Matchup: Washburn (22-4, 15-4 MIAA) vs Emporia State (22-3, 16-2 MIAA) Date: Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2009 Time: 5:30 p.m. CST Site: Topeka, Kan. -- Lee Arena (3,970) Radio: AM580 with play by play with Mark Elliott and Bruce Steinbrock Online Audio: Through wusports.com (free) Live Stats: Through Coaches: Washburn head coach Ron McHenry is 236-48 (.832) in his ninth season. He is 16-8 against ESU. ESU head coach Brandon Schneider is 272-64 (.809) in his 11th year as head coach. He is 33-23 against Top 25 teams in his career. He is 12-16 against WU. Rankings: Washburn is ranked No. 13 in the WBCA Coaches Poll and No. 6 in the Feb. 18 NCAA South Central Regional Rankings. ESU was ranked No. 5 in the top 25 poll and No. 5 in the Feb. 18 regional rankings. Series Record: ESU leads the all-time series 39-37 Blue Notes: WU has won 13 of the last 18 meetings. Last Meeting: ESU 85-78, 1/17/09 in Emporia Last WU win: WU 73-58 in NCAA Sweet 16, 3/17/08 in Canyon, Texas Last ESU win: 74-67, 2/17/07 at ESU Worth noting: This meeting will be the 19th straight in which both teams have been nationally ranked … McHenry is 8-0 on senior night at Washburn.

Radio: AM 580 WIBW Web Stream Internet: themiaa.tv (free) Live Stats: through WU (free) Washburn Game Notes WBB Page Roster Statistics Schedule Emporia State WBB Page Roster Statistics Schedule

Lady Blues return home to wrap up the  regular season against Emporia State in the second edition of the Turnpike Tussle . . .  
The No. 9 ranked Lady Blues (22-4, 15-4 MIAA) will wrap up the regular season on Wednesday, Feb. 25 when they play host to Emporia State (22-3, 16-2 MIAA) on senior night in Lee Arena in the second set of the Turnpike Tussle. The Lady Blues' Janice Bright, Jessica Mainz, Kalee Silovsky, Karla Tailele, Renata Germano and Stanecia Graham will play their final game in Lee Arena and will be honored following the game with the Lady Hornets. Washburn is coming off its longest game in school history in a triple overtime loss at Pittsburg State 94-87. Emporia State has not played since an 85-70 win over Pittsburg State on Feb. 18 in White Auditorium. ESU won the first meeting of the season in Emporia 85-78 on Jan. 17.

Lady Blues on radio . . .
Washburn's game with Emporia State will be on AM580. 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 236-48 (.835) record overall and 127-34 (.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 along with eight-straight 20-wins seasons. 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.)
Emporia State head coach Brandon Schneider is 272-64 (.807) in his 11th year as head coach. He is the winningest coach in Lady Hornet history and is responsible for over one third of ESU's all-time victories. He is the third winningest active coach by percentage in Division II. The Lady Hornets have gone to the NCAA Tournament in nine of his ten seasons as head coach. He is 33-23 against Top 25 teams in his career and has three wins against #1 ranked teams. He is 12-16 against WU.

Last time out for the Lady Blues. . .
(Feb. 21, 2009) PITTSBURG, Kan. -- The No. 9 Washburn Lady Blues dropped a heart-breaking three overtime game to Pittsburg State 94-87 snapping the Lady Blues eight-game overall winning streak and a 16-game streak over the Gorillas in the all-time series.
In the longest game in Washburn history, the Lady Blues trailed by five in regulation at 61-56, but four straight point by Brette Ulsaker pulled Washburn within one at 61-60 with 1:20 to play. Following a free throw by PSU's Candice Gilbert pushing the lead back to two at 62-60 with 56 seconds to play, Jessica Mainz when to the line and hit both of her free throws with 32 seconds remaining. A jumper by the Gorillas' DePrice Taylor with two seconds left missed and the game was sent into overtime.
In the second overtime, Washburn took a three-point lead on a 3-pointer by Kalee Silovsky with 3:18 to play, but Washburn could not pull away from the Gorillas coming up empty on two free throw attempts and a pair of missed jumpers and GIblert tied the score with a 3-pointer of her own at 68 with 2:11 to play. PSU's Brianna Buchanan gave the Gorillas a two-point lead at 70-68 after hitting a pair of free throws and Janice Bright tied the score on the next possession for Washburn with a pair of charity tosses with 54 seconds left. The Gorillas then went up 72-70 with 24 seconds left when Baily Waugh hit a jumper. After a Washburn timeout, Bright scored on a lay up in the paint knotting the score for the 14th time in the game. Gilbert's lay up at the buzzer missed sending the game into the third overtime period with the score tied at 79-79.
The Lady Blues could not get on track in the final overtime as the Gorillas jumped out to an 86-81 lead and would lead by as many as eight at 92-84 before pulling out the seven-point win.
Washburn trailed by one 37-36 at the break after shooting 52 percent from the field hitting 13 of 25 attempts as the Lady Blues jumped out to a nine point lead at 18-9 with 13:44 to go on a lay up by Mainz.
Staneica Graham led Washburn with 29 points off the bench scoring 11 in the first half. Bright scored 21 for the Lady Blues with a team-high eight rebounds. Brette Ulsaker scored a career-high 16 points going a perfect 8 of 8 from the free throw line. Mainz finished with seven points, six rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks setting a school record for minutes played not taking a break in all 55 minutes of the game.
Brianna Buchanan led the Gorillas with 31 points. Gilbert finished with 19.

