova Southeastern on Dec. 19 before returning to MIAA play at Missouri Western on Dec. 29 and a New Year's Eve date with Fort Hays State on Dec. 31 with a 1:30 p.m. tip.