Game Facts Date: Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010 Time: 5:30 p.m. Site: Joplin, Mo. - Leggett & Platt Athletic Center (3,240) Radio: AM 580 WIBW Online Audio:  wusports.com Live Stats: mssulions.com Live Video: wusports.com

Washburn Lady Blues (20-3, 14-3 MIAA) Polls 13th in USA Today/ESPN Division II Poll Coaches Head Coach: Ron McHenry Alma Mater: Washburn, 84 WU Record:    261-52, 10th season Career Record: 261-52, 10th season Basketball Page Roster Statistics Schedule Game Notes Media Guide Athletic Web Site

Missouri Southern Lions (13-10, 7-9 MIAA) Polls Not ranked in USA Today/ESPN Division II Poll Coaches Head Coach:     Maryann Mitts Alma Mater: Rockhurst, 92 MSSU Record: 148-101, ninth season Career Record: 231-158, 13th season Basketball Page Roster Statistics Schedule Game Notes Media Guide Athletic Web Site

Lady Blues hit the road . . .
The No. 13-ranked Washburn Lady Blues hit the road to Joplin, Mo. to face the Missouri Southern Lions on Wednesday night at 5:30 p.m.. Washburn is coming off a 77-68 win over Southwest Baptist on Saturday night, while the Lions lost at Emporia State 97-54.
Washburn will be looking to avenge its first loss of the season when the Lions took a 70-65 win in Topeka on January 9.

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 261-52 (.834) overall record, including a 142-37 (.793) 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 (.833) 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. Her MSSU record stands at 148-101 during that span, while her career mark is 231-158 in 13 seasons as a head coach. Last season, she led the Lions to a 19-10 overall mark and a fifth place finish in the MIAA.

Last time out for the Lady Blues . . .
Feb. 13, 2010 - TOPEKA, Kan. -- The 13th-ranked Lady Blues blistered the nets in a 77-68 win over Southwest Baptist on Think Pink night in Lee Arena. Washburn shot 50 percent for the game, 28-of-56. The Lady Blues wore pink uniforms as part of the WBCA Pink Zone to promote breast cancer awareness. Washburn will be back in action on Wednesday night at Missouri Southern at 5:30 p.m.
The Lady Blues (20-3, 14-3 MIAA) jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the first four minutes. A 10-0 run midway through the first half pushed the lead to 16 and it grew to as many as 17 at 26-9 with 4:37 to play in the opening period. Southwest Baptist (6-17, 4-12 MIAA) closed the half on a 9-3 run and the lead was 29-18 at the break.
Washburn pushed the lead back to 17 in the opening minutes of the second half, but the Bearcats went on  a 19-4 run over a span of 4:45 to cut the lead to two at 43-41 with 12:09 to play. Amanda Fessenden scored five quick points to give WU some breathing room at 48-41. SBU whittled the lead back to four, but a 10-3 run by the Lady Blues pushed the lead back to 11 and the bearcats could get no closer than eight points the rest of the way.
Dayna Rodriguez led Washburn with a career-high 32 points, including a career-high 12 made free throws. Fessenden was the only other Lady Blue in double figures with 12, while Hope Gregory pulled down a career-high 15 rebounds. Brette Ulsaker dished out a career and team season-high eight assists.
Rachel Graves led the Bearcats in scoring with 20 points, whilee Courtney Heady chipped in 15. SBU shot 42 percent for the game, 23-of-55, and were 9-of-25 for 36 percent from behind the three-point line.
The Lady Blues out-rebounded the Bearcats 38-20, while winning for the fifth straight time in the series.

Notes from the win over SBU . . .
• The win gave Washburn its ninth straight 20-win season under Ron McHenry
• The Lady Blues extended their streak of consecutive games with at least one 3FG to 194 games
• Dayna Rodriguez notched her first career 30-point game and the first 30-point game of the season for the Lady Blues

Washburn/Missouri Southern Series Notes . . .
Washburn leads the overall series with Missouri Southern 39-26. The Lions have won two of the last three games in the series after a 70-65 win in Topeka. The two teams have split the previous two season series. WU is 13-6 against MSSU under Ron McHenry.

