Matchup: Washburn (14-2, 7-2 MIAA) at Emporia State (13-2, 7-1 MIAA) Date: Saturday, Jan. 17, 2009 Time: 5:30 p.m. CST Site: Emporia, Kan. -- White Auditorium (5,000) Coaches: Washburn head coach Ron McHenry is 228-46 (.832) in his ninth season. McHenry is 16-7 against Emporia State. He is 34-20 against teams ranked in the top 25. ESU head coach Brandon Schneider is 263-63 (.807) in his 11th year as head coach. He is 11-16 against WU and 32-23 against Top 25 teams in his career Rankings: Washburn was ranked No. 7 in the WBCA Coaches Poll. ESU is ranked No. 9 in the WBCA Coaches Poll. Series Record: ESU leads the all-time series 39-36 Blue Notes: WU has won 13 of the last 17 meetings including the last four in the series Last Meeting: WU 73-58 in NCAA Sweet 16, 3/17/08 in Canyon, Texas Last WU win: same Last ESU win: 74-67, 2/17/07 at ESU Worth noting: This meeting will be the 18th straight in which both teams have been nationally ranked and the 11th overall in which both teams have been ranked in the top 10.

Radio: AM 580 WIBW Web Stream Internet: themiaa.tv (free) Live Stats: through ESU (free) Washburn Game Notes WBB Page Roster Statistics Schedule Emporia State Game Notes WBB Page Roster Statistics Schedule

The No. 7 ranked Lady Blues begin three-game road trip with Turnpike Tussle wrapping up first half of MIAA race . . . 
The No. 7 ranked Washburn Lady Blues (14-2, 7-2 MIAA) will travel down the Kansas Turnpike for the renewal of the basketball edition of the Turnpike Tussle as they travel to White Auditorium to face No. 9 ranked Emporia State (14-2, 7-1 MIAA). The Lady Blues topped Pittsburg State on Wednesday 74-55 while the Lady Hornets won on Jan. 10 at Pitt State in a 78-76 win last time out. Washburn trails the ESU by one-half game in the conference standings.  The team shared the MIAA regular season crown last year as Washburn took all three meetings including a 73-58 win over ESU in the NCAA Regional Final sending Washburn to the Elite Eight in Kearney, Neb.

Lady Blues on radio . . .
Washburn games with Emporia State 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 228-46 (.835) record overall and 119-32 (.791) 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 (.835) in MIAA history of coaches who have at least 200 wins. McHenry is 32-12 when both teams are ranked in the top 25 and 34-20 overall.
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.)
Emporia State head coach Brandon Schneider is 263-63 (.807) in his 11th 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. The Lady Hornets have gone to the NCAA Tournament in nine of his ten seasons as head coach. He is 32-23 against Top 25 teams in his career and has three wins against #1 ranked teams. He is 11-16 against WU.

Last time out for the Lady Blues. . .
Jan. 14, 2009 -  TOPEKA, Kan. -- The No. 7 Washburn Lady Blues used a 24-3 run over the final 8:14 of the game to improve to 14-2 and 7-2 in the MIAA in a 74-55 win over Pittsburg State in Lee Arena.
After the Gorillas' Nicole McCombs hit a jumper in the paint giving the Gorillas their lone lead of the game at 52-50 with 8:44 to go, Washburn held Pitt State without a field goal for the remainder of the game forcing the Gorillas into seven turnovers during the stretch.  Washburn's Janice Bright started the run with a jumper to knot the score at 52 then she scored another bucket on the Lady Blues' next possession. Bright finished with a total of nine points during the closing run en route to a career-high 29 points after she scored 20 in the first half.
Washburn took a 39-27 lead into the halftime break after leading by as many as 17 in the first half after hitting 60 percent from the field going 15 of 25. Both teams combined for 28 turnovers in the first 20 minutes of the game.
Bright's 29 points led three Lady Blues in double figures as she was joined by Dayna Rodriguez's career-high tying 15 points and Jessica Mainz's 13 points. Rodriguez also had a game-high seven rebounds sitting a career high as well. Bright finished the game 12 of 17 from the field including 4 of 6 from 3-point range.
McCombs led the Gorillas with 19 points. She was joined in double-digit scoring by Brianna Buchanan with 14 points.
Washburn shot 53 percent for the game hitting 27 of 51 shots and held the Gorillas to 43 percent going 20 of 47 overall. Washburn held a 32 to 24 advantage on the glass.
The Lady Blues committed only six turnovers in the second half and forced the Gorillas into 25 leading to 31 points off turnovers for the Lady Blues.

