Matchup: Washburn (12-0, 5-0 MIAA) vs Central Missouri (8-3, 3-1 MIAA) Date: Saturday, Jan. 3, 2009 Time: 5:30 p.m. CST Site: Topeka, Kan. - Lee Arena (3,907) Radio: AM 580 WIBW with play by play with Mark Elliott and Bruce Steinbrock Coaches: Washburn head coach Ron McHenry is 226-44 (.837) in his ninth season. McHenry is 15-3 vs the Jennies. UCM head coach Dave Slifer is in his fifth year at Central Missouri and his 20th season overall. He is 464-147 record overall. He is 17-16 all-time against the Lady Blues. He is 1-9 all-time at UCM against the Lady Blues. He was 16-7 while at MWSU. Rankings: Washburn is ranked No. 2 in the WBCA Coaches Poll. UCM is unranked. Series Record: WU leads the all-time series 28-12 Last Meeting: UCM 69-58, 3/1/08 in Warrensburg Last WU win: 68-47, 1/5/08 in Topeka Last UCM win: 69-58, 3/1/08 in Warrensburg Worth noting: Washburn had their 14-game winning streak snapped in Warrensburg last season in the regular season finale in the 69-58 loss to the Jennies.

Radio: AM 580 WIBW AM580 Web Stream Internet: themiaa.tv Live Stats: wusports.com Washburn Game Notes Roster Statistics Schedule

Washburn opens new calendar year with Jennies. . . 
The No. 2 ranked Washburn Lady Blues continue their three-game MIAA home stand with the Central Missouri Jennies on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. in Lee Arena. Washburn (12-0, 5-0 MIAA) won last time out 77-58 over Fort Hays State on New Year's Eve. The Jennies (8-3, 3-1 MIAA) dropped a non-conference decision 67-53 to Division I Missouri-Kansas City.

Lady Blues on radio . . .
Washburn games with 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 226-44 (.833) record overall and 117-30 (.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.)
Central Missouri head coach Dave Slifer is in his fifth year at Central Missouri and his 20th season overall. He is the sixth-winningest active coach in NCAA Division II women's basketball with a 464-147 record (.761). Last season, Slifer led the Jennies to a 14-14 overall record and a 9-9 mark in the MIAA, it was the first time that a Slifer-coached team has missed the NCAA tournament in back-to back seasons. Slifer is 17-16 against the Lady Blues going 1-9 while at Central Missouri and 16-7 while at Missouri Western.

Last time out for the Lady Blues. . .
Dec. 31, 2008 -  TOPEKA, Kan. -- The No. 2 ranked Washburn Lady Blues made their first appearance on New Year's Eve a good one as they topped Fort Hays State 77-58 in Lee Arena.
It was a scoring duel early as Washburn's Janice Bright scored the first 10 points for the Lady Blues and Fort Hays State's Naomi Bancroft scored six of the first 10 for the Tigers. However Washburn would break the game open using a 17-1 run over the next 10-plus minutes gaining a 27-17 lead with 3:09 to play in the first half. The Tigers' Bancroft would hit one of her seven 3-pointers to cut the lead to seven, but Washburn scored on a swipe and bucket taking a 29-20 lead into the break.
In the second half, Washburn shot a blistering 59 percent from the field in the second half hitting 17 of 29 shots including 8 of 14 from 3-point range stretching the lead to as many as 25 in the half leading to the 19 point win.
Bright led the Lady Blues with a career-high 24 points hitting 9 of 12 shots from the field including a 6 of 7 performance from 3-point range. Hope Gregory came off the bench to record a career-high of her own scoring 15 points hitting 6 of 9 shots from the field including 3 of 6 from 3-point range.
Bancroft finished with 23 points to lead Fort Hays State and Audra Binford scored 10.
Washburn held a 39 to 31 advantage on the glass recording 14 offensive rebounds leading to 10 second chance points. Washburn also outscored the Tigers 32 to 14 in the paint and 34 to 6 in bench points.
Washburn finished 29 of 63 from the field hitting 46 percent for the game and the Tigers were 21 of 55 for 38 percent.

Notes from the Fort Hays State Game . . .
Washburn now leads the series with Fort Hays State 36-25 … the Lady Blues have now won 14 straight home games … Washburn is 1-0 all-time on New Year's Eve … Washburn improved to 48-4 all-time under head coach Ron McHenry in the month of December … Washburn has now won 11 straight over Fort Hays State and the last six games in Topeka … The Lady Blues used all 16 players who suited up for the game. 

About Central Missouri . . .
The Jennies are 8-3 and 3-1 in the MIAA this season after falling to Missouri-Kansas City 67-53 last time out on New Year's Eve. The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for Central Missouri. Their lone loss in MIAA play was to Emporia State on Dec. 13 at home. They topped Southwest Baptist (86-66), Missouri Southern (59-52) and Pittsburg State (66-56) for the three conference wins. Rebecca Roberts leads the Jennies in scoring with a 13.1 ppg average. She is also averaging a team-high 7.9 rpg. Kara Fleming is averaging 12.5 ppg. The Jennies are averaging 73.0 ppg and allowing 62.8 ppg.

Washburn/Central Missouri series notes . . .
Saturday's meeting is the 41st in the series between the two schools. Washburn is 28-12 all-time against the Jennies. On March 1, 2008 the Jennies snapped the Lady Blues 14-game winning streak in Warrensburg. The loss also broke the Lady Blues' five-game streak in Warrensburg. Washburn has won the last nine in Topeka. In the MIAA Tournament, Washburn is 2-1 against the Jennies and 1-0 in Kansas City winning in the 2006 finals. Ron McHenry is 15-3 all-time against the Jennies. UCM head coach Dave Slifer is 17-16 against the Lady Blues going 1-9 while at Central Missouri and 16-7 while at Missouri Western.

