Matchup: Washburn (16-3, 9-3 MIAA) vs Missouri Western (2-16, 2-10 MIAA) Date: Saturday, Jan. 31, 2009 Time: 5:30 p.m. CST Site: Topeka, Kan. -- Lee Arena (3,907) Radio: KTPK 106.9 FM with play by play with Mark Elliott and Bruce Steinbrock Coaches: Washburn head coach Ron McHenry is 230-47 (.832) in his ninth season. He is 15-9 against Missouri Western. Lynn Plett is in his second season at MWSU. He is 14-31 overall and 199-199 at four-year schools in his 15th season of head coaching. Plett is 0-4 against Washburn. Rankings: Washburn is ranked No. 11 in the WBCA Coaches Poll. MWSU is unranked. Series Record: WU leads the all-time series 39-37. Streaks: WU has won the last five in the series Last Meeting: WU 63-55, 12/29/08 in St. Joseph Last WU win: same Last MWSU win: 49-47, 1/27/07 in St. Joseph Worth Noting: WU is 20-12 all-time against the Griffons in Topeka

Radio: KTPK 106.9 FM Web Stream Internet: themiaa.tv (free) Live Stats: Through WU (free) Washburn Game Notes WBB Page Roster Statistics Schedule Missouri Western Game Notes WBB Page Roster Statistics Schedule

No. 11 Lady Blues look to improve regional rankings situation with Griffons Saturday... 
The No. 11 ranked Lady Blues (16-3, 9-3) will return home for their first game in Lee Arena since Jan. 14 when they play host to Missouri Western on Saturday in Lee Arena at 5:30 p.m. The Lady Blues were not in the top ten in the first set of South Central Regional Rankings which were released on Wednesday.  The Lady Blues beat Northwest Missouri 66-57 last time out and the Griffons (2-16, 2-10 MIAA) fell to Emporia State last Wednesday 89-70.

Lady Blues on radio . . .
Washburn games with Missouri Western will be on KTPK 106.9 FM. 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 230-47 (.835) record overall and 121-33 (.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 32-13 when both teams are ranked in the top 25 and 34-21 overall against top 25 teams.
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.)
Missouri Western head coach Lynn Plett is in his second season guiding the Griffon program. He came to MWSU from Lewis University where he led the Flyers program from 2002 to 2007. He is 14-31 in his second season at MWSU and he is 199-199 in his 15th season overall coaching at four-year schools.

Last time out for the Lady Blues. . .
(Jan. 28, 2009) MARYVILLE, Mo. -- The No. 11 Lady Blues used a 16 to 6 run over a six-minute stretch of the second half to pull away from Northwest Missouri as Washburn picked up a 66-57 win over the Bearcats improving to 16-3 on the season and 9-3 in the MIAA. The Bearcats fell to 6-13 and 2-10 in conference play.
With Washburn trailing 31-30 with 14:18 to go, Karla Tailele gave the Lady Blues the lead for good with a 3-pointer putting Washburn up 33-31. Janice Bright added a fast break lay up and Tailele scored the next five points of the game for the Lady Blues on a jumper from the wing and a 3-pointer pushing Washburn's lead to 40-33. Tailele would add another jumper to lift her point total for the game and the half to 10 points.
In the first half, the Lady Blues never trailed as they open up leads to 13-4 and 18-6 before Bearcats rallied going on a 13-2 run cutting the Washburn lead to 20-19. Washburn shot 33 percent from the field hitting 9 of 27 shots and 3 of 8 from 3-point range.
Bright led the Lady Blues with 20 points with 14 coming in the second half. Mainz added 12 points including 8 of 8 from the free throw line. Tailele reach double figures with 10 on 4 of 6 shooting.
Rickeya McElroy scored 20 lead the Bearcats including the first 10 of the half for Northwest.
Washburn finished 22 of 53 for the game including 13 of 26 in the second half. The Lady Blues held Northwest to 38 percent shooting for the game as they hit 20 of 53 from the field.

