Media Information
Date: Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2010
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Topeka, Kan.
Arena: Lee Arena (3,904)
Television: None
Radio: 106.9 KTPK Topeka with Mark Elliott (pxp) and Bruce Steinbrock (color)
Live Stats: www.wusports.com
Audio Web Stream: Through wusports.com
Video Web Stream: None
Complete Game Notes

Lady Blues continue non-conference slate against Drury
The Washburn Lady Blues tipped-off the 2010-11 season with a 91-60 victory over Southwestern (Kan.) last Monday night. Washburn had four players score in double figures and shot 45 percent from the field. The Lady Blues also out-rebounded the Lady Builders 63-31 on their way to the 31-point season-opening win.
The Lady Blues will continue their non-conference slate with their final home non-conference game of the season against Drury on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in Lee Arena. Drury enters the game with a 1-2 record following a 57-49 loss to Southwest Baptist in Springfield.
Washburn leads the series with the Lady Panthers 7-2 and has won two straight in the series.

Lady Blues on radio . . .
The Lady Blues game will be broadcast live on 106.9 KTPK Topeka with Mark Elliott calling the action and Bruce Steinbrock providing the color-commentary. 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 269-53 (.835) record overall and 145-37 (.797) record in the MIAA with six MIAA regular season championships and the 2005 NCAA National Championship. McHenry has also led the Lady Blues to six MIAA Postseason Tournament titles including six of the eight played in Kansas City. McHenry has the highest winning percentage (.835) 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 2004, 2005 and 2010 and the Division II Bulletin National Coach of the Year in 2005. (complete bio on page 7 of notes.)
Drury head coach Steve Harold, is in his fourth season leading the Lady Panther program and his 16th season overall as a head coach. His record while at Drury stands at 76-23, while his overall coaching record is 366-134. Last season, he led the Lady Panthers to a 28-7 mark as they advanced to the NCAA-II Midwest Regional Final.

Last time out for the Lady Blues . . .
November 15, 2010 - TOPEKA, Kan. -- The Washburn Lady Blues overcame a sluggish start and rolled to a 91-60 season-opening win over Southwestern (Kan.) College on Monday night at Lee Arena. The Lady Blues are back in action next Tuesday at home against Drury at 7 p.m.
Southwestern started the game on a 7-2 run before the Lady Blues (1-0) came alive with a 10-3 run to grab their first lead of the game at 12-10 with 15:38 to play. The Lady Builders regained the lead and pushed it back to four with 11:31 to play in the half. A quick 6-0 run gave Washburn the lead again at the 8:41 mark. After a quick three by SWC the Lady Blues grabbed the lead for good on a three-pointer from Megan Lassley. The lead was two with just over six minutes remaining in the opening stanza, but Washburn closed the half on a 13-4 run and led 45-34 at the break.
The Lady Builders got back to within nine with just under four minutes gone by in the second half, but a 16-2 run by Washburn over the next 4:24 pushed the lead to 23 at 69-46. The Lady Blues extended their lead to as many as 31 as they rolled to the 91-60 win.
Cassie Lombardino led four Lady blues in double-figures  with career-highs of 20 points and nine rebounds. Naudia Campbell had 16 points and eight boards on 8-of-10 shooting from the field. Megan Lassley had 15 points and Laura Kinderknecht chipped in a career-high 13.
Washburn shot 45 percent from the floor, 35-of-78, and 28 percent from three-point range. Washburn out-rebounded the Lady Builders 63-31. The 63 boards are the most ever by a Lady Blues team in Lee Arena.
Jasmine Jackson and Jordyn Cossman each had nine points to pace Southwestern, who shot 33 percent from the field and 26 percent from behind the arc.
Washburn had 50 points in the paint compard to 24 for Southwestern and had 29 second-chance points.