Last meeting between Washburn and Missouri Western . . .
(March 1, 2008) WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- The No. 17 Washburn Lady Blues had their eight-game winning streak snapped in the regular season final as Central Missouri won for the eighth time in their last 10 games in a 68-59 win over Washburn.
Washburn (22-5, 14-4 MIAA) fell behind as many as 10 to start the game as the Jennies opened up a 14-4 lead 5:41 into the game. The Lady Blues worked their way back into the game eventually knotting the score at 23 with 3:24 left in the first half. Washburn took the lead at 25-23 on a Karla Tailele lay up. The teams would trade free throws and the Jennies would tie the score at 28 entering the break.
Washburn opened the second half taking a 3-point lead after Hope Gregory hit a 3-pointer putting the Lady Blues up 31-28. After a free throw and a 3-pointer by the Jennies, both teams suffered through a nearly three-minute scoring span with Washburn's Corkey Stiger breaking the drought with a pair of free throws putting Washburn up 33-32. The lead was short-lived as the Jennies took the lead for good at 34-33 as Rebecca Roberts hit a pair of charity tosses putting Central Missouri up for good.
Washburn sliced the lead back to  two points at 45-43 on a Jessica Mainz 3-pointer, but the Jennies went on a 9-1 run holding the Lady Blues within seven points the rest of the way.
Stiger led the Lady Blues with a game-high 19 points. Amanda Holmes recorded her 16th career double double and her sixth of the season with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Mainz finished with 12 points.
Lindsey Maple scored 16 for the Jennies hitting 9 of 10 free throws. Kara Flemming had 15 and Jojuana Jones had 11 before fouling out.
Washburn held a 39 to 31 advantage in rebounding. Both teams struggled from the field as the Lady Blues were held to 19 of 55 shooting compared to 18 of 48 for the Jennies.
Washburn hit 17 of 25 free throws and the Jennies connected on 29 of 36 attempts - both season-highs for Lady Blues opponents this season.

Last time out for Central Missouri . . .
(Dec. 31, 2008) Central Missouri fell behind early and couldn't recover in a 67-53 loss to Missouri-Kansas City on Wednesday afternoon at the Swinney Recreation Center. UMKC scored the first eight points of the game and never trailed.
Sophomore guard Kara Fleming led the Jennies (8-3, 3-1 MIAA) with 18 points. Junior guard Melia Pence was the only other Jennies in double figures with 10. The Jennies shot 40 percent from the field, but committed a season-high 28 turnovers and were outrebounded 49-34. Becca Roberts led the Jens in rebounding with nine. Junior guard Chazny Morris led UMKC with 22 points nine rebounds, while senior forward Kalei Nance chipped in 10 points and nine boards.
The Kangaroos started the game on an 8-0 run and the Jennies didn't score their first bucket until the 15:53 mark on a Fleming layup and free throw. UMKC went on a 13-2 run over the next three minutes to open a 21-5 lead with 13:44 remaining in the half. The lead hovered around 16 for the majority of the half before the Jens closed the period on a 10-2 run to cut the lead to eight at 37-29 at the intermission. Fleming scored 13 of her team-high 18 in the opening stanza for UCM.
UMKC scored the first five points of the second half to extend the lead back to 13. The lead was still 13 when the Jens went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to six at 48-42 with 13:52 to go in the game. UCM had three chances to cut the lead below five, but couldn't get the key shots to fall and UMKC quickly extended the lead back to double-digits.
The Jens cut the margin back to seven on a three by Brittney Slifer and two free throws from Katy Davenport, but could get no closer. The Kangaroos closed the game on a 9-2 run for the 67-53 margin.
UCM connected on just six of 21 shots (29 percent) in the second half and surrendered 15 offensive rebounds, 27 for the game, to the Roos.

Lady Blues in Lee Arena . . .
In their 25th season in Lee Arena, the Lady Blues are 309-56 (.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 118-11 (.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 110-6 (.944).
Overall, Washburn has won 14 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 707-327 (.682 in 1,034 games) in its 40th season of intercollegiate action.

WU in the national poll . . .
(Dec. 16, 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 won their only game in a 58-39 win over Truman. The Lady Blues have been ranked in 99 consecutive top 25 polls and have received votes in the last 114 top 25 coaches polls.

Tip-Ins . . .
• Washburn is 5-2 on Jan. 3 in the program's history.
• With one more win, head coach Ron McHenry will tie former Lady Blues head coach Patty Dick for eighth on the MIAA's all-time win chart with his 227th win. McHenry enters the UCM game with a 226-44 record. Dick had a 227-96 record while the Lady Blues were part of the MIAA from 1989-2000.
• Washburn is 195-12 under McHenry when leading at the half.
• Washburn has kept opponents under 100 in 296 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 170-31 … when opponents are held to 60 points or less, the Lady Blues are 158-14 with McHenry on the sidelines.
• Jessica Mainz is 12 of 15 from the freet throw line in the last five minutes of games this season.
• Washburn is shooting 131 of 361 (.363) from the field in the first half of games this season and 163 of 325 (.502) in the second half of games this season.
• Washburn is scoring 10 more points per game in the second half compared to the first half of games this season (39.4 to 29.4)

up Next . . .
Washburn will continue MIAA with Southwest Baptist on Jan. 7. Washburn will then have seven of the next 10 games on the road starting with a Jan. 10th trip to Missouri Southern.