Washburn/Emporia State series notes . . .
Wednesday's meeting will be the 77th in the series. The Lady Hornets lead the all-time series 40-36. Washburn has won 16 of the last 22 games in the series. Both teams have been nationally ranked the last 19 times (counting this one) they have played and they have both been in the top ten during 11 of the last 13 meetings. Thirteen of the last 17 games between the two have been decided by less than ten points with four games decided by two points or less. In Topeka, Washburn is 18-19 against ESU. In games played in Emporia, Washburn is 13-21 in White Auditorium. On neutral courts, Washburn is 5-0 winning the only two meetings in Kansas City during the MIAA Tournament.  In the NCAA Tournament, the teams have met four times with Washburn holding a 3-1 lead. Washburn won March 15, 2003 in Topeka, in the regional semifinals 66-60 and on March 14, 2005 with Washburn taking a 63-51 in Springfield, Mo. ESU won on March 13, 2006 when the Lady Hornets topped the Lady Blues 61-59 in overtime in Lee Arena snapping Washburn's NCAA Division II record 51-game winning streak. The Lady Blues won in the 2008 NCAA South Central Regional on March 17 in Canyon, Texas in a 73-58 win. Ron McHenry is 16-8 against Emporia State. ESU head coach Brandon Schneider is 12-16 against Washburn.

About Emporia State . . .
Emporia State has clinched at least a share of the MIAA regular season crown and with a win in one of their final two games will hold the title by themselves. ESU has won their last three game with two coming on the road at SBU and at MSSU. They topped Pittsburg State 85-70 last time out on Feb. 18. They have one game remaining following the match up with Washburn on Feb. 28 against FHSU at home.
Cassondra Boston leads ESU in scoring at 15.3 ppg pacing three others averaging double figures including Ida Edwards at 14.4 ppg, Sophia Lenard with 12.0 ppg and Andrea Leiker at 13.5 ppg. Edwards also leads the team with 10.1 rebounds per game. Boston leads the team with 51 3-pointers.
ESU is averaging 86.8 points per game and allowing 64.6 ppg. They are hitting 47 percent of their attempts from the field hitting 746 of 1579 shots. They are also nailing 37 percent from 3-point range hitting 180 of 492 shots.

