Lady Blues to open 2009-10 exhibition slate at Iowa . . .
The Washburn Lady Blues will open the 2009-10 season with the first of two exhibition games against Division I competition when they face Iowa on Sunday, Nov. 8 in Iowa City at 3 p.m. The Lady Blues finished the 2008-09 season ranked No. 13 in the nation after reaching the second round of the NCAA Division-II tournament with a 27-5 record. Iowa received an invite to the NCAA Division I tournament and finished second in the Big Ten with a 13-5 mark. They finished the season 21-11. Washburn will be without sophomore guard
Lauren Henry, who is one of the leading scorers on the Lady Blues soccer team. She will join the team at the conclusion of the soccer season.
Lady Blues on radio . . .
The Lady Blues game will be broadcast live on 106.9 FM KTPK with Mark Elliott calling the action and
Bruce Steinbrock providing color commentary. The games will also be streamed live online by clicking the live audio button under the Lady Blues Basketball tab on the WU web site at www.wusports.com.
The coaches . . .
Washburn head coach
Ron McHenry has posted a 241-49 (.831) 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.)
Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder, is in her 10th season as the head coach at the University of Iowa and her 26th season as a college head coach. Bluder is a two-time Big Ten Coach of the Year, earning the honor for the second time back in 2007-08.
She has a career record of 525-251 (.677), including a 169-109 mark at Iowa. She is the second winningest coach in Iowa history trailing only Hall-of-Famer C. Vivian Stringer. Bluder has led the Hawkeyes to six post-season tournaments, including four trips to the NCAA tournament and has won one Big Ten championship in 2008. Last season, Bluder led Iowa to a 21-11 record, a tie for second place in the Big Ten with a 13-5 conference record and a birth in the NCAA Tournament.
Washburn season preview. . .
After reaching their eighth straight NCAA tournament under head coach
Ron McHenry and finishing the 2008-09 season with a 27-5 record and their seventh MIAA Tournament championship, the Lady Blues are primed for another run to the top of the MIAA and the NCAA. Washburn returns seven letterwinners from a season ago to go along with nine talented newcomers.
The Lady Blues will have to replace two starters from last season's backcourt, including All-American Janice Bright and two-time MIAA Defensive Player of the Year Jessica Mainz. The lone returning starter is senior
Brette Ulsaker. She averaged 4.9 points and 2.5 rebounds per game playing in all 32 games with 26 starts. Ulsaker scored a career-high 16 points at Pittsburg State.
Also returning is junior
Hope Gregory, who played in all 32 games and collected eight starts a year ago. Gregory averaged 5.0 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. She scored a career-high 15 points on two separate occasions.
Sophomore
Stevi Schultz saw action in 21 games a season ago and scored 1.7 points per outing, she hit seven of her 24 three-point attempts as a freshman.
Sophomore
Lauren Henry returns after seeing time in six games as a true freshman. Henry is one of the leading scorers on the Lady Blues soccer team and will join the squad at the conclusion of the soccer season.
Junior
Jacki Tipping returns after sitting out all of last season after having ankle surgery after the 2007-08 season. Tipping played in 14 games two seasons ago.
Four newcomers will provide the Lady Blues with some good depth for the upcoming season. A pair of senior transfers in Amanda Fessenen and
Rose Hammond provide more valuable experience to the backcourt.
Fessenden comes to Washburn from Florida Gulf Coast where she averaged 2.5 points per game last season.
Hammond brings valuable Big XII experience after playing her first three seasons at Oklahoma. She played in 60 career games for the Sooners and led OU in assist-to-turnover ratio as a sophomore.
Laura Kinderknecht averaged 19 points and seven assists per game at St. Marys High School. She was a three-time all-league selection.
Chasity Workman , a 5-10 transfer from South Plains Community College, was an all-conference and all-defensive team honoree. She averaged 7.7 points and 9.6 rebounds per game as a sophomore.
The Lady Blues frontcourt will have to replace two starters who combined for 17.0 points and 9.1 rebounds per game in Stanecia Graham and Kalee Silovsky. Returners looking to fill the void include senior
Dayna Rodriguez, junior Alyssa Mullin and sophomore
Cassie Lombardino.
Rodriguez started 16 games a season ago and averaged 7.5 points and 4.1 rebounds per contest. She scored a season-high 15 points three times.
Mullen saw action in 30 games and averaged 1.3 points and 1.8 rebounds in eight minutes per outing.
Lombardino played in 14 games and made five of her 10 field goal attempts. She brings good size at 6-3.
