Complete Game Notes (pdf)
Game 2 Lady Blues vs Drury
Washburn Lady Blues (1-0, 0-0 MIAA)
vs Drury Panthers (1-0, 0-0 GLVC)
Date: Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Topeka, Kan.
Arena: Lee Arena (4,179)
Radio: Country Legends 106.9 FM with Jake Lebahn and Mark Elliott
Series Record: WU leads 8-3
Last Meeting: DU 53-48 on 11/22/11 (A)
Washburn Coach Ron McHenry: 320-65 (.831) in his 13th year at WU and overall
DU Coach Steve Harold: 116-39 (.748) in his 6th year at DU and 378-146 (.721) in his 18th year overall
Micro-Blogging the Blues
(Around) 140-character or less tweets highlighting the season
The Lady Blues were picked first in the MIAA coaches and media polls after winning the regular season and conference championships last year.
Washburn was picked 17th in this year's USA Today Sports national preseason poll. This is the 157th time in the last 158 that Washburn has been ranked. Drury earned votes but no ranking in the poll.
The Lady Blues fell 53-48 last year at Drury in what ended up being their lowest-scoring game of the year. The Lady Blues led by two at halftime and by one with eight minutes remaining.
Washburn is 8-3 against Drury and 5-0 against the Panthers at home. The two have played each other all but one year since the 2001-02 season.
Every player in uniform got in the game and scored against Southwestern Wednesday in Washburn's season opener. Washburn won its 14th straight opening game.
The Lady Blues start the year with six straight at home. The home stand will end with the MIAA opener Dec. 6 against Southwest Baptist. Their only non-conference games away from home are in Las Vegas.
Tiara George had a career high with 19 points against Southwestern while
Brittney Lynch got into double figures in rebounds for the first time with 10.
Washburn loses its top three scorers but returns seven seniors and 10 total letterwinners. Five newcomers join the team, three from high school and two transfers.
Head coach
Ron McHenry earned his 300th win last year and is currently 320-65 in his 13th year at Washburn.
McHenry has 7 MIAA regular season titles and 7 MIAA tournament championships to go along with NCAA tournament appearances in all but his 1st season, including a 2004-05 national title.
Lady Blues face first DII opponent with Drury game Tuesday in Lee Arena
The 17th-ranked Lady Blues will play the second game of their six-game, season-opening home stand Tuesday at 7 p.m. against Drury.
Both teams started the year with wins and they will meet for the sixth straight year. Washburn defeated NAIA opponent Southwestern last Wednesday, 92-52 and the Panthers beat Southwest Baptist, 60-55 at home last Tuesday.
The Lady Blues were led by a pair of inside players as
Tiara George started and scored 19 points and
Bianca Fennessee came off the bench, making her Washburn debut, to match George's 19. Overall, Washburn scored 54 points in the paint.
Drury's leading scorer from last year, Bethanie Funderburk led the team with 19 points against SBU but made just 4 of 13 shots from the field. She went to the free throw line 12 times and connected on nine of them.
Washburn leads the series against Drury, 8-3 and is 5-0 in Lee Arena against the Panthers. Drury won last year, 53-48 in Springfield, Mo.
Lady Blues picked 17th in USA Today Sports Division II preseason poll
The Lady Blues were ranked 17th in the USA Today Sports national preseason poll released October 30 after finishing 14th last year.
They have been ranked in 157 of the last 158 polls, dating back to week three of the 2002-03 season. The final poll of the 2010-11 season was the last time Washburn was not ranked.
Washburn, picked first in the MIAA coaches and media polls, is the second-highest conference team in the ranking. Pittsburg State, an Elite 8 participant last year, was picked third. Emporia State is 19th, Northeastern State is 23rd and Fort Hays State and Central Missouri received votes. Non-conference opponent Western Washington is 14th while Arkansas Tech and Drury earned votes. Ashland is the top-ranked team, getting 23 first-place votes while defending champion Shaw got eight first-place votes and a No. 9 ranking.
MIAA media and coaches pick Lady Blues to repeat as champions
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Lady Blues got more than half the MIAA coaches' top votes and won a close vote in the media poll as they were picked to finish first in both tallies during the preseason MIAA Virtual Media Day.
Washburn got eight of the 15 first-place votes from the coaches and eight of the 18 in the media poll. Pittsburg State was picked second in both polls with the Gorillas coming just three points short of the Lady Blues in the media poll.
Washburn won the MIAA last year with an 18-2 record. The Gorillas went 17-3. Pittsburg State took six first-place votes from the coaches and No. 3 Emporia State took the other. From the media, PSU tied Washburn with eight top votes and ESU, also third in that poll, took two.
MIAA newcomer Northeastern State was fourth in both polls followed by Fort Hays State and Central Missouri.
Strong inside game leads to double figures for George and Fennessee
Washburn played a strong inside game Wednesday against Southwestern in the season opener and starting forward
Tiara George scored 19 points.
Bianca Fennessee replaced her off the bench and matched those 19 points as both players shared team-high honors. Overall, Washburn scored 54 of its 92 points in the paint.
Everybody plays, everybody scores
All 13 Lady Blues in uniform got into the game and scored Wednesday in the 92-52 win over Southwestern to open the season. Junior transfers
Lavonda McCall and
Bianca Fennessee, as well as freshmen
Haley Pfau,
Jordan Baldwin and
Jordan Kramer all scored their first points as Lady Blues.
Seniors
Sierra Moeller and
Sami McHenry did not suit up for the game. Moeller is sitting this semester to save her final semester of eligibility for the spring and McHenry is still playing with the volleyball team as Washburn starts the postseason.
Kinderknecht leads Washburn at K-State
Senior guard
Laura Kinderknecht hit 5 of 12 shots and a pair of 3-pointers as she led Washburn with 12 points November 5 against Pittsburg State.
She scored in double figures eight times last year and averaged 5.8 points a game.
Tiara George has solid game at Kansas
Senior forward
Tiara George led Washburn with 10 points and she added 12 rebounds for what would have been her first double-double at Washburn if it were a regular season game.
George shot 5 of 11 from the field, making four of her baskets with seven rebounds in the first half. She also blocked four shots in the game.
George is Washburn's leading returning scorer with 6.0 points a game last year but she only played in 22 games, joining the team on December 17 after sitting the first semester after transferring. She scored in double figures five times and had 10+ rebounds with 13 on January 25 against Missouri Western.
Seven seniors return to lead Washburn
Seven seniors return to this year's team and among them are three four-year players:
Dana Elliott,
Laura Kinderknecht and
Laura McMullin. Two-year player
Sami McHenry will play this year as her final while
Stormye Everett,
Sierra Moeller and
Tiara George were all junior transfers last year.
Moeller is the leading returning rebounder with 6.7 a game last year but she will have to sit the first semester to save her final semester of eligibility. George is the leading returning scorer with 6.0 points a game. Kinderknecht scored 5.8 and Elliott scored 4.8 a game.
Coming Up Next
The Lady Blues will continue their six-game home stand to open the season by hosting the Topeka Capitol Plaza Hotel Thanksgiving Classic Friday and Saturday in Lee Arena. Washburn will play Texas-Permian Basin Friday at 6 p.m. and then Arkansas Tech Saturday at 6 p.m. Fort Hays State will be the fourth team and play ATU Friday at 4 p.m. and UTPB Saturday at 4 p.m.
