Game Facts Date: Friday, Nov. 27, 2009 Time: 7:30 p.m. Site: Topeka, Kan.. - Lee Arena (3,904) Radio: 106.9 FM KTPK Online Audio:  wusports.com Live Stats: wusports.com Internet Streaming: None

Washburn Lady Blues (2-0) Polls 16th in USA Today/ESPN Division II Poll Coaches Head Coach: Ron McHenry Alma Mater: Washburn, 84 WU Record:    243-49, 10th season Career Record: 243-49, 10th season Basketball Page Roster Statistics Schedule Game Notes Media Guide Athletic Web Site

Missouri-St. Louis Tritons (1-2) Polls Not ranked in USA Today/ESPN Division II Poll Coaches Head Coach:     Lisa Curliss-Taylor Alma Mater: Oklahoma, 2000 UMSL Record: 15-43, 3rd season Career Record: 72-91, seventh season Basketball Page Roster Statistics Schedule Game Notes Athletic Web Site

Lady Blues return home to host Holiday classic
The Washburn Lady Blues return home to host the Lady Blues Holiday Classic. Washburn will play Missouri-St. Louis on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Rockhurst at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.
The Lady Blues are coming off of a 68-59 win over 20th-ranked Drury on Tuesday night in Springfield, while UMSL comes in with a 1-2 record and Rockhurst comes into the weekend with a 2-1 record.
Missouri-St. Louis has played one other MIAA team so far, falling to NWMSU 66-57 on Tuesday night. This will be the first MIAA foe for Rockhurst.

Lady Blues on radio . . .
The Lady Blues games this weekend will be broadcast live on 106.9 FM KTPK with Mark Elliott calling the action. The games will also be streamed live online by clicking the live audio button under the Lady Blues Basketball tab on the Washburn athletics web site at www.wusports.com.

The coaches . . .
Washburn head coach Ron McHenry has posted a 243-49 (.832) record overall and 128-34 (.790) record in the MIAA with five MIAA regular season championships and the 2005 NCAA National Championship. McHenry has also led the Lady Blues to five MIAA Postseason Tournament titles including five of the seven played in Kansas City. McHenry has the highest winning percentage (.831) 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 leads the country 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 8 of notes.)
Missouri-St. Louis head coach Lisa Curliss-Taylor, is in her third season leading the Tritons. Her record at UMSL is 15-43, while her career mark stands at 72-91 in her seventh season as a head coach.
Rockhurst head coach Larry Park, is in his first season leading the Hawks. Rockhurst is 2-1 under Park so far this season. Park was an assistant coach for the Rockhurst men's team before taking over the women's program.

Last Time Out for the Lady Blues . . .
Nov. 24, 2009 - SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- The 16th-ranked Washburn Lady Blues rallied from a 10 point second half deficit to defeat No. 20-ranked Drury 68-59 on Tuesday night in Weiser Gym. Washburn will return home to host the Lady Blues Holiday Classic on Friday and Saturday. WU will play Missouri-St. Louis on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Washburn (2-0) trailed 40-30 with 15:50 to play in the game, but responded with a 12-0 run over a 2:16 span to take the lead for good. Amanda Fessenden started the run with a three and Brette Ulsaker closed it out with a pair of free throws to give the Lady Blues a 42-40 lead with 13:34 remaining in the game.
Drury (3-1) closed to within a pair at 48-46, but three straight fast break layups by Rose Hammond put Washburn up 55-48 with 5:11 to play. Hope Gregory scored all nine of her points in the second half, including a three to put the Lady Blues up 10 with 2:06 to play and WU iced the game from the foul line.
Washburn shot 72 percent, 18-of-25, from the field in the second half, including five three-pointers to offset a 7-of-23, 30 percent performance in the first half.
The Lady Panthers started the game on a 5-0 run, not allowing a Lady Blue field goal until the 15:03 mark of the first half. Drury led by as many as 11 in the opening stanza when a conventional three-point play by Ja'Nell Jones gave DU a 26-15 lead with 2:22 to play. The Lady Panthers led 28-19 at the break.
Hammond led Washburn with 18 points hitting on all seven of her field goal attempts, including four treys. Fessenden added 13 points, while Dayna Rodriguez had 12 points and nine boards. Brette Ulsaker scored eight of her 10 in the second half.
Katie Pritchard led Drury with 21 points, while Melanie Oliver added nine points and 10 boards.

Notes from the win over Drury . . .
• Washburn improved to 7-2 all-time against Drury
• The Lady Blues are 9-1 in road-openers under Ron McHenry.
• The Lady Blues 10-3 all-time on Nov. 24, including 5-0 under Ron McHenry.

Washburn/UMSL series notes . . .
Washburn leads the overall series 14-2 and the Lady Blues have won two straight since the series resumed in 2007.

Washburn/rockhurst series notes . . .
The Lady Blues lead the series with Rockhurst 13-3. Washburn has won eight straight in the series, but the teams have not met since 2004.