Last meeting between Washburn and Emporia State . . .
(Jan. 17, 2009) EMPORIA, Kan. -- A late-game rally by the Lady Blues fell short as No. 7 Washburn fell 85-78 at No. 9 Emporia State Saturday night in White Auditorium in Emporia.
The Lady Blues trailed by as many 16 in the second half at 49-33 with 15:44 to play before cutting into the lead. Washburn pulled within single digits with 1:13 to go at 76-67 on and to six with 1:05 to play on four straight free throws by Janice Bright. But ESU was perfect from the line on their next two possessions keeping the margin at nine. Washburn trimmed the lead to five at 81-76 with 20 second to go, but ESU hit their last four free throws to put the game away.
Washburn led by as many as five points in the opening period and held an 18-14 advantage with 8:58 to go in the half, but Emporia State rolled off a 13-0 run over the next 4:25 taking a 27-14 with 4:33 to go in the first half. Washburn was held without a field goal from the 9:33 mark to the 1:18 mark of the first half when Janice Bright hit a lay up. After a pair of free throws by Cassondra Boston with three seconds left in the half, ESU took a 36 to 26 lead into the halftime locker room.
Washburn hit 8 of 30 attempts in the first half for a 27 percent average and was 1 of 7 from 3-point range. The Lady Hornets hit 36 percent from the field going 13 of 36. Washburn was 9 of 11 from the free throw line and ESU hit all eight attempts.
Bright led the Lady Blues with 31 points go over 30 for the first time in her career at Washburn. She was a perfect 15 of 15 from the free throw line. Her 15 free throws tied the Washburn single-game record of Shelley Foster who hit 15 of 16 against Pittsburg State on Feb. 18, 1995. The 15 of 15 is also an MIAA single-game record besting a 14 of 14 performance by four others. Dayna Rodriguez scored a career-high 17 points in her first start at Washburn following up a 15-point performance against Pittsburg State last time out. Stanecia Graham scored 10 off the bench. Bright also had a team-high seven rebounds before fouling out.
Cassondra Boston led ESU with 24 points. Ida Edwards had a double double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
The Lady Blues raised their shooting percentage in the second to 46 percent hitting 16 of 35 attempts. For the game, Washburn was 27 of 33 from the free throw line. Emporia State shot 41 percent for the game hitting 25 of 61 shots and they were 32 of 36 from the charity stripe. Emporia State outrebounded Washburn 41 to 39.

Last time out for Emporia State . . .
(Feb. 18, 2009)  EMPORIA, Kan. -- Eighth-ranked Emporia State University broke open a seven-point game with a decisive 15-2 second-half run to streak to a 85-70 victory over Pittsburg State University Wednesday (Feb. 18) at W.L. White Auditorium.
Pitt State (17-7, 12-5 MIAA) trailed 48-41 with 16:34 to play in the game, but Emporia (22-3, 16-2 MIAA) scored the game's next nine points en route to the double-digit run which effectively put the game out of reach with a 62-43 margin with 13:07 to play.
The Gorillas never got any closer than 14 points of the Hornets down the stretch.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair, before the Hornets wrestled away control of the game. The Gorillas led by as many as six points, at 16-10, and the lead changed hands 13 times in the period. The Hornets eventually outscored the Gorillas, 14-5, over the final 5:54 of the half to break open a 30-29 game and take a 44-34 edge to the locker room.
Sophia Lenard paced four Emporia players in double figures with 17 points, while Ida Edwards added 16 -- 10 in the first half. Cassondra Boston and Andrea Leiker chipped in with 14 and 13.
Candice Gilbert led all scorers with 20 points and a game-high 12 rebounds for the Gorillas. Caitlin Demarest and DePrice Taylor added nine apiece for Pitt State.

Lady Blues in Lee Arena . . .
In their 25th season in Lee Arena, the Lady Blues are 314-57 (.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 123-12 (.910) 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 115-7 (.942).

Lady Blues history . . .
Washburn is 717-331 (.683 in 1,047 games) in its 40th season of intercollegiate action.

WU in the national poll . . .
(Feb. 10, 2009) The Washburn Lady Blues basketball team climbed from No. 10 to No. 9 in the WBCA USA Today/ESPN Division II Top 25 coaches poll which was released today. The Lady Blues have been ranked in 105 consecutive top 25 polls and have received votes in the last 120 top 25 coaches polls.

WU and the NCAA Regional Rankings. . .
(Feb. 18, 2009) Updated NCAA Regional rankings.
                                             Overall Record  Division II              In-Region Record
1.     West Tex. A&M     20-3-0     20-3-0     
2.     St. Mary's (Tex.)     19-3-0     17-3-0     
3.     Central Okla.     17-4-0     17-4-0     
4.     Emporia St.     17-3-0     17-3-0     
5.     Southeastern Okla.     14-6-0     14-5-0     
6.     Washburn     19-3-0     16-3-0     
7.     Mo. Southern St.     14-6-0     14-6-0     
8.     Angelo St.     14-9-0     14-9-0     
9.     Abilene Christian     15-8-0     14-8-0     
10.     Tex. A&M-Commerce     15-7-0     15-7-0     