Notes from the win over Southwestern . . .
• Washburn improved to 11-0 in season-openers under Ron McHenry and 33-9 overall in season-openers
• Washburn had four players score in double-figures with all four setting new career-highs.
• The Lady Blues' 63 rebounds set a new team record for most rebounds by Washburn in Lee Arena. The old mark of 60 was set last season against Missouri-St. Louis.

Washburn/Drury series notes . . .
The Lady Blues lead the overall series with Drury 7-2 with all nine meetings taking place during the Ron McHenry era. Washburn won last year in Springfield 68-59 and has won the past two meetings.

About Drury . . .
The Lady Panthers are 1-2 in the non-conference portion of their schedule after a 57-49 setback to MIAA foe Southwest Baptist at home on Saturday night.
Drury lost its season-opener to Northeastern State 52-39 before beating William Jewell 78-37. NSU is the team that knocked Washburn out of the South Central Regional last season.
Ja'Nell Jones leads the Lady Panthers averaging 15.7 points per game. She also averages 5.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists per outing. The next highest scoring average on the team belongs to Abby Bracker, who pours in 7.7 per contest.
Sara Jane Plemmons leads the team in rebounding at 8.7 per game, while scoring 7.0 ppg.
DU is averaging 55.3 points per game, while holding opponents to 48.7 ppg and 37 percent shooting from the field.
The Lady Panthers shoot 37 percent from the floor, including 40 percent from behind the three-point arc. They out-rebound their opponents by nearly 10 boards per game, 39.7-30.0.

Last time out for Drury . . .
November 20, 2010 - SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - (Courtesy of Drury Sports Info.) Southwest Baptist outscored Drury 17-6 over the game's final seven minutes to pull away for a 57-49 victory over the Lady Panthers in a non-conference matchup Saturday afternoon at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.
Drury took a 43-40 lead over the Bearcats on Sara Jane Plemmons' free throw with 7:09 remaining, but missed five shots and turned it over three times over the next five minutes to dig a 51-43 hole after an 11-0 run by the Bearcats (2-1), who went on to defeat the Lady Panthers for the first time in three tries in the series.
All told, Drury (1-2) missed 9 of its final 11 shots and finished the game at 20 for 57 (35 percent), including an 8-for-29 effort from the field (28 percent) in the opening half that helped SBU to a 27-20 halftime cushion.
Sophomore forward Abby Bracker scored a career-high 12 points and added two blocked shots and a steal in 19 minutes off the bench.
Senior guard Ja'Nell Jones added 10 points and six rebounds for Drury, who committed 19 turnovers while forcing only 12 by the Bearcats.
Ashleigh Gallio had 10 points to lead SBU, which made 21 of 54 from the field (39 percent).
Drury claimed a 41-33 edge in rebounding, led by 11 boards from Plemmons, which matched her career high. Kassie Walker added seven rebounds (also a career high) and Jones had six for the Lady Panthers.

Last meeting between Washburn and Drury . . .
November 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.

A Win Would . . .
A win would make the Lady Blues 2-0 for the 10th straight season ... give the Lady Blues three straight wins over Drury ... give Washburn an 8-2 lead in the series with the Lady Panthers ... extend the Lady Blues' non-conference home court winning streak to 47 games ... give Washburn a 751-336 record in 42 years of basketball.

A Loss Would . . .
A loss would give the Lady Blues a 1-1 record for the first time since the 2000-01 season, Ron McHenry's first on the Lady Blues bench... snap a two-game winning streak against Drury ... cut Washburn's series lead to 7-3 with the Lady Panthers ... snap Washburn's 46-game home court non-conference winning streak ... give Washburn a 750-337 record in 42 years of basketball.

Against Ranked Opponents . . .
The Lady Blues are 38-23 when facing a ranked opponent under Ron McHenry. Washburn was 2-1 against ranked competition last year, including a 68-59 win at No. 20 Drury. The Lady Blues are 11-5 against ranked teams over the past three seasons.

