Game Facts Date: Saturday, Jan. 9, 2010 Time: 5:30 p.m. Site: Topeka, Kan. - Lee Arena (3,904) Radio: AM 580 WIBW Online Audio:  wusports.com Live Stats: wusports.com Live Video: wusports.com

Washburn Lady Blues (13-0, 7-0 MIAA) Polls 6th in USA Today/ESPN Division II Poll Coaches Head Coach: Ron McHenry Alma Mater: Washburn, 84 WU Record:    254-49, 10th season Career Record: 254-49, 10th season Basketball Page Roster Statistics Schedule Game Notes Media Guide Athletic Web Site

Missouri Southern Lions (8-5, 2-4 MIAA) Polls Not ranked in USA Today/ESPN Division II Poll Coaches Head Coach:     Maryann Mitts Alma Mater: Rockhurst, 92 MSSU Record: 143-96, ninth season Career Record: 226-153, 13th season Basketball Page Roster Statistics Schedule Game Notes Media Guide Athletic Web Site

Lady Blues return home
The sixth-ranked Washburn Lady Blues return home for the first time in 2010 to take on the Missouri Southern Lions in Lee Arena.
Washburn is coming off an 88-67 win at Southwest Baptist on Tuesday night. A game in which the Lady Blues tied the school record for 3FG made with 15, including six by senior guard Amanda Fessenden.
Missouri Southern is coming off a 55-52 loss to Emporia State on Wednesday night.

Lady Blues on the air . . .
The Lady Blues game will be broadcast live on AM 580 WIBW 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 254-49 (.838) overall record, including a 135-34 (.799) 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 (.838) 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.)
Missouri Southern head coach Maryann Mitts, is in her ninth season leading the Lions program. MSSU is 143-96 during her time in Joplin. Mitts' career record is 226-153 in her 13th season as a head coach. Last season, she led the Lions to a 19-10 overall mark and 12-8 MIAA record. MSSU finished fifth in the conference and advanced to the MIAA Tournament semifinals. Mitts is a 1992 graduate of Rockhurst.

Last time out for the Lady Blues . . .
Jan. 5, 2010 - BOLIVAR, Mo. -- The sixth-ranked Lady Blues tied a school record with 15 three-point field goals and routed Southwest Baptist 88-67 on Tuesday night in Bolivar. Washburn returns home on Saturday night to host Missouri Southern at 5:30 p.m.
The Lady Blues (13-0, 7-0 MIAA) scored the first eight points of the game, six from Hope Gregory, and never trailed en route to their 13th win of the season. Washburn increased the lead to 14-2 before Southwest Baptist (3-10, 1-5 MIAA) went on a 12-4 run to close to within 18-14 with just under eight minutes gone by. Washburn closed the first half on an 24-12 run, however, and lead 42-26 at the break. Amanda Fessenden scored 12 of her career-high 20 points in the first half on four 3FGs.
The lead was 15 with 17:26 to play when the Lady Blues went on an 18-8 run to open a 25-point advantage with just over 10 minutes remaining. The Bearcats got back to within 14 points, but Washburn finished the game on a 14-7 run for the final 21-point margin.
Fessenden led six Washburn players in double figures with her career-high 20, including six three-pointers. Dayna Rodriguez had 16 points, Laura Kinderknecht had 12, while Gregory had 11 and six rebounds. Stevi Schultz and Brette Ulsaker each had 10 points.
The Lady Blues shot 58 percent for the game, 33-of-57, including the school-record tying 15 threes on 56 percent shooting from behind the arc.
Chasity Prince led SBU with 12 points, while Rachel Graves and Courtney Heady had 11 and 10, respectively.
The Bearcats shot 44 percent from the field, 23-of-48, including 11-of-26 from three-point range.

Notes from the win over SBU . . .
• Washburn tied a school-record with 15 made 3FGs in the game
• Washburn won for the 19th time in the past 20 meetings with Southwest Baptist
• The Lady Blues improved to 13-0 for the first time since 2005-06
• The Lady Blues extended their streak of consecutive games with at least one 3FG to 184 games

About Missouri Southern . . .
Missouri Southern comes into the game on the heels of a 55-52 loss to seventh-ranked Emporia State on Wednesday night in Joplin. The Lions record now stands at 8-5 overall and 2-4 in MIAA play. MSSU has dropped three straight games.
Jasmine Lovejoy leads Missouri Southern in scoring at a 15.5 point per game clip. She is averaging 15.8 during conference play. Lovejoy also averages a team-high 6.6 rebounds per contest.
The only other Lion averaging in double figures is Jolea Apon at 11.5 points per outing. She is second on the squad with 2.5 assists per game. Randi Henderson leads the Lions dishing out 2.6 assists per contest.
MSSU averages nearly 66 points per game, while giving up 59.5 per outing. The Lions have held their opponents to 37 percent shooting, while shooting almost 41 percent themselves. They also out-rebound their opponents by more than four rebounds per game (39.7-35.2).