Final Notes from the Northwest Missouri game . . .
* Washburn leads the all-time series with the Bearcats 40-9.
* Washburn has won 10 of the last 12 overall.
* The Lady Blues are 14-5 all-time in Maryville.
*Washburn is 9-5 all-time in the program's history on Jan. 28.
* Janice Bright had her consecutive free throw streak snapped at 20 straight as she missed her third attempt of the game against the Bearcats.
* Washburn has kept opponents under 100 in 303 consecutive games.

Washburn/Missouri Western series notes . . .
Saturday's meeting will be the 77th between the two schools. Washburn leads the all-time series 39-37. Washburn has won 15 of the last 17 meetings including sweeping two regular season meetings and a MIAA Tournament quarterfinals win last year. 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. In the MIAA Tournament, the series is tied at 5-5 in the 10 games played. Washburn has won all five meetings in Kansas City in the postseason tournament. Ron McHenry is 15-9 against the Griffons. Missouri Western head coach Lynn Plett is 0-4 against Washburn in his second season on the Griffon bench.

About Missouri Western . . .
Western has won two of its last five contests with both victories coming on Wednesday's. The Griffons sit at 2-16 overall and 2-10 in the MIAA. Western is coming off of a 89-70 loss to the 4th ranked Emporia State Lady Hornets. The Griffons are averaging 64.4 points and give up 75.2 points per contest. Western is shooting 39.6-percent (431-1089) from the field and 31.5-percent (102-324) from long range. The Griffons are led by Jessica Koch as she is averaging 12.7 points per contest and snaring 5.0 rebounds per game. Koch is shooting 40.2-percent (74-184) from the field. Tierra Ford leads the conference and is 16th in the nation in steals per game averaging 3.44 per contest.

Last meeting between Washburn and Missouri Western . . .
(Dec. 29, 2008) ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- The No. 2 ranked Washburn Lady Blues broke open a tie game at the half with a 15-1 run to begin the second stanza in a 63-55 win over Missouri Western. The Lady Blues improved to 11-0 and 4-0 in the MIAA while the Griffons fell to 0-10 and 0-4 in MIAA play.
Coming out of the break, Washburn built their lead to 17 at 43-26 with 11:14 to go in the game. Janice Bright scored seven points during the second half surge. A 10-run by the Griffons cut the lead to seven over the next two-plus minutes. The Lady Blues' Stanecia Graham stopped the Washburn drought with a jumper in the paint.
The Griffons then cut the lead down to five at 53-48 with 4:31 to go, but a lay up by Bright and a 3-pointer by Jessica Mainz pushed the lead back to 10. After a Griffon jumper Hope Gregory hit a 3-pointer from the corner and Mainz hit a pair of free throws with 52 seconds left to wrap up the scoring for the Lady Blues.
Washburn took an early 2-0 lead in the first half as the Lady Blues' Stanecia Graham scored the first points of the game, but did not score again until just under two minutes left in the half.
The Lady Blues  trailed by as many as seven in the first half as they were an arctic-like 6 of 32 from the field (.188) including a 1 of 15 (.067) from 3-point range. Washburn did go 8 of 11 (.727) from the free throw line. The six field goals in the first tied the fewest in a half since the Lady Blues hit six against Cameron Dec. 18, 2007 in the Cruzin' Classic.
Graham and Bright each scored 13 to lead the Lady Blues and Mainz added a season-high 10 points.
Rachel Luteyn led the Griffons with 13 points.
Washburn finished 20 of 60 from the field (.333) and 18 of 24 from the free throw line (.750). Missouri Western was held to 22 of 55 shooting (.400) and was 7 of 13 (.538) from the charity stripe.
Washburn outrebounded the Griffons 46 to 33. The Lady Blues also had 19 rebounds on the offensive glass leading to 12 second-chance points.
Mainz had three assists and three steals to lead Washburn.

