Game Facts Date: Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2010 Time: 5:30 p.m. Site: Pittsburg, Kan. - John Lance Arena (5,500) Radio: 106.9 KTPK Online Audio:  wusports.com Live Stats: pittstategorillas.com Live Video: wusports.com

Washburn Lady Blues (13-1, 7-1 MIAA) Polls 8th in USA Today/ESPN Division II Poll Coaches Head Coach: Ron McHenry Alma Mater: Washburn, 84 WU Record:    254-50, 10th season Career Record: 254-50, 10th season Basketball Page Roster Statistics Schedule Game Notes Media Guide Athletic Web Site

Pittsburg State Gorillas (7-7, 5-2 MIAA) Polls Not ranked in USA Today/ESPN Division II Poll Coaches Head Coach:     Lane Lord Alma Mater: Tabor, 93 PSU Record: 37-33, third season Career Record: Same Basketball Page Roster Statistics Schedule Game Notes Media Guide Athletic Web Site

Lady Blues look to rebound
The eighth-ranked Washburn Lady Blues look to rebound from their first loss of the season when they play at Pittsburg State on Wednesday night. Tip-off is 5:30 p.m. in John Lance Arena.
The Lady Blues suffered their first loss of the season, a 70-65 setback, against Missouri Southern on Saturday night in Topeka. Washburn led by as many as 12 early on but the Lions rallied to hand Washburn its first loss of the 2009-10 season.
The Gorillas are coming off a 79-62 loss at Emporia State on Saturday night and currently sit in third place in the MIAA with a 5-2 conference record.

Lady Blues on the air . . .
The Lady Blues game will be broadcast live on 106.9 KTPK with Mark Elliott providing the play-by-play and Bruce Steinbrock the color-commentary. The game 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 254-50 (.836) overall record, including a 135-35 (.794) 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 (.836) in MIAA history of coaches who have at least 200 wins and the highest among all active head coaches in NCAA-II.
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 6 of notes.)
Pittsburg State head coach Lane Lord, is in his third season leading the Gorilla program. Pittsburg State is 37-33 overall during that span. Last season, Lord led the Gorillas to a 20-9 overall record, including a 14-6 mark in the MIAA good enough for third place. Lord is a 1993 graduate of Tabor College and came to Pittsburg State from Barton County Community College where he was the head women's coach for three seasons.

Last time out for the Lady Blues . . .
Jan. 9, 2010 - TOPEKA, Kan. -- The sixth-ranked Washburn Lady Blues dropped their first game of the season, a 70-65 defeat, to Missouri Southern on Saturday night in Lee Arena. The Lady Blues will look to get back on the winning track on Wednesday night at Pittsburg State.
The Lady Blues (13-1, 7-1 MIAA) jumped out to an early 15-3 lead behind some hot shooting, but it wouldn't last. The lead was 11 at 26-15 with just over eight minutes to play in the opening half and again with 4:27 to play, but Missouri Southern (9-5, 3-4 MIAA) closed the period on a 12-3 run and the lead was two, 35-33 at the break. Washburn shot 39 percent in the first half on 13-of-33 shooting, but struggled from the free throw line making just 2-of-7 attempts.
The Lions grabbed the lead early in the second half only to see the Lady Blues regain the lead and push it to five at 41-36 with 16:48 to play in the game. WU was able to push the lead to as many as seven at 58-51 with 6:54 to play, but a 19-7 run by the Lions to end the game doomed the Lady Blues. Washburn struggled down the stretch making just 2-of-11 from the field over the final 6:54.
WU shot just 36 percent, 24-of-67, for the game and made just 9-of-35 from behind the arc. The Lady Blues were ice cold from the charity stripe as well connecting on just 8-of-20 attempts for a season-low 40 percent. The Lions shot 45 percent, 22-of-49, from the field and made 23-of-31 from the foul line for 74 percent.
Rose Hammond played one of her all-around best games of the season, finishing with 15 points, eight rebounds, five steals and five assists to just one turnover to lead Washburn. Amanda Fessenden finished with 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting, including 4-of-9 from three-point range.
Jasmine Lovejoy led the Lions with 23 points and 17 rebounds, while Jolea Apon and LaTice Jones added 11 each. MSSU also out-rebounded the Lady Blues 43-38.

Notes from the Loss to Missouri Southern . . .
• Washburn shot a season-low 40 percent (8-of-20) from the foul line
• The Lady Blues went just 2-of-11 in the final 6:54 of the game, going from seven points up to five points down
• The Lady Blues extended their streak of consecutive games with at least one 3FG to 185 games

About Pittsburg State . . .
Pittsburg State enters the week with a 7-7 overall record, but a 5-2 mark in MIAA play. The Gorillas are coming off a 79-62 loss at Emporia State on Saturday, but had won three straight games before that.
DePrice Taylor leads the Gorillas in scoring at 14.1 points per game, while Nicole McCombs averages 12.8 per contest, but has upped that to 14.2 during conference play. McCombs also leads PSU in rebounding at 6.7 per game and 6.8 in MIAA action. Maya Onikute chips in 9.0 points per game for the Gorillas as well.
Pittsburg State is averaging 68.8 points per outing as a team, while allowing 69.7 to its opponents. The Gorillas out-rebound their opponents by over four boards per game, 40.8-36.4.
PSU is shooting nearly 40 percent from the field for the season, while opponents have shot almost 42 percent up to this point.