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 . . .
• In Washburn/Pitt State's 3OT game on Saturday, it joined joining the UNO/UCM game on Dec. 6, 2002 their triple overtime game, the most minutes played were 51 by Jena Shackelford for the Jennies. Jessica Mainz played all 55 minutes for Washburn against the Gorillas on Saturday setting an MIAA record for the most minutes played in a single game.
• Washburn is 5-4 in the program's history on Feb. 25. Washburn and Emporia State have played once on Feb. 25 - during the 1996-97 season when ESU won 79-62 in Topeka.
• Washburn has kept opponents under 100 in 310 consecutive games.
• The Lady Blues are 95 of 192 (.495) from the field in the last five minutes of games this season compared to their opponents who are shooting 88 of 221 (.395).
• Washburn is shooting 305 of 767 (.398) from the field in the first half of games this season and 341 of 715 (.477) in the second half of games this season.
• Washburn is scoring 6.2 more points per game in the second half compared to the first half of games this season (38.5 to 32.3).
• In the Lady Blues' 22 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 24.5 ppg average in the four losses and 17.5 in the 22 wins. Bright and Stanecia Graham (13.3) are the only Lady Blues to average double figures in the four losses. She is also the only Lady Blue to average double figures in home games this season (16.8 ppg).
• The Lady Blues are shooting 42 percent from the field in road games this season (299 of 705). They are hitting 77 of 235 3-pointers (.328  and 185 of 240 free throws (.771). Washburn is averaging 71.7 ppg in road games and allowing 64.8.
• Washburn's starters are tied with their opponents starters in scoring this season with 1165 points each (44.8 ppg) … Washburn's bench is outscoring their opponents bench 28.0 to 14.8 ppg or 728 to 385 on the 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 ESU game with a 236-48 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 204-13 when leading at the half.
• Washburn is 71-1 when scoring at least 81 points.
• When opponents are held to 70 points or below, Washburn is 178-32 … when opponents are held to 60 points or less, the Lady Blues are 164-15.
• Washburn is 225-9 when leading with five minutes to go in the game.
• Washburn is 198-11 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. . .
# • Name • Pos • HT • Class • PPG • RPG • APG • Notes
#3 • Brette Ulsaker • G • 5-9 • Jr. • 4.6 • 2.4 • 2.2 • Set career high in pts (16), FT (8), FTA (8), minutes (44) vs PSU last time out
#4 • Stanecia Graham • F • 6-1 • Sr. • 10.9 • 4.8 • 0.3 • Averaging 14.8 ppg in last six including career-high 29 against PSU in last game
#5 • Erica Brown • G • 5-9 • Jr. • 4.8 • 2.1 • 0.9 • 16 minutes against MSSU one shy of career high
#10 • Lauren Henry • G • 5-4 • Fr. • 0.4 • 0.0 • 0.0 • Has played in six games this season
#11 • Renata Germano • C • 6-2 • Sr. • 2.8 • 1.4 • 0.8 • 28 career blocks is 25th all-time at Washburn
#13 • Jessica Mainz • G • 5-9 • Sr. • 6.5 • 4.1 • 4.7 • A combined 15-3 in both soccer (8-0) and wbb (7-3) in WU career against ESU
#14 • Alyssa Mullen • F • 5-11 • So. • 1.5 • 1.9 • 0.7 • 21 of 50 rebounds on offensive side
#20 • Hadleigh Meek • G • 5-8 • So. • 0.8 • 0.3 • 0.4 • 4 of 9 from the field this season
#21 • Cassie Lombardino • C • 6-3 • Fr. • 0.7 • 0.7 • 0.0 • Two offensive rebounds in last two games played
#23 • Jacki Tipping • G • 5-10 • Jr. • - • - • - • Redshirting after having preseason ankle surgery
#24 • Karla Tailele • G • 5-6 • Sr. • 6.0 • 1.7 • 1.2 • 64 3-pointers at Washburn is 15th all-time on the Lady Blues career chart
#25 • Stevi Schultz • G • 5-9 • Fr. • 2.0 • 0.9 • 0.3 • Scored 5 points in 3 minutes against UCM hitting a 3-pointer
#30 • Kalee Silovsky • F • 6-0 • Sr. •  4.6 • 3.5 • 0.8 • 32 minutes at PSU was career high, averaging 11.3 ppg in last three games
#32 • Janice Bright • G • 5-9 • Sr. • 18.5 • 4.5 • 1.7 • .870 FT percentage is second on WU's single season chart (Olberding - .876 in '98
#33 • Hope Gregory • F • 5-10 • So. • 5.5 • 3.7 • 0.9 • 48 3-pointers is 21st all-time at Washburn
#40 • Dayna Rodriguez • F • 6-2 • Jr. • 7.7 • 3.9 • 1.0 • At least 1 field goal in all 26 games this season - 9.1 ppg 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. • 0.5 • 1.2 • 0.2 • Has played in 11 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 . . .
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.