Washburn added height and depth to the front line with the addition of transfers
Raychel Boling,
Ashley Jappa and
Sierra Moeller and newcomers
Dana Elliott and
Laura McMullin.
Boling sat out last season after transferring from Fort Hays State where she averaged 3.0 points and 1.5 rebounds per game in 2007-08.
Jappa, a 6-2 junior transfer from Oklahoma State played in nine games for the Cowgirls last season. She averaged 14.4 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game as a freshman at Fort Scott Community College.
Moeller, a 6-1 junior transfer from Boise State where she played in 32 games as a freshman and averaged 3.8 points and 3.7 rebounds in 13.9 minutes per game. Moeller will redshirt this season.
Elliott is a 5-11 prep standout from Rock Creek High School where she was named the Flint Hills Player of the Year and a four-time all-league selection after scoring over 1,000 points in her career.
McMullin, a 6-1 freshman from Sedalia, Mo. was an all-state selection after averaging 21 points and 11 rebounds per game as a senior at Sacred Heart High School. She scored over 1,600 career points and pulled down over 1,100 career rebounds.
The Lady Blues will open the season with back-to-back exhibition games. They tip-off against the University of Iowa on November 8 in Iowa City and then face Oklahoma State at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater on November 10. Washburn will tip-off the regular season on November 21 in Lee Arena against Southwestern College. On November 24, Washburn will travel to Springfield, Mo. to take on Drury and then return home to host the Lady Blues Holiday Classic on November 27 and 28 with games against Missouri-St. Louis and Rockhurst.
The Lady Blues tip-off the MIAA slate on December 2 with a trip to Omaha, Neb. to take on Nebraska-Omaha. Washburn will take on Northwest Missouri on December 5 in Maryville before hosting Truman on December 12.
The Lady Blues will take a two-game break from the MIAA as they take part in the Western Washington Great Western Shootout in Las Vegas, Nev. as they take on Western Washington on December 16 and Central Washington on December 17.
After the break, Washburn will resume conference play on December 28 at home against Missouri Western. Three straight road games ensue against Fort Hays State, Central Missouri and Southwest Baptist. Missouri Southern comes to Lee Arena on January 9 and then the Lady Blues travel to Pittsburg State on January 13 before hosting Emporia State on January 16 which begins the final stretch for the Lady Blues of seven of their final 11 games at home.
Washburn will take part in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association Pink Zone game against Southwest Baptist on February 13. The Lady Blues will wear pink uniforms to raise breast cancer awareness.
The Lady Blues wrap up the regular season on the road with the annual Turnpike Tussle against Emporia State in Emporia on February 24.
Washburn will head to Kansas City, Mo. and Municipal Auditorium March 4-7 for the MIAA Postseason Tournament.
The NCAA-II South Central Regional is scheduled for March 12, 13 and 15 with the winner advancing to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight March 24, 25 and 27 in St. Joseph, Mo.
Last Time Out for the lady Blues . . .
March 14, 2009 - No. 15 Central Oklahoma 72, No. 8 Washburn 63 CANYON, Texas -- The No. 8 Washburn Lady Blues season came to an end with a 72-63 loss to Central Oklahoma in the NCAA South Central Regional semifinals in Canyon, Texas. The Lady Blues season comes to an end with a 27-5 record.Washburn led at the break 36-33 after shooting 50 percent from the field and 6 of 11 from 3-point range led by Karla Tailele's two 3-pointers and Jessica Mainz, Janice Bright,
Dayna Rodriguez and
Stevi Schultz all hitting one each. Washburn did combat foul trouble in the first half with four different Lady Blues recording two fouls including three starters -
Brette Ulsaker, Bright and Rodriguez.
In the second half, the Lady Blues were limited to nine field goals in the second half as they wre held to 9 of 25 shooting from the field while the Bronchos hit 16 of 30 attempts, including 6 of 10 3-point attempts.
The Lady Blues were led by Bright who scored 16 points in the game and Mainz scored 11 before fouling out late in the game. Mainz hit all six of her free throw attempts as the Lady Blues were 8 of 8 from the charity stripe.
Lizzie Brenner led the Bronchos with 24 points pacing three UCO players in double figures with Rose Anderson with 15 and Ashley Beckley with 10.
Washburn finished 22 of 51 from the field and 11 of 25 from 3-point range. UCO was 28 of 47 for a 49 percent average and hit 9 of 18 3-point attempts.
Washburn/iowa series notes . . .
The Lady Blues and Hawkeyes have never met in the regular or exhibition season.
About iowa . . .