Final Notes from the Pittsburg State game . . .
Washburn improved to 33-10 following a loss under head coach Ron McHenry … Washburn is 6-6 on Jan. 14th in the program's history … Washburn has kept opponents under 100 in 300 consecutive games … McHenry has passed former Lady Blues head coach Patty Dick for eighth on the MIAA's all-time win chart with his 228th win. McHenry enters Saturday's game at Emporia State with a 228-46 record … Washburn is now 44-24 all-time against Pittsburg State. 

About Emporia State . . .
Emporia State leads the league by a half-game over the Lady Blues with a 7-1 conference record and a 13-2 overall mark. The Lady Hornets have won their last two picking up wins over Missouri Southern (83-70) and at Pittsburg State (78-76). ESU dropped an 86-73 home game to Southwest Baptist on Jan. 3. ESU is 9-1 at home this season.
Cassondra Boston leads ESU in scoring at 15.2 ppg pacing three others averaging double figures including Andrea Leiker at 14.4 ppg, Ida Edwards at 13.9 ppg and Sophia Lenard with 12.3 ppg average. Edwards also leads the team with 10.9 rebounds per game.
ESU is averaging 87.9 points per game and allowing 61.2 ppg and hitting 46 percent of their attempts from the field hitting 446 of 966 shots. They are also nailing 34 percent from 3-point range hitting 106 of 313 shots. Boston leads the team with 29 3-pointers.

Washburn/Emporia State series notes . . .
Saturday's meeting will be the 76th in the series. The Lady Hornets lead the all-time series 39-36. Washburn has won 16 of the last 21 games in the series. Both teams have been nationally ranked the last 18 times they have played and they have both been in the top ten during 11 of the last 13 meetings. Twelve of the last 16 games between the two have been decided by less than ten points with four games decided by two points or less. In Topeka, Washburn is 18-19 against ESU. In games played in Emporia, Washburn is 13-20 in White Auditorium. On neutral courts, Washburn is 5-0 winning the only two meetings in Kansas City during the MIAA Tournament.  In the NCAA Tournament, the teams have met four times with Washburn holding a 3-1 lead. Washburn won March 15, 2003 in Topeka, in the regional semifinals 66-60 and on March 14, 2005 with Washburn taking a 63-51 in Springfield, Mo. ESU on March 13, 2006 when the Lady Hornets topped the Lady Blues 61-59 in overtime snapping Washburn's NCAA Division II record 51-game winning streak. The Lady Blues won in the 2008 NCAA South Central Regional finals on March 17 in Canyon, Texas in a 73-58 win. Ron McHenry is 16-7 against Emporia State. ESU head coach Brandon Schneider is 11-16 against Washburn.

Last meeting between Washburn and Emporia State . . .
(March 17, 2008) CANYON, Texas -- The Lady Blues reached their fifth NCAA Elite Eight win a 73-58 win over Emporia State in the South Central Regional Finals in Canyon, Texas.
Washburn led 30-22 at the half after hitting 41 percent of their shots while holding the Lady Hornets to 7 of 20 from the field. The Lady Blues went 7:24 without a point after the Lady Blues led 19-8, but ESU cut the lead to 19-17 before Corkey Stiger broke the scoreless streak with a lay up at the 5:01 mark. Stiger scored the next five points to push the lead to seven at 26-19 before taking the eight-point lead into the break.
In the second half, Washburn pushed the lead to 15 at 39-24 with 16 minutes remaining before the Lady Hornets trimmed the lead to five at 39-34 on a free throw by Ida Edwards. After five straight points by Stiger on a jumper and 3-pointer stretched the lead back to 10 at 44-34 with 10:15 left in the game.
After an 8-2 run by ESU, Hope Gregory canned a 3-pointer from the wing with 7:36 left in the game at 49-42. The Lady Hornets came back and cut the lead to three at 52-49 on a 3-pointer by Michelle Stueve with 6:03 left in the game. Janice Bright hit a couple of free throws for the Lady Blues stretching the lead to 55-50.
With 4:20 left in the game and Washburn holding on to a 57-53 lead, Bright hit a lay up and Stiger hit two free throws after a steal pushing the lead to eight at 61-53. Another lay up by Bright stretched the margin to 10 and the Lady Hornets would get no closer than eight the rest of the way.
Stiger, who became only the third Lady Blue to reach 1,000 points in a two-year career, led the Lady Blues with a game-high 31 points. Stiger now has 1,016 in her career and was named the South Central Regional Most Valuable Player. Bright finished with 16 and Amanda Holmes scored 10 points. Holmes also earned all-region honors.
Stueve led the Lady Hornets with 25 points and 10 rebounds. Andrea Leiker scored 10 points.
Washburn finished 45 percent for the game from the field hitting 21 of 47 attempts from the field while holding ESU to 19 of 52 from the field.
ESU outrebounded the Lady Blues 39-28 on the glass.

