Game Facts Date: Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2010 Time: 5:30 p.m. Site: Emporiaa, Kan. - White Auditorium (5,000) Radio: AM 580 WIBW Online Audio:  wusports.com Live Stats: Through ESU Live Video: B2 Networks

Washburn Lady Blues (22-3, 16-3 MIAA) Polls 11th in USA Today/ESPN Division II Poll Coaches Head Coach: Ron McHenry Alma Mater: Washburn, 84 WU Record:    263-52, 10th season Career Record: 263-52, 10th season Basketball Page Roster Statistics Schedule Game Notes Media Guide Athletic Web Site

Emporia State Lady Hornets (22-3, 15-3 MIAA) Polls 12th in USA Today/ESPN Division II Poll Coaches Head Coach:     Brandon Schneider Alma Mater: Wayland Baptist, 95 ESU Record: 298-70, 12th season Career Record: Same Basketball Page Roster Statistics Schedule Game Notes Media Guide Athletic Web Site

Turnpike Tussle to decide MIAA title . . .
The No. 13-ranked Washburn Lady Blues head to Emporia on Wednesday night for the 80th Turnpike Tussle against No. 9 Emporia State. The winner of the game will claim the MIAA regular season title and the No. 1 seed in the MIAA postseason tournament.
The Lady Blues are coming off an 80-45 win over Pittsburg State on Saturday night, Senior Night, in Lee Arena. Emporia State is coming off a bye on Saturday. The Lady Hornets last action was a 71-66 setback at Pittsburg State last Wednesday.

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 263-52 (.835) overall record, including a 144-37 (.796) 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 (.835) 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.)
Emporia State head coach Brandon Schneider, is in his 12th season leading the Lady Hornets. ESU is 298-70 (.810) during that time span. The Lady Hornets have won or shared the past two MIAA titles. Last season, Schneider led Emporia State to a 26-6 overall mark and their second straight MIAA championship with a 17-3 conference mark. He is a 1995 graduate of Wayland Baptist.

Last time out for the Lady Blues . . .
Feb. 20, 2010 - TOPEKA, Kan. -- The No. 13 ranked Washburn Lady Blues cruised to an 80-45 win over Pittsburg State on Senior Night at Lee Arena. Washburn held PSU to a season-low 45 points, including 13 in the first half. The Lady Blues will square off with Emporia State in the season finale on Wednesday night in Emporia. The winner of the game will claim the No. 1 seed in the MIAA tournament.
The Lady Blues (22-3, 16-3 MIAA) scored the first seven points of the game and grabbed a 10-point lead at 14-4 with 12:04 to play in the first half. The Gorillas (12-13, 10-8 MIAA) were able to rally to within four at 15-11 with 7:33 remaining in the period, but Washburn closed the stanza on a 9-2 run and led 24-13 at the break.
A 13-1 run to start the second half gave the Lady Blues a 37-14 lead with 16:36 remaining in the game. Pittsburg State cut the lead to 20 on a three at 37-17, but a 24-10 run put Washburn up 61-27 with 10:08 to play in the game. The Lady Blues extended their lead to as many as 41 at 73-32 with just over five to play and cruised to the 35-point win.
Hope Gregory led four Lady Blues in double figures with 16 points and eight rebounds. Dayna Rodriguez had 15 points and eight boards, while Laura Kinderknecht and Cassie Lombardino both chipped in 10 points, a career-high for Lombardino. The Lady Blues shot 48 percent from the field, 32-of-67, and were 6-of-18 from behind the three-point line. WU was 10-of-13 from the free throw line for 77 percent and out-rebounded the Gorillas 47-39. Washburn also held a 15-2 advantage in fast break points and the Lady Blues' bench outscored PSU's 34-12.
Nicole McCombs led PSU with 14 points and Maya Onikute had 11 as Pittsburg State shot 29 percent from the floor, 18-of-63, including 2-of-15 from beyond the arc.

Notes from the win over PSU . . .
• The Lady Blues moved one half game ahead of Emporia State for first in the MIAA
• The Lady Blues extended their streak of consecutive games with at least one 3FG to 196 games

Washburn/Emporia State Series Notes . . .
Emporia State leads the overall series 41-38 after a 54-47 win in Topeka back on January 16. The teams split last season's regular season series with each team winning on their own home floor. Washburn beat ESU 78-69 to win the MIAA tournament title in Kansas City. The Lady Blues have won 18 of the 27 meetings during the Ron McHenry era. WU has won seven of the 10 meetings since 2007.

