Game Facts Date: Saturday, Feb. 6, 2010 Time: 5:30 p.m. Site: Topeka, Kan. - Lee Arena (3,904) Radio: 106.9 KTPK Online Audio:  wusports.com Live Stats: wusports.com Live Video: wusports.com

Washburn Lady Blues (17-3, 11-3 MIAA) Polls 13th in USA Today/ESPN Division II Poll Coaches Head Coach: Ron McHenry Alma Mater: Washburn, 84 WU Record:    258-52, 10th season Career Record: 258-52, 10th season Basketball Page Roster Statistics Schedule Game Notes Media Guide Athletic Web Site

Fort Hays State Tigers (15-5, 8-5 MIAA) Polls Not ranked in USA Today/ESPN Division II Poll Coaches Head Coach:     Tony Hobson Alma Mater: Hastings, 91 FHSU Record: 27-21, second season Career Record: 238-61, ninth season Basketball Page Roster Statistics Schedule Game Notes Media Guide Athletic Web Site

Lady Blues return home for 3
The No. 13-ranked Washburn Lady Blues return home for three straight games starting with Fort Hays State on Saturday night at 5:30 p.m.
The Lady Blues are coming off a 50-38 win over Truman State on Wednesday night, while Fort Hays State beat Missouri Western 66-52 on Monday night in St. Joseph.

Lady Blues on the air . . .
The Lady Blues game will be broadcast live on Country Legends 106.9 KTPK 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 258-52 (.832) overall record, including a 139-37 (.790) 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 (.831) 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.)
Fort Hays State head coach Tony Hobson, is in his second season leading the Tigers program. Fort Hays State comes in at 15-5 overall and 8-5 in the MIAA. Hobson's record at FHSU stands at 27-21 after leading the Tigers to a 12-16 mark and an MIAA tournament berth in his first season. His career mark sits at 238-61 in nine seasons as a college head coach. He is a 1991 graduate of Hastings College.

Last time out for the Lady Blues . . .
Feb. 3, 2010 - KIRKSVILLE, Mo. -- The No. 13 ranked Washburn Lady Blues overcame a cold night shooting and used a late run to put away Truman State 50-38 on Wednesday night in Pershing Arena. Washburn returns to action on Saturday at home against Fort Hays State. Tip-off inside Lee Arena is set for 5:30 p.m.
The 50 points is the third lowest scoring output in a win under Ron McHenry and the lowest since a 46-45 win over Nebraska-Kearney back on November 24, 2001.
Dayna Rodriguez gave the Lady Blues (17-3, 11-3 MIAA) an early lead with a bucket on the first possession of the game. From there the game see-sawed back and forth for much of the first half. The Bulldogs (7-14, 2-12 MIAA) took their biggest lead of the night at three with just under 10 minutes to play in the opening period. The lead was two at 19-17 when Washburn went on an 11-0 run to grab a 28-19 lead. A three by Truman cut the halftime lead to six at 28-22.
Rose Hammond scored a bucket on Washburn's first possession of the second half, but the Lady Blues went ice cold making just one of their next 18 field goal attempts. Washburn was still clinging to a two-point lead when a layup by Rodriguez pushed the lead to four with 5:37 to play. Truman State cut the lead to two at 39-37 with 5:05 remaining, but the Lady Blues closed the game on an 11-1 run.
Rodriguez led Washburn with 22 points and a career-high 13 rebounds for her second double-double of the season. Brette Ulsaker added 10 points, while Hammond had eight points, a career-high 10 rebounds and tied her career-high with six assists.
Breanna Daniels led the Bulldogs with 11 points.
The Lady Blues shot 35 percent from the field, 20-of-58, but shot a season-low 14 percent, 2-of-14, from three-point range. The Bulldogs shot 33 percent, 15-of-46, from the field and were 4-of-12 from beyond the arc.
Washburn out-rebounded Truman State 43-30 and forced 16 turnovers, while committing eight. The Lady Blues had 12 steals to three for the Bulldogs.
Washburn improved to 1-1 this season and 3-10 all-time under McHenry when scoring 50 or fewer points.

Notes from the win over Truman State . . .
• The Lady Blues extended their streak of consecutive games with at least one 3FG to 191 games
• The 50 points was the third lowest total in a win under Ron McHenry and the lowest since 2001
• The Lady Blues held Truman State to 38 points, the lowest total since beating Fort Hays State 78-34 in 2006-07
Washburn/Fort Hays State Series Notes . . .
Washburn leads the overall series with Fort Hays State 39-25 after a 57-47 win in Hays earlier this season. The Lady Blues have won 14 straight games in the series dating back to 1994. Washburn is 9-0 against the Tigers under Ron McHenry.