Lady Blues in Lee Arena . . .
In their 27th season in Lee Arena, the Lady Blues are 327-59 (.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 46 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 136-14 (.907) in home games under Ron McHenry. Five of the 14 losses came in his first year on the Lady Blues bench. In the last nine plus seasons, Washburn is 128-9 (.934).

Lady Blues on the road . . .
The Lady Blues are 77-30 (.720) on the road under Ron McHenry. Washburn's best road record under McHenry was 8-0 during the 2005-06 season. The Lady Blues were 10-1 on the road last season, including 9-1 during MIAA play.

Lady Blues History . . .
Washburn is 750-336 (.690 in 1,086 games) in its 42nd season of intercollegiate action. The Lady Blues have won seven MIAA regular season titles and eight MIAA postseason tournament championships since becoming eligible for conference championships in 1990-91.

Washburn in the National Poll . . .
The 2010-11 USA Today/ESPN Division II Coaches' preseason top 25 poll has Washburn at No. 9, while the Lady Blues were 19th in the NCAA Division II Bulletin Preseason Poll.
The Lady Blues were No. 10 in the final USA Today/ESPN Top 25 WBCA Coaches Poll of the 2009-10 season. Overall, Washburn has received votes in the last 137 consecutive polls and has been in the top 25 in 121 consecutive polls, the longest active streak in NCAA-II.

Blues Clues . . .
#1 • Naudia Campbell • C • 6-2 • Jr. • Scored 16 points with eight rebounds in her Washburn debut
#3 • Hailee Michel • G • 5-11 • Fr. • Will redshirt the 2010-11 season
#4 • Lindy Arndt • G •5-11 • Fr. • Scored three points in her collegiate debut
#5 • Laura Kinderknecht • G • 5-7 • So. • Scored career-high 13 points in the season-opening win over Southwestern
#10 • Dana Channel • G •5-10 • Fr. • Scored two points with two rebounds in her first college game
#14 • Alyssa Mullen • F • 5-11 • Sr. • Grabbed five rebounds and scored five points in the win over Southwestern
#15 • Sami McHenry • G • 5-8 • Fr. • Will join team after conclusion of Washburn volleyball season
#20 • Dana Elliott • F • 5-11 • So. • Grabbed four rebounds in nine minutes of action in season-opener
#21 • Cassie Lombardino • C • 6-3 • Jr. • Had career-highs of 20 points and nine rebounds in win over Southwestern
#22 • Megan Lassley • G • 5-4 • Jr. • Scored 15 points in first game as a Lady Blue
#24 • Ebonie Williams • G • 5-8 • Sr. • Will sit out the 2010-11 season after transferring from Seton Hall
#25 • Stevi Schultz • G • 5-9 • Jr. • Scored eight points with five boards against SWC
#32 • Sierra Moeller • F • 6-1 • Jr. • Suffered a season-ending injury in exhibition game at Kansas State
#33 • Amy Green • G • 5-10 • Jr. • Grabbed four boards in 13 minutes in first game for Washburn
#42 • Raychel Boling • F • 6-0 • Sr. • Grabbed career-high seven boards in season-opener
#44 • Laura McMullin • F • 6-1 • So. • Scored five points and grabbed five rebounds in season-opening win over Southwestern

Tip-Ins . . .
• The Lady Blues are 11-3  in games played on November 23, including 4-1 under Ron McHenry.
• Washburn's last loss in a home non-conference game was 59-51 setback against Missouri-St. Louis on Dec. 30, 2000, a stretch of 46 straight non-conference games.

Up Next . . .
The Lady Blues will travel to Phoenix, Arizona for a pair of games in the Grand Canyon Thanksgiving Classic on November 26 and 27. Washburn will play Cal State-Dominguez Hills on the 26th and Lake Superior State (Mich.) on the 27th.
MIAA play begins in December with three straight home games. Washburn will host Nebraska-Omaha on December 1, Northwest Missouri State on December 4 and Fort Hays State on December 8. All three games will begin at 5:30 p.m. inside Lee Arena.