Washburn/Missouri Southern Series Notes . . .
Washburn leads the overall series with Missouri Southern 39-25. The Lady Blues and Lions have split the past four games. WU is 13-5 against MSSU under Ron McHenry.

Last Meeting with Missouri Southern . . .
Feb. 19, 2009 - TOPEKA, Kan. -- The No. 9 ranked Washburn Lady Blues jumped out to a 15-0 lead holding Missouri Southern without a field goal for the first 9:56 of the game en route to a 75-48 win over the Lions. Washburn improves to 22-3 and 15-3 in the MIAA and will travel to face Pittsburg State on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. The Lady Blues became the Pink Ladies for the game as they wore pink jersey's as part of the WBCA's Pink Zone promotion used as a fund-raiser for breast cancer awareness.
Washburn's Janice Bright scored six points in the initial game-opening run leading to 19 points, tying for game-high honors with Missouri Southern's Myosha Barnes. The Lady Blues held the Lions to 5 of 18 shooting from the field in the first half while taking a 39-19 lead into the locker room. Washburn on the other hand was 14 of 31 from the field and 5 of 11 from 3-point range.
In the second half, Washburn stretched the lead to as many as 30 points with 4:03 to go and limited the Lions to 9 of 28 shooting from the field in the second half.
Joining Bright in double figure scoring was Kalee Silovsky who scored 16 points on 7 of 9 shooting while hitting both 3-point attempts. Her 16 points was a career-high following the 13 points she scored against Southwest Baptist last time out. Stanecia Graham scored 13 points off the bench and Dayna Rodriguez scored 11. Jessica Mainz had a career high 10 rebounds to take game high honors while dishing out six assists with five steals and four points and a block.
The Lady Blues were 28 of 61 from the field (46 percent) while holding the Lions to 14 of 46 (30 percent). The 14 field goals made by the Lions was a season-low for a Washburn opponent this season. Washburn also turned 21 Lions turnovers into 29 points while outscoring the Lions 39 to 18 in the paint, 21 to 10 in second-chance points and 25 to 8 in bench points.

A Win Would . . .
A win would make the Lady Blues 14-0 for the first time since 2005-06 ... give the Lady Blues a 8-0 MIAA record for the first time since the 2005-06 season ... give McHenry a 255-49 overall record ... give Washburn back-to-back wins over Missouri Southern and a 40-25 series lead ... give Washburn a 736-332 record in its 41st season of basketball.

A Loss Would . . .
Make the Lady Blues 13-1 for the second straight season and third time in the past four years ... give the Lady Blues a 7-1 MIAA record ... give McHenry a 254-50 career record ... give Washburn a 735-333 record in 41 years of playing collegiate basketball.

Lady Blues in The MIAA . . .
The Lady Blues are 135-34 (.799) under head coach Ron McHenry in MIAA games and 259-87 (.749) all-time in conference play. 

Lady Blues in Lee Arena . . .
In their 26th season in Lee Arena, the Lady Blues are 320-57 (.849) 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 45 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 129-12 (.915) 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 121-7 (.945).

Statistically Speaking . . .
Rose Hammond currently leads the MIAA in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.0. Teammate Brette Ulsaker has an Asst/TO ratio of 2.13, but is five assists shy of averaging 3.0 assists per game, the minimum number to qualify.

Lady Blues History . . .
Washburn is 735-332 (.689 in 1,067 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 jumped two spots to No. 6 in the latest USA Today/ESPN WBCA Coaches Poll released on Tuesday. Emporia State is the only other MIAA team ranked, coming in at No. 7.
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 125 consecutive polls and has been in the top 25 in 109 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 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 1.9 assist-to-turnover ratio
#32 • Amanda Fessenden • G • 5-9 • Sr. • Made 6-of-9 3FG for career-high 20 points in win at Southwest Baptist
#33 • Hope Gregory • G • 5-10 • Jr. • Has made eight of her past 10 free throw attempts
#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 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 collegiate game

Tip-Ins . . .
• The Lady Blues are 4-4 all-time on Jan. 9, including 1-0 under McHenry, a 61-54 win at Emporia State during the 2007-08 season.
• The Lady Blues are 13-5 under McHenry against Missouri Southern, including 8-1 in Lee Arena.

Up Next . . .
The Lady Blues head back to the road for a trip to Pittsburg State on Wednesday before returning home for three straight games. Tip-off in Pittsburg is set for 5:30 p.m. in John Lance Arena