About Emporia State . . .
The Lady Hornets come in with the same 22-3 overall record as Washburn and sit a half game behind the Lady Blues in the MIAA standings at 15-3. ESU fell at Pittsburg State 71-66 in their last outing on February 17.
Senior Cassondra Boston leads Emporia State and the MIAA in scoring at 19.4 points per game. She also dishes out a team-high 4.1 assists per contest. Alli Volkens is the only other Lady Hornet averaging in double figures with 10.7 points per outing. She also leads the team in rebounding with 7.3 boards per contest. ESU has eight players averaging at least 5.7 points per game.
Emporia State is averaging 80.1 points per game, tops in the MIAA, and are giving up just 60.2 per outing, second in the league.
The Lady Hornets are shooting 43 percent from the floor, while limiting their opponents to 35 percent shooting, including 28 percent from behind the three-point line.
ESU also out-rebounds its opponents by a 44.2-34.7 margin.

Last Meeting with Emporia State . . .
Jan. 16, 2010 - TOPEKA, Kan. -- The eighth-ranked Washburn Lady Blues dropped their third straight game, a 54-47 setback to sixth-ranked Emporia State on Saturday night in Lee Arena. The Lady Blues will look to snap their longest losing streak since the 2000-01 season next Saturday at home against Nebraska-Omaha.
Washburn (13-3, 7-3 MIAA) led by two early on, but a three by Jamie Augustyn put the Lady Hornets (15-1, 8-1 MIAA) in the lead for good. The bucket sparked a 10-0 run that put Emporia State up by eight just over five minutes into the game. ESU extended the lead to 10 with just over seven minutes remaining in the half. A 9-3 run by the Lady Blues pulled the game to within four at 25-21 and ESU went into the break up by five at 28-23.
Washburn cut the lead to three several times in the opening minutes of the second half, but the Lady Hornets responded and pushed the lead back to seven at 38-31 with 13:28 to play. A 6-0 run by WU cut the lead to one at 38-37. The teams traded threes and the lead was 41-40 with just over 10 minutes to play in the game, but a 13-4 run by Emporia State put the Lady Hornets up 54-44 with just over two minutes remaining.
Dayna Rodriguez led Washburn with a game-high 20 points. Stevi Schultz was the only other WU player in double figures with 10. Hope Gregory pulled down a game-high nine rebounds to lead Washburn on the boards.
The Lady Blues shot just 31 percent from the floor, 17-of-55 and made just 4-of-18 from three-point range for 22.2 percent.
Augustyn and Cassondra Boston led the Lady Hornets with 13 and 10, respectively as ESU shot 40 percent, 19-of-48 from the floor. Emporia State made 10-of-26 from beyond the arc for 39 percent.
The Lady Hornets out-rebounded Washburn 37-34, but had 17 turnovers to 11 for the Lady Blues.

A Win Would . . .
A win would make the Lady Blues 23-3 for the first time since the 2006-07 season ... give the Lady Blues a 17-3 MIAA record for the first time and their sixth MIAA regular season title under Ron McHenry ... give McHenry a 264-52 overall record ... give Washburn a season split with Emporia State and pull the Lady Blues to within 41-39 in the overall series ... give Washburn 10 road wins in a season for the first time under McHenry ... give Washburn a 745-335 record in its 41st season of basketball.

A Loss Would . . .
Make the Lady Blues 22-4 for the second straight season ... give the Lady Blues a 16-4 MIAA record for the second straight season and the No. 2 seed in the MIAA tournament ... give McHenry a 263-53 career record ... be the first season sweep by ESU since 2001 and give the Lady Hornets a 42-38 series lead ... give Washburn a 744-336 record in 41 years of playing collegiate basketball.

Lady Blues in The MIAA . . .
The Lady Blues are 144-37 (.796) under head coach Ron McHenry in MIAA games and 268-90 (.749) all-time in conference play.

Against Ranked Teams . . .
The Lady Blues are 37-23 under Ron McHenry against ranked opponents, including 1-1 this year. Washburn is 35-15 when both teams are ranked. The Lady Blues are 10-5 against ranked opponents the last three seasons, including 5-2 against ranked Emporia State teams. Washburn is 15-8 against ranked ESU teams under McHenry.

Lady Blues on the road . . .
The Lady Blues are 76-30 (.717) on the road under Ron McHenry, including 9-1 this season and 8-1 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 326-59 (.847) 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 135-14 (.906) 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 127-9 (.934).

Lady Blues History . . .
Washburn is 744-335 (.690 in 1,079 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 remained at No. 13 for the third consecutive week in the latest USA Today/ESPN WBCA Coaches Poll. Emporia State is the only other MIAA team ranked. The Lady Hornets moved up one spot to No. 9 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 131 consecutive polls and has been in the top 25 in 115 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. • Scored career-high 10 points in win over Pittsburg 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 13 of 38 3FG attempts during the current nine-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 7-2 all-time on February 24 and 3-0 under Ron McHenry.
• Washburn is 1-0 against Emporia State on February 24, a 51-50 win in Emporia in 2004.
• The Lady Blues are 7-1 in Wednesday games this season.

Up Next . . .
The MIAA Tournament begins on Thursday, March 4 in Kansas City with the women's first round games. The Lady Blues will play at either Noon on Thursday if they are the No. 1 seed or at 6 p.m. if they are the No. 2 seed.