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TOPEKA, Kan. -- The No. 3 ranked Lady Blues rebounded from their first loss of the season and Washburn improved to 68-0 with Ron McHenry on the bench when they reach at least 81 points in an 81-62 win over Southwest Baptist in Lee Arena. The Lady Blues (13-1, 6-1 MIAA) will travel to Joplin, Mo., on Saturday to take on Missouri Southern with a 5:30 p.m. tip.

Washburn led from start to finish despite being outshot in the first half 50 percent to 40 percent as the Bearcats (5-8, 2-4 MIAA) hit 11 of 22 compared to Washburn's 15 of 38. The Lady Blues jumped out to a lead as big as 16 points on three different occasions with the final margin coming at the 5:03 mark and a 35-19 lead on a Janice Bright jumper in the paint. Southwest Baptist would go on an 8-0 run to cut the lead to eight at 35-27 with 2:32 to go, but the Lady Blues pushed the halftime lead to 11 at 40-29.  Washburn took advantage of 10 Bearcat turnovers in the frame turning them into 16 points.

In the second half, the Bearcats cut the lead to six at 47-41 on a Courtney Creed 3-pointer, but they not get any closer the rest of the way as the Lady Blues went on to the 21-point win.

Bright led the Lady Blues in scoring with 24 points hitting 7 of 14 shots from the field while going a perfect 7 of 7 from the charity stripe. Stanecia Graham scored 14 points with 12 coming in the second half. Jessica Mainz had six assists compared to just one turnover.

Creed led SBU with 14 points and Jasmine Sanford scored 13 off the bench hitting 6 of 7 from the field.

Washburn finished the game hitting 44 percent going 28 of 63 from the field and the Lady Blues held the Bearcats to 22 of 49 from the field for a 45 percent average. The Lady Blues were 17 of 19 from the free throw line and the Bercats were 13 of 17 from the line.

Washburn had a 36 to 25 advantage on the glass and turned 20 Bearcat turnovers into 24 points. Washburn also had 14 second chance points.

Notes:
* Washburn improved to 32-10 following a loss with Ron McHenry on the Lady Blues bench.
* Since the 2003-04 season, Washburn is 16-0 following a loss.
* Washburn is now 5-4 on Jan. 7 in the program's history.
* The Lady Blues have held opponents under 100 points in the last 298 consecutive games.
* Washburn is now 26-11 against Southwest Baptist and has won the last nine games in Topeka over the Bearcats.
* Ron McHenry tied former Lady Blues head coach Patty Dick for eighth on the MIAA's all-time win chart. He is now 227-45 on the Lady Blues bench. Patty Dick was 227-96 while Washburn was an MIAA school.
* Washburn is now 216-9 with under five minutes left and McHenry on the Lady Blues bench.