Last time out for Missouri Western . . .
(Jan. 28, 2009) ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- The Missouri Western women were outscored 47-30 in the second half against the 4th ranked Emporia State Lady Hornets losing 89-70 in MIAA conference action. The Griffons got out rebounded by 17 (49-32) as they fall to 2-16 overall and 2-10 in the MIAA.
Western played ESU tough in the first frame as they led by as many as nine at 29-20 with 8:03 to go in the half. The Lady Hornets would play poised and controlled closing the half on a 22-11 run to take the two point lead into the locker room, 42-40.
Western controlled the points in the paint scoring 18 to ESU's 10 and had 10 second chance points to the Lady Hornets six. Western shot 50-percent (15-30) from the field and 37.5-percent (3-8) from long range. The difference in the half was that ESU had 21 rebounds to the Griffons 15.
Tierra Ford led Western scoring 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting. The Lady Hornets shot 44.1-percent (15-34) in the half with Cassondra Boston and Andrea Leiker scoring 10 points apiece.
The Lady Hornets scored the first 16 points of the second half as Western would go scoreless until Colleen Schneider hit a 3-point shot with 12:10 to go in the game to cut the score to 58-43. Emporia would keep the pressure on improving to 17-2 overall and 11-1 in the MIAA.
The Griffons shot 32.4-percent (11-34) in the second half and 40.6-percent (26-64) in the game. The Lady Hornets out rebounded the Griffons 49 to 32 with 21 of them being on the offensive end of the floor. The Hornets finished the game making 46.3-percent (31-67) of their field goals.
London Houchin led Western scoring 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Ford and Jessica Koch finished with 14 and 12 respectively. The Hornets were led by Ida Edwards as she had 16 points and 13 rebounds. Leiker, Boston and Allie Renberg finished with 16, 16 and 10 points respectively.

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 711-330 (.682 in 1,041 games) in its 40th season of intercollegiate action.

WU in the national poll . . .
(Jan. 27, 2009) The Washburn Lady Blues basketball dipped one slot in the WBCA USA Today Coaches Top 25 Poll to No. 11 from No. 10 which was released today after winning last time out at Nebraska-Omaha 64-62. The Lady Blues have been ranked in 103 consecutive top 25 polls and have received votes in the last 118 top 25 coaches polls.

WU and the NCAA Regional Rankings. . .
The Lady Blues were not in the top 10 in the initial NCAA South Central Regional Rankings which were released today. Prior to the win over Northwest Missouri, the Lady Blues were 13-3 and 8-3 in Division II regional play. Washburn also had wins over Barry (67-54 on Dec. 18 on the Buccaneer's home court). Barry is ranked No. 3 in the South Region. Washburn also topped Indiana (Pa.), who is ranked No. 2 in the Atlantic Region. Washburn topped IUP 72-62 in overtime in Lee Arena on Nov. 29. Washburn also topped the Midwest Region's No. 4 team in Drury when they defeated the Lady Panthers 84-62 on Nov. 25 in Topeka. The wins over UMSL and Drury both count as regional wins for the Lady Blues.
                                DII Overall       Division II In-Region Record
1. St. Mary's (Tex.)                 15-2        13-2
2.  West Tex. A&M         14-3        14-3
3. Tex. A&M – Kingsville   12-5         12-5
4 . Emporia St.                   12-2              12-2
5. Central Okla.                  12-3           12-3
6. Central Mo.                 12-3            10-3
7.  Mo. Southern                11-4           11-4
8.   Northeastern St.                10-6           10-6
9.  Southeastern Okla.              8-6              8-5
10. Tex. A&M Commerce       10-6          10-6

Following a Lady Blues loss . . .
• Following a loss, the Lady Blues are 34-10 under head coach Ron McHenry.
• In the 34 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 18-0 following a loss with an average victory margin of 18.1 points per game.