Washburn/Pittsburg State Series Notes . . .
Washburn leads the overall series with Pittsburg State 45-25. The teams split the regular season series last year with each team winning on their own home floor. Washburn later eliminated PSU from the MIAA tournament with an 83-64 triumph in the semifinals. Washburn has won 17 of the last 18 meetings between the two schools. PSU's 3OT win in Pittsburg last season was its first win against Washburn since Ron McHenry's first season at the helm of the Lady Blues program (2000-01).

Last Meeting with Pittsburg state . . .
March 7, 2009 - KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Washburn Lady Blues reached the 2009 MIAA Championship Tournament game with an 83-64 win over Pittsburg State. Washburn will face Emporia State on Sunday at 3:15 p.m. in Municipal Auditorium. The two teams split the two regular season meetings with each team winning on its own home court.
Washburn (25-4) led by six at the break at 36-30 after leading the entire half. The Lady Blues built a lead of as many as 11 points at 30-19 with 6:17 to go. The Lady Blues forced 11 Gorilla (20-9)  turnovers leading to eight first half points.
The Lady Blues used a 15-1 run over a 5:15 stretch of the second half turning a 44-34 lead into a 59-37 advantage with 11:13 to play. Washburn would go on to increase the lead to as many as 25 in the second half picking up the wire-to-wire win.
Washburn was led by Stanecia Graham's 19 points off the bench with 11 coming in the second half. She was 9 of 18 from the field. Kalee Silovsky had 10 of her 13 points in the first half. Janice Bright and Karla Tailele each had 11.
Candice Gilbert had 20 to lead the Gorillas.

A Win Would . . .
A win would make the Lady Blues 14-1 for the first time since 2006-07 ... give the Lady Blues a 8-1 MIAA record for the first time since the 2006-07 season ... give McHenry a 255-50 overall record ... give Washburn a 36-10 record under McHenry following a loss ... give Washburn a 736-333 record in its 41st season of basketball.

A Loss Would . . .
Make the Lady Blues 13-2 for the second straight season ... give the Lady Blues a 7-2 MIAA record for the second straight season ... give McHenry a 254-51 career record ... give Washburn back-to-back losses for the first time Feb. 1, 2003 ... give Washburn a 735-334 record in 41 years of playing collegiate basketball.

Following a Loss . . .
The Lady Blues are 35-10 under Ron McHenry following a loss. Washburn has not lost back-to-back games since January 29 and February 1, 2003.

Lady Blues in The MIAA . . .
The Lady Blues are 135-35 (.794) under head coach Ron McHenry in MIAA games and 259-88 (.746) all-time in conference play. 

Lady Blues on the road . . .
The Lady Blues are 72-29 (.713) on the road under Ron McHenry, including 6-0 this season and 5-0 in MIAA play.. Washburn's best road record under McHenry was 8-0 during the 2005-06 season. The Lady Blues were 9-3 on the road last season, including 7-3 during conference play.

Lady Blues History . . .
Washburn is 735-333 (.688 in 1,068 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 fell two spots to No. 8 in the latest USA Today/ESPN WBCA Coaches Poll following their loss to Missouri Southern. Emporia State is the only other MIAA team ranked, moving up one spot to No. 6.
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 126 consecutive polls and has been in the top 25 in 110 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 career high 17 points in win at Central Missouri
#5 • Laura Kinderknecht • G • 5-7 • Fr. • Scored career-high 11 points in win over Rockhurst
#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 College 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. • Had career-highs of eight points and five rebounds in win over Truman State
#22 • Ashley Jappa • F • 6-2 • Jr. • Had four blocked shots against Missouri-St. Louis
#25 • Stevi Schultz • G • 5-9 • So. • Scored career-high 18 points in win over Rockhurst, including five three-point field goals
#31 • Rose Hammond • G • 5-10 • Sr. • Leads the MIAA with a 2.1 assist-to-turnover ratio
#32 • Amanda Fessenden • G • 5-9 • Sr. • Has made 13 of her last 22 3FG attempts
#33 • Hope Gregory • G • 5-10 • Jr. • Has made 10 of her past 12 free throw attempts
#34 • Sierra Moeller • F • 6-1 • Jr. • Redshirting during the 2009-10 season after transferring from Boise State
#40 • Dayna Rodriguez • F • 6-2 • Sr. • Scored career-high 23 points in win over Rockhurst
#42 • Raychel Boling • F • 6-0 • Jr. • Scored 11 points in win over Missouri-St. Louis
#44 • Laura McMullin • F • 6-1 • Fr. • 2-of-3 from the field for four points in first game

Tip-Ins . . .
• The Lady Blues are 8-4 all-time on Jan. 13, including 1-1 under McHenry.
• The Lady Blues are 0-1 under McHenry against Pittsburg State on Jan. 13. The Gorillas beat Washburn 73-54 in Pittsburg during McHenry's first season.
• The Lady Blues are 17-3 under McHenry against Pittsburg State.

Up Next . . .
The Lady Blues return home for three straight games in Lee Arena. Washburn will host Emporia State on Saturday at 5:30 p.m., Nebraska-Omaha on Saturday, January 23 and Northwest Missouri State on Wednesday, January 27.