Box Score | Season Stats

EMPORIA, Kan. -- The 11th-ranked Washburn Lady Blues captured their seventh MIAA championship and sixth under Ron McHenry with a 63-51 win over No. 12 Emporia State on Wednesday night at White Auditorium. The Lady Blues will be the No. 1 seed in the MIAA Tournament and will play at noon on Thursday, March 4 in Kansas City.

Washburn (23-3, 17-3 MIAA) jumped out to an early seven-point advantage at 11-4. Hope Gregory scored the first four points for the Lady Blues and Amanda Fessenden knocked down two treys. The lead was five at 13-8 with 11:22 to play in the opening half, but a scoring drought of five minutes allowed the Lady Hornets (22-4, 16-4 MIAA) to take a 15-13 lead. Washburn tied the game on a pair of Stevi Schultz free throws with 5:53 to play in the period and a three by Gregory sparked an 8-0 run and gave WU the lead for good.

ESU scored two quick buckets to cut the lead to four and the teams traded buckets to end the half with Washburn leading 25-21.

Gregory and Fessenden led the Lady Blues with nine points each in the opening stanza.

A 6-1 run to start the second half gave Washburn a nine-point lead at 31-22. The lead was nine at 35-26 when the Lady Hornets went on an 8-0 run to cut the lead to 35-34 with 11:28 remaining in the game. Washburn used a 10-3 run to push the lead back to eight with 7:50 to play.

Emporia State cut the lead to five at 50-45 with 3:47 remaining in regulation, but the Lady Blues made eight straight free throws to open a 58-45 lead with 1:26 remaining. ESU hit two quick threes to bring the lead to eight, but Gregory made four straight free throws to finish the game and give Washburn the 12-point win and the conference title.

The Lady Blues shot 32 percent from the floor, 18-of-57 and were 6-of-19 from three-point range for 32 percent. WU was also 21-of-26 from the foul line.

Gregory led Washburn with her fourth double-double of the season, 17 points and 13 rebounds. Dayna Rodriguez added 13 points, while Brette Ulsaker chipped in 11. Washburn also out-rebounded ESU 43-40.

Cassondra Boston led ESU with 13 points, but was just 3-of-16 from the field. Sophia Lenard scored 11 points and Alli Volkens added 10 for Emporia State who shot 29 percent for the game, 17-of-59. The Lady Hornets shot 15 percent from behind the arc, 4-of-27 and were 13-of-20 from the charity stripe for 65 percent.

The MIAA championship is the second in the past three years for Washburn and the sixth in the past eight seasons under Ron McHenry. The win also snapped Emporia State's 18-game home winning streak.