Tip-Ins . . .
• Washburn is 7-3 in the program's history on Jan. 31. The Lady Blues have never played the Griffons on Jan. 31.
• Washburn has kept opponents under 100 in 303 consecutive games.
• The Lady Blues are 68 of 127 (.535) from the field in the last five minutes of games this season compared to their opponents who are shooting 56 of 147 (.381).
• Washburn is shooting 207 of 558 (.371) from the field in the first half of games this season and 249 of 511 (.487) in the second half of games this season.
• Washburn is scoring 9.3 more points per game in the second half compared to the first half of games this season (39.2 to 29.9).
• Washburn opponents are shooting 173 of 485 (.357) in the first half and 199 of 485 (.410) in the second half of games this season.
• In the Lady Blues' 16 wins this season, Washburn has six players averaging at least six points per game - in the three losses, only four are averaging at least 6.0 ppg.
• Janice Bright has scored at a 25.7 ppg average in the three losses and 7.1 in the 16 wins. She is the only Lady Blue to average double figures in the three losses.
• The Lady Blues are shooting 39 percent from the field in road games this season (175 of 448). The are hitting 44 of 148 3-pointers (.297) and 124 of 159 free throws (.780). Washburn is averaging 64.8 ppg in road games and allowing 59.1.
• Washburn is 16-0 when outscoring their opponents this season.

Under head coach Ron McHenry . . .
• McHenry moved into seventh on the all-time win chart passing former Central Missouri head coach John Pye (1985-95) who was 228-68 for the Jennies. McHenry enters the MWSU game with a 230-47 record. In sixth place on the MIAA win chart is former SBU head coach Jim Middleton (1994-2008) who was 239-158 on the Bearcats' bench.
• Washburn is 198-13 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 174-32 … when opponents are held to 60 points or less, the Lady Blues are 160-15.
• Washburn is 55-23 in the month of January.
• Washburn is 219-9 when leading with five minutes to go in the game.
• Washburn is 193-10 when outshooting their opponent.
• Washburn is 34-21 against ranked teams and the Lady Blues' record against ranked teams when both are ranked in the top 25 is 32-13.

Lady Blue Notes. . .
#3 • Brette Ulsaker • G • 5-9 • Jr. • 4 of 9 from the field in the last three games (avg. 2.6 ppg)
#4 • Stanecia Graham • F • 6-1 • Sr. • Eight of 20 from field in three games coming off the bench this season (7.1 ppg)
#5 • Erica Brown • G • 5-9 • Jr. • Has scored in all nine games since joining team at semester
#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. • Eight free throws against NWMSU tied a career high
#14 • Alyssa Mullen • F • 5-11 • So. • 20 of 44 rebounds this season have been offensive
#20 • Hadleigh Meek • G • 5-8 • So. • 4 of 6 from the field this season
#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. • 49 career 3-pointers rank 18th on all-time chart at Washburn
#25 • Stevi Schultz • G • 5-9 • Fr. • Has hit all 6 free throw attempts this season
#30 • Kalee Silovsky • F • 6-0 • Sr. • Four steals at UNO tied a career high at WU
#32 • Janice Bright • G • 5-9 • Sr. • At least 20 points in eight straight games (averaging 24.9 ppg)
#33 • Hope Gregory • F • 5-10 • So. • 40 career 3-pointers rank 20th all-time at WU (56 games)
#40 • Dayna Rodriguez • F • 6-2 • Jr. • Averaging 9.1 ppg and 5.6 rpg as a starter in last three games
#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 Missouri Western, the Lady Blues will then take on Truman on Feb. 4 at home before returning to the road for another three-game road stretch which will take them to Fort Hays State on Feb. 7, Central Missouri on Feb. 11 and Southwest Baptist on Feb. 14. The Lady Blues will then host Missouri Southern on Feb. 19 as part of the WBCA's Pink Zone cancer awareness program. Washburn will put away the home white uniforms for a set of pink uniforms. Washburn will make one more regular season road trip to Pittsburg State on Feb. 21 before wrapping up the regular season on Feb. 25 against Emporia State on senior night. The MIAA's regular season will wrap up on Feb. 28, but the Lady Blues will have an “off night” as the other 10 schools will play their final regular season games. The MIAA Postseason Tournament will start on March 6.