Head coach Lisa Bluder enters her 10th season leading the Iowa Hawkeyes program. Iowa returns seven letterwinners, two full-time starters and one part-time starter from last seasons' squad that finished 21-11 overall and second in the Big Ten with a 13-5 conference mark. The Hawkeyes qualified as an at-large selection for the NCAA Tournament. and hosted the First and Second Rounds at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Iowa has to replace its top three scorers from last season. Kachine Alexander is the Hawkeyes' leading returning scorer and rebounder at 10.0 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. Kamille Wahlin and JoAnn Hamlin both return after starting 14 and 18 games, respectively, a season ago. Wahlin and Hamlin each averaged 7.6 points per contest while Hamlin pulled down 6.0 rebounds per outing last season.
The Hawkeyes were picked to finish fifth in the Big Ten by both the league coaches and media. Ohio State was the preseason favorite.
Lady Blues in Lee Arena . . .
In their 26th season in Lee Arena, the Lady Blues are 315-57 (.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 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 124-12 (.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 eight seasons, Washburn is 116-7 (.943).
Lady Blues history . . .
Washburn is 722-332 (.685 in 1,054 games) in its 41st season of intercollegiate action.
Washburn in the national 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 120 consecutive polls and has been in the top 25 in 104 consecutive polls, the longest current streak in NCAA-II. The 2009-10 preseason top 25 poll has Washurn at No. 18, while the Lady Blues were receiving votes in the NCAA Division II Bulletin Preseason Poll.
Blue Notes . . .
#1 •
Chasity Workman • G • 5-10 • Jr. • A transfer from South Plains CC who earned all-defensive team honors last season
#3 •
Brette Ulsaker • G • 5-9 • Sr. • Played in 32 games a season ago
#5 •
Laura Kinderknecht • G • 5-7 • fr. • An all-state pick after scoring 19 ppg last season
#10 •
Lauren Henry • G • 5-4 • So. • Will join hoops team after soccer season concludes.
#14 •
Alyssa Mullen • F • 5-11 • Jr. • Played in 30 games last season
#20 •
Dana Elliott • F • 5-11 • Fr. • Flint Hills Player of the Year as a senior, scored over 1,000 career points at Rock Creek High School
#21 •
Cassie Lombardino • C • 6-3 • So. • Played in 14 games as a freshman
#22 •
Ashley Jappa • F • 6-2 • Jr. • Played in nine games at Oklahoma State last year
#23 •
Jacki Tipping • G • 5-10 • Jr. • Sat out last season after ankle surgery
#25 •
Stevi Schultz • G • 5-9 • So. • Scored 35 points as a freshman
#31 •
Rose Hammond • G • 5-10 • Sr. • Played in 60 career games at Oklahoma
#32 •
Amanda Fessenden • G • 5-9 • Sr. • Averaged 2.5 ppg last season at Florida Gulf Coast
#33 •
Hope Gregory • G • 5-10 • Jr. • Averaged 5.0 ppg in 32 games last season
#34 •
Sierra Moeller • F • 6-1 • Jr. • Will redshirt 2009-10 season after transferring from Boise State
#40 •
Dayna Rodriguez • F • 6-2 • Sr. • Averaged 7.5 points and 4.1 rebounds per game last season
#42 •
Raychel Boling • F • 6-0 • Jr. • Sat out last season after transferring from Fort Hays State
#44 •
Laura McMullin • F • 6-1 • Fr. • An all-state selection after averaging 21 points and 11 rebounds per game as a senior
Tip-Ins . . .
• Other MIAA/Division I exhibition games: There will be a total of 13 games between MIAA schools and NCAA Division I teams in the exhibition season. In addition to Washburn playing Iowa and Oklahoma State the MIAA slate includes, Missouri Western and Pittsburg State tipping-off the games against Missouri State and Kansas, respectively, last Sunday. Fort Hays State and PSU played Kansas State and Nebraska on Tuesday, Southwest Baptist and Nebraska-Omaha squared off with Saint Louis University and Creighton on Thursday, while the Griffons travel to UMKC on Saturday. Sunday's slate includes Washburn at Iowa as well as Central Missouri at Missouri and Emporia State at Kansas. PSU will play at K-State on Monday, while the Lady Blues travel to Stillwater on Tuesday and Truman heads to Illinois State.
up Next . . .
The Lady Blues will travel to Stillwater, Okla. to take on Oklahoma State on Tuesday, November 10 at 6 p.m. Washburn will have one more exhibition game on Nov. 15 when they will face the Ichabod golf team in Lee Arena. The regular season will open on Nov. 21 when the Lady Blues will play host to Southwestern College (Kan.) at 7 p.m. in Lee Arena
.