Last meeting between Washburn and UMSL . . .
(Nov. 19, 2008) TOPEKA, Kan. -- TOPEKA, Kan. -- The No. 3-ranked Washburn Lady Blues opened the 2008-09 regular season with a 73-50 win over Missouri-St. Louis in Lee Arena. Washburn will be back in action on Saturday when they play host to Southwestern College at 7 p.m.
Washburn trailed by as many as three in the first half at 9 to 6, but after back-to-back 3-pointers by Alyssa Mullen and Stevi Schutlz Washburn was off and running 17 entering the halftime break. Washburn was 15-of-28 from the field in the opening stanza for 54 percent while they held Missouri-St. Louis to 9-of-28 from the field.
In the second half, both teams were cold coming back out to the floor and UMSL cut the Lady Blues' lead to 15 and 40-25 but the Tritons would get no closer than 16 the remainder of the game.
Stanecia Graham led all scorers with 15 points hitting 6-of-9 field goal attempts. Renata Germano scored 10 off the bench. MaryHelen Slaughter led the Tritons with 13 points.
Washburn shot 55 percent in the second half (12-of-22) and finished with a 54 percent shooting night connecting on 27-of-50 from the field. Washburn also was 14-of-15 from the free throw line. Washburn held a 37 to 24 advantage on the backboards and doubled up the Tritons in the paint 40 to 20. Washburn did have one more turnover than UMSL committing 20 leading to 13 points for their opponent.
Karla Tailele had five assists to lead the team and Mullen had a team-high seven rebounds. Jessica Mainz saw 13 minutes of action after participating in her first basketball practice yesterday after joining the team after the conclusion of the Lady Blues soccer season in the NCAA Tournament. Fellow soccer player Lauren Henry plaed two minutes.

About Missouri-St. Louis . . .
Missouri-St. Louis is 1-2 entering the weekend of competition. The Tritons won their season-opener 62-60 over Lindenwood before back-to-back losses, including a 66-57 setback at Northwest Missouri State.
Kelcy Hulbert leads UMSL averaging a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds per game. Kristi White is averaging 10.3 points per contest as well.

About Rockhurst . . .
Rockhurst is 2-1 in the non-conference portion of their schedule. Kate Carr leads the team averaging 11.7 points per contest, while Chrissy Sarcone chips in 10.7 per outing. Carr also leads the team in rebounding pulling down 6.7 boards per game.

A win would . . .
A win would make the Lady Blues 3-0 for the ninth straight year ... give McHenry a 244-49 overall record ... give Washburn a 725-332 record in its 41st season of basketball.

a loss would . . .
Make the Lady Blues 2-1 for the first time since 2000-01 ... give McHenry a 243-50 career record ... give Washburn a 724-333 record in 41 years of playing collegiate basketball.

Lady Blues in Lee Arena . . .
In their 26th season in Lee Arena, the Lady Blues are 316-57 (.847) 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 43 straight regular season non-conference games in Lee Arena. The last home loss to a non-conference team in the regular season was to Missouri-St. Louis in a 59-51 setback on Dec. 30, 2000.
Washburn is 125-12 (.912) in home games under Ron McHenry. Five of the 12 losses came in his first year on the Lady Blues bench. In the last nine seasons, Washburn is 117-7 (.944).

Lady Blues history . . .
Washburn is 724-332 (.685 in 1,056 games) in its 41st season of intercollegiate action. The Lady Blues have played in 13 NCAA Tournaments, made five Elite Eight appearances and won the 2005 National Championship.

Washburn in the national poll . . .
The Lady Blues moved up two spots to No. 16 in the latest USA Today/ESPN WBCA Coaches Poll.
The Lady Blues were No. 13 in the final USA Today/ESPN Top 25 WBCA Coaches Poll of the 2009 season. Overall, Washburn has received votes in the last 121 consecutive polls and has been in the top 25 in 105 consecutive polls, the longest current streak in NCAA-II.

Blues Clues . . .
#1 • Chasity Workman • G • 5-10 • Jr. • Scored eight points in Washburn debut
#3 • Brette Ulsaker • G • 5-9 • Sr. • Scored 10 points, including eight in the second half of win over Drury
#5 • Laura Kinderknecht • G • 5-7 • Fr. • Scored five points with two assists in first collegiate game
#10 • Lauren Henry • G • 5-4 • So. • Scored five points in six minutes of action
#14 • Alyssa Mullen • F • 5-11 • Jr. • Hit all four field goal attempts against Southwestern and scored nine points
#20 • Dana Elliott • F • 5-11 • Fr. • Hit only field goal attempt for two points and had two assists in season opener
#21 • Cassie Lombardino • C • 6-3 • So. • Scored four points and pulled down three rebounds against Southwestern (Kan.)
#22 • Ashley Jappa • F • 6-2 • Jr. • Pulled down team-high five rebounds against Southwestern
#23 • Jacki Tipping • G • 5-10 • Jr. • Had three rebounds in seven minutes of play
#25 • Stevi Schultz • G • 5-9 • So. • Scored 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting in season-opener
#31 • Rose Hammond • G • 5-10 • Sr. • Scored 18 points and had six rebounds in win over No. 20 Drury
#32 • Amanda Fessenden • G • 5-9 • Sr. • Scored 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting in win at 20th-ranked Drury
#33 • Hope Gregory • G • 5-10 • Jr. • Scored 11 points and hit all four free throw attempts in season-opening win
#34 • Sierra Moeller • F • 6-1 • Jr. • Will redshirt 2009-10 season after transferring from Boise State
#40 • Dayna Rodriguez • F • 6-2 • Sr. • Scored career-high 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting in win over Southwestern (Kan.)
#42 • Raychel Boling • F • 6-0 • Jr. • Made 3-of-4 3FG attempts in first game after sitting out last season as a transfer
#44 • Laura McMullin • F • 6-1 • Fr. • 2-of-3 from the field for four points in first collegiate game

Tip-Ins . . .
• The Lady Blues are 8-2 all-time on Nov. 27, including 2-0 under Ron McHenry.
• The Lady Blues are 6-2 all-time on Nov. 28, including 2-0 under Ron McHenry.
• The Lady Blues are 16-7 all-time in the Lady Blues Classic and 8-0 under McHenry.

up Next . . .
The Lady Blues open MIAA play next week with two road games. Washburn will travel to Omaha, Neb. on Wednesday to take on UNO. A trip to Maryville, Mo. and a date with Northwest Missouri State awaits on Saturday.