About Missouri Southern . . .
The Lions come in to the contest at 13-10 overall and 7-9 in MIAA play. They lost at Emporia State 97-54 on Saturday night after winning two straight over Missouri Western and Pittsburg State.
Jasmine Lovejoy and Jolea Apon lead the Lions in scoring at 14.3 and 12.7 points per game, respectively. Lovejoy also leads the team and is seventh in the MIAA in rebounding with 6.9 rebounds per contest. Her 14.3 points per outing ranks eighth in the MIAA.
Lovejoy scored 23 points and pulled down 17 rebounds in the Lions' victory over Washburn earlier this season. Apon had 11 points in the MSSU victory.
Missouri Southern is averaging 65.3 points per game, while giving up 62.6. The Lions shoot 41 percent from the field and hold their opponents to 37 percent shooting.

Last Meeting with Missouri Southern . . .
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.

A Win Would . . .
A win would make the Lady Blues 21-3 for the second straight season ... give the Lady Blues a 15-3 MIAA record for the second straight year ... give McHenry a 262-52 overall record ... give Washburn a season split with Missouri Southern and a 40-26 series lead ... give Washburn a 743-335 record in its 41st season of basketball.

A Loss Would . . .
Make the Lady Blues 20-4 for the second time in three seasons ... give the Lady Blues a 14-4 MIAA record ... give McHenry a 261-53 career record ... be the first season sweep by MSSU since 196 and give Washburn a 39-27 series lead over the Lions ... give Washburn a 742-336 record in 41 years of playing collegiate basketball.

Lady Blues in The MIAA . . .
The Lady Blues are 141-37 (.792) under head coach Ron McHenry in MIAA games and 266-90 (.747) all-time in conference play.

Lady Blues on the road . . .
The Lady Blues are 74-30 (.712) on the road under Ron McHenry, including 8-1 this season and 7-1 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 in Lee Arena . . .
In their 26th season in Lee Arena, the Lady Blues are 325-59 (.846) overall at home. Washburn won their 300th game against Emporia State on Feb. 23, 2008.
The Lady Blues have lost two games at home in the same season for the first time since McHenry's first season in 2000-01.
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 134-14 (.905) 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 126-9 (.933).

Lady Blues History . . .
Washburn is 742-335 (.689 in 1,077 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 moved up two spots to No. 13 in the latest USA Today/ESPN WBCA Coaches Poll. Emporia State is the only other MIAA team ranked. The Lady Hornets stayed put at No. 5 in the rankings.
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 130 consecutive polls and has been in the top 25 in 114 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 19 points in win over Northwest 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. • Has scored in double figures in nine games this season
#31 • Rose Hammond • G • 5-10 • Sr. • Leads the MIAA with a 2.3 assist-to-turnover ratio
#32 • Amanda Fessenden • G • 5-9 • Sr. • Has made 10 of 29 3FG attempts during the current seven-game winning streak
#33 • Hope Gregory • G • 5-10 • Jr. • Pulled down career-high 15 rebounds in win over Southwest Baptist
#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 32 points in win over Southwest Baptist
#42 • Raychel Boling • F • 6-0 • Jr. • Scored 11 points in win over Missouri-St. Louis
#44 • Laura McMullin • F • 6-1 • Fr. • Pulled down four rebounds in win over Central Missouri

Tip-Ins . . .
• The Lady Blues are 8-4 all-time on February 17 and 0-2 under Ron McHenry.
• The Lady Blues are 6-1 in Wednesday games this season.

Up Next . . .
Washburn returns home for the final time this season to face Pittsburg State on Saturday, Feb. 20 at 5:30 p.m. The Lady Blues seniors will be honord between games on Saturday night. Washburn wraps up the regular season on Wednesday Feb. 24 at Emporia State at 5:30 p.m.