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Lady Blues host the Topeka Capitol Plaza Hotel Thanksgiving Classic
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Fort Hays State Tigers (4-0) vs Arkansas Tech Golden Suns (1-0) • 11/29 • 4 p.m.
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Washburn Lady Blues (2-0) vs Texas-Permian Basin Falcons (4-0) • 11/29 • 6 p.m.
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Fort Hays State Tigers vs Texas-Permian Basin Falcons • 11/30 • 4 p.m.
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Washburn Lady Blues vs Arkansas Tech Golden Suns • 11/30 • 6 p.m.
Location: Topeka, Kan.
Arena: Lee Arena (4,179)
Washburn Radio: Country Legends 106.9 FM with Jake Lebahn and Mark Elliott
Series Record: ATU leads WU 2-0, 1st meeting with UTPB
Washburn Coach Ron McHenry: 321-65 (.832) in his 13th year at WU and overall
Micro-Blogging the Blues
(Around) 140-character or less tweets highlighting the season
Washburn moved from 17th to 13th in this week's USA Today Sports national poll. This is the 158th time in the last 159 that Washburn has been ranked. Arkansas Tech earned votes.
All four teams in the Thanksgiving Classic enter with unbeaten records. UTPB and FHSU are 4-0, Washburn is 2-0 and ATU is 1-0.
The Lady Blues are 0-2 against ATU but haven't played since 1999. This will be the first meeting against Texas-Permian Basin.
Washburn defeated No. 25 Drury 67-50 Tuesday in the first of what could be a number of games against ranked teams. Washburn has five games on the schedule against teams currently ranked.
The Lady Blues were picked first in the MIAA coaches and media polls after winning the regular season and conference championships last year.
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.
George,
Laura Kinderknecht and
Bianca Fennessee have all scored in double figures in both games this year.
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 321-65 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.
Four unbeatens meet Thanksgiving weekend for Capitol Plaza Classic
The 13th-ranked Lady Blues, unbeaten at 2-0, will host three other unblemished teams Friday and Saturday in the Capitol Plaza Hotel Thanksgiving Classic. Washburn will play Texas-Permian Basin Friday at 6 p.m. at Schendel Court in Lee Arena and then Arkansas Tech Saturday at 6 p.m. Fort Hays State will play ATU Friday at 4 p.m. and UTPB Saturday at 4 p.m. as well.
Washburn will be in the middle of a six-game, season-opening home stand. The Lady Blues beat Southwestern and No. 25 Drury to start the season with senior forward
Tiara George leading the way with 18.5 points a game.
UTPB is 4-0 after three wins over Division II schools to start the year. The Falcons are led by Teisha King with 25.0 points a game after getting 40 Tuesday against Tarleton State.
ATU is 1-0 after a 58-41 win over Christian Brothers on November 13. Jessica Weatherford led the Golden Suns with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Fort Hays State is also 4-0 after winning four straight at home. Kate Lehman averages 20.0 points a game to lead the Tigers.
Lady Blues jump to 13th in this week's national poll
The Lady Blues moved four spots to 13th in this week's USA Today Sports coaches' poll released Tuesday. Washburn (1-0) was 17th in the preseason poll before beating Southwestern (Kan.) in the season opener.
The Lady Blues have been ranked in 158 of the last 159 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.
Tuesday's opponent, Drury, entered the ranking for the first time this year at 25th. Pittsburg State remains the highest-ranked MIAA school at third and Emporia State is 20th. Northeastern State, Central Missouri, Missouri Western and Fort Hays State all received votes. Non-conference opponent Western Washington is ninth and Wisconsin-Parkside is 16th.
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 figure games for George and Fennessee
Washburn has played strong inside games in its first two competitions. Starting forward
Tiara George is averaging 18.5 points a game and
Bianca Fennessee is averaging 16.5 replacing her off the bench. Overall, Washburn has scored 106 of its 159 points (.667) in the paint.
Everybody plays, everybody scores
All 13 Lady Blues in uniform got into the game and scored in the season-opening 92-52 win over Southwestern on November 14. 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 Benedictine (Kan.) December 3 at 7 p.m. The game will follow an eight-day break after the Arkansas Tech game.