About Fort Hays State . . .
The Tigers are 15-5 overall and 8-5 in MIAA play after beating Missouri Western on Monday night in Hays.
Naomi Bancroft leads FHSU in scoring at 18.6 points per game, while Erica Biel chips in 11.2 per outing. Biel also leads the team in rebounding with 6.6 boards per contest.
As a team, the Tigers average 70.4 points per game and give up 60.8. They out-rebound their opponents by a slim margin, 39.1-38.5 and shoot 41 percent from the field compared to 37 percent by their opponents.
Fort Hays State is 6-3 since the meeting with Washburn in Hays on December 30 and 2-2 in the last four games.

Last Meeting with Fort Hays State . . .
Dec. 30, 2009 - HAYS, Kan. -- The No. 8-ranked Washburn Lady Blues won their 14th straight game over Fort Hays State with a 57-47 win over the Tigers at Gross Memorial Coliseum. Washburn (11-0, 5-0 MIAA) will continue their three-game road streak at Central Missouri on Saturday in Warrensburg.
Washburn opened the second half on a 16-2 run over the first 6:15 of the period building a 38-23 lead over Fort Hays State (9-2, 2-2 MIAA). However after Dayna Rodriguez's 3-pointer which put Washburn up 38-23, the Lady Blues would not hit their next field goal until 6:14 was remaining in the game when Amanda Fessenden connected on a 3-pointer from the top of the key putting Washburn back up by eight at 47-39 stopping a streak of eight straight points by Fort Hays' Naomi Bancroft. During the field goal dryspell for the Lady Blues, they did connect on 6 of 6 free throw attempts.
In the first half, neither team led by more than five with Washburn leading by that margin on two different occassions with the last coming at 2:50 remaining in the period. Washburn took a 1-point 22-21 lead into the locker room. Each team hit only nine field goals in the first half, with the Tigers hitting 3 of 8 3-point attempts with two coming from Bancroft. Fessenden hit two from 3-point range in the first half as well. The teams combined for 18 of 45 shooting from the field and 18 turnovers.
Hope Gregory, Rose Hammond and Fessenden each had 12 points to pace the Lady Blues attack. Rodriguez had nine points and Brette Ulsaker had eight. Gregory just missed a double doulbe recording a game-high nine rebounds.
Bancroft finished with 21 points on 7 of 19 shooting including 5 of 16 from 3-point range to lead the Tigers. Erica Biel reached double digits with 10 points.
The Lady Blues were held to 36 percent shooting for the game hitting 19 of 52 attempts while the Washburn defense limited the Tigers to 16 of 49 from the field for a 33 percent clip.
Washburn held a 38 to 31 advantage on the glass recording 11 offensive rebounds. The Tigers had only four offensive rebounds. Washburn also outran the Tigers 12-0 in fast break points while outscoring the Tigers in the paint 24 to 14.

A Win Would . . .
A win would make the Lady Blues 18-3 for the second straight season ... give the Lady Blues a 12-3 MIAA record for the third straight year ... give McHenry a 259-52 overall record ... give Washburn 15 straight wins over Fort Hays State and a 40-25 series lead ... give Washburn a 740-335 record in its 41st season of basketball.

A Loss Would . . .
Make the Lady Blues 17-4 for the second time in three seasons ... give the Lady Blues a 11-4 MIAA record ... give McHenry a 258-53 career record ... snap Washburn's 14-game winning streak over the Tigers ... give Washburn a 739-336 record in 41 years of playing collegiate basketball.

Lady Blues in The MIAA . . .
The Lady Blues are 139-37 (.790) under head coach Ron McHenry in MIAA games and 263-90 (.745) all-time in conference play.

Lady Blues in Lee Arena . . .
In their 26th season in Lee Arena, the Lady Blues are 322-59 (.845) 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 131-14 (.903) 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 123-9 (.932).

Lady Blues History . . .
Washburn is 739-335 (.688 in 1,074 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.

Celebrating 25 years . . .
The Lady Blues are in their 26th season in Lee Arena. Celebrating the first 25 years, Washburn will welcome back members of the 1984-85 basketball teams, the first to play in Lee Arena, for Saturday night's game against Fort Hays State. Both teams will be honored at halftime of the men's game.
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 128 consecutive polls and has been in the top 25 in 112 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 made 7-of-37 3FG in the past six games
#31 • Rose Hammond • G • 5-10 • Sr. • Leads the MIAA with a 2.0 assist-to-turnover ratio
#32 • Amanda Fessenden • G • 5-9 • Sr. • Has made 9 of 27 3FG attempts in the past six games
#33 • Hope Gregory • G • 5-10 • Jr. • Failed to score in a game for the first time all season against Truman State
#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. • Is averaging 18.0 ppg during Lady Blues current four-game winning streak
#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 game

Tip-Ins . . .
• The Lady Blues are 4-0 under Ron McHenry on February 6 and 11-5 all-time on that date.

Up Next . . .
Washburn continues the three-game home stand against Central Missouri (Feb. 10) and the “Think Pink” Game against Southwest Baptist (Feb. 13).