Last time out for Emporia State . . .
(Jan. 10, 2009) PITTSBURG, Kan. -- Junior G Cassondra Boston scored on a leaner in the lane with 2.5 seconds left to give No. 10 Emporia State a 78-76 victory over Pittsburg State Saturday night (Jan. 10) at John Lance Arena.
Boston scored all 12 of her points in the second half for ESU (13-2, 7-1 MIAA), which now sits alone in first place.
The Lady Hornets jumped out to a 15-2 lead to open the game and led by as many as 20 points in the first half before Pitt State (10-4, 5-2 MIAA) came back. Senior F Ida Edwards, scored 15 of her 21 points in the first half as ESU held a 43-32 lead after 20 minutes.
The Gorillas opened the second half on a 14-2 run to take a 46-45 lead -- PSU's first of the game -- with 15:24 left.
ESU would go back up by eight points on a pair of free throws by senior G Andrea Leiker with 9:50 left and led by seven at 70-63 with 5:03 remaining.
PSU then went on a 13-2 run to take a 76-72 lead with 1:19 left. Sophomore G Bailey Waugh drained two three-pointers and senior G Caitlin Demarest added a third to aid the rally.
Boston hit a jumper with 1:11 left to pull ESU within two and Edwards tied the game on a putback with 38.8 seconds left. Waugh missed a three-pointer with 10 seconds left setting up Boston's heroics.
Edwards had 14 rebounds to go with her 21 points for her sixth double-double of the season. Junior G Sophia Lenard ended up with 14 points and four assists while junior G Lacy Corker tossed in 10 off the bench.
Junior F Nicole McCombs led all scorers with 24 points for the Gorillas while adding 10 rebounds. Demarest and senior G Briana Buchanan each scored 11 points.

Lady Blues in Lee Arena . . .
In their 25th season in Lee Arena, the Lady Blues are 311-57 (.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 120-12 (.909) in home games under Ron McHenry. Five of the 12 losses came in his first year on the Lady Blues bench. In the last seven seasons, Washburn is 112-7 (.941).

Lady Blues history . . .
Washburn is 709-329 (.682 in 1,037 games) in its 40th season of intercollegiate action.

WU in the national poll . . .
(Jan. 6, 2009) The Washburn Lady Blues basketball dropped to No. 7 from No. 3 in the WBCA USA Today ESPN Division II Coaches Poll which was released today. The Lady Blues have been ranked in 101 consecutive top 25 polls and have received votes in the last 116 top 25 coaches polls.

Following a Lady Blues loss . . .
• Following a loss, the Lady Blues are 33-10 under head coach Ron McHenry.
• In the 32 wins, the average margin of victory has been 11.1 points. In the last six-plus years (including the 2003-04 season), the Lady Blues are 17-0 following a loss with an average victory margin of 18.1 points per game.

Tip-Ins . . .
• Washburn is 9-1 on Jan. 17th in the program's history with the only loss coming at Missouri Southern in an 87-69 loss during the 1985-86 season.
• Washburn has kept opponents under 100 in 300 consecutive games.
• Jessica Mainz leads the team with a plus/minus ratio of +179 for a per game ratio of +14.75. When she is on the court, Washburn has scored 843 points while allowing 664 points.
• Washburn is shooting 179 of 474 (.378) from the field in the first half of games this season and 208 of 423 (.492) in the second half of games this season.
• Washburn is scoring 7.3 more points per game in the second half compared to the first half of games this season (38.2 to 30.9).
• Washburn opponents are shooting 142 of 402 (.353) in the first half and 164 of 412 (.398) in the second half of games this season.
• Washburn starters are outscoring their opponents starters 682 to 670 (42.6 ppg to 41.9 ppg) while the Washburn bench is outscoring their opponents 448 to 213 (28.0 ppg to 13.3 ppg) - more than 2 to 1 ratio.
• In the Lady Blues' 14 wins this season, Washburn has five players averaging at least six points per game - in the two losses, only four are averaging at least 6.0 ppg.
• Janice Bright has scored at a 23.0 ppg average in the two losses and 16.3 in the 14 wins. She is the only Lady Blue to average double figures in the two losses.

Under head coach Ron McHenry . . .
• McHenry passed former Lady Blues head coach Patty Dick for eighth on the MIAA's all-time win chart with his 228th win against Pitt State. McHenry enters the ESU game with a 228-46 record. Dick had a 227-96 record while she was on the sidelines from 1989-2000 with Washburn playing as an MIAA school after joining from the NAIA ranks. He is currently tied  for seventh overall with former Central Missouri head coach John Pye (1985-95) who was 228-68 for the Jennies. In sixth is former SBU head coach Jim Middleton (1994-2008) who was 239-158.
• Washburn is 197-13 when leading at the half.
• Washburn is 69-0 when scoring at least 81 points.
• When opponents are held to 70 points or below, Washburn is 172-32 … when opponents are held to 60 points or less, the Lady Blues are 159-15.
• Washburn is 53-22 in the month of January.
• Washburn is 217-9 when leading with five minutes to go in the game.
• Washburn is 192-10 when outshooting their opponent.
• Washburn is 34-20 against ranked teams and the Lady Blues' record against ranked teams when both are ranked in the top 25 is 32-12.

Lady Blue Notes. . .
#3 • Brette Ulsaker • G • 5-9 • Jr. • Of 38 rebounds, 18 are offensive.
#4 • Stanecia Graham • F • 6-1 • Sr. • 11 of 24 from field in last three games (avg. 8.6 ppg)
#5 • Erica Brown • G • 5-9 • Jr. • Career-high 7 points, 6 FG attempts against Pitt State
#10 • Lauren Henry • G • 5-4 • Fr. • Saw first action against FHSU after having appendix removed before Thanksgiving
#11 • Renata Germano • C • 6-2 • Sr. • 28 career blocks is 24th all-time at Washburn
#13 • Jessica Mainz • G • 5-9 • Sr. • 280 career assists 12th all-time at Washburn
#14 • Alyssa Mullen • F • 5-11 • So. • 19 of 43 rebounds this season have been offensive
#20 • Hadleigh Meek • G • 5-8 • So. • Two of four from free throw line this season with four assists in seven games
#21 • Cassie Lombardino • C • 6-3 • Fr. • Four of eight from field in seven games with five rebounds
#23 • Jacki Tipping • G • 5-10 • Jr. • Redshirting after having preseason ankle surgery
#24 • Karla Tailele • G • 5-6 • Sr. • 47 career 3-pointers rank 20th on all-time chart at Washburn
#25 • Stevi Schultz • G • 5-9 • Fr. • Five of 17 from 3-point range this season
#30 • Kalee Silovsky • F • 6-0 • Sr. • 18 of 50 rebounds have been on the offensive end of the court
#32 • Janice Bright • G • 5-9 • Sr. • 29 pts, 12 FG's both career highs against Pitt State last time out
#33 • Hope Gregory • F • 5-10 • So. • 38 career 3-pointers rank 21st all-time at WU (53 games)
#40 • Dayna Rodriguez • F • 6-2 • Jr. • 15 points against PSU tied career high (15 vs Drury as well)
#42 • Raychel Boling • F • 6-0 • Jr. • Redshirting after transferring from Fort Hays State
#44 • Emily Gibson • F • 6-1 • So. • Has played in eight games scoring six points hitting all four free throw attempts

NCAA Regional dates and Elite Eight dates have changed . . .
This year's NCAA South Central Regional dates have been changed to the 13, 14, and 16th of March and the Elite Eight in San Antonio, Texas has moved to the 24, 25 and 27th of March with the championship game scheduled for a Friday instead of the normal Saturday title game.

Up Next . . .
Following the game with ESU, the Lady Blues will travel to Nebraska-Omaha on Jan. 24th in their first trip to Omaha since Nov. 22, 1985 and then take on Northwest Missouri on Jan. 28. Washburn will not play in Topeka again until Jan. 31 when they will face Missouri Western