Complete Game Notes (pdf)
Game 26: Lady Blues vs Central Missouri
No. 5 Washburn Lady Blues (21-4, 15-2 MIAA)
vs No. 13 Central Missouri Jennies (22-3, 14-3 MIAA)
Date: Saturday, March 2, 2013
Time: 5:00 p.m.
Location: Topeka, Kan.
Arena: Lee Arena (3,904)
TV: MIAA Television Network (Cox 22 in Kansas)
Radio: Country Legends 106.9 FM with Jake Lebahn and Mark Elliott
Series Record: WU leads 37-14
Last Meeting: WU 64-62 on 03/03/12 (N-MIAA tournament)
Washburn Coach Ron McHenry: 340-69 (.831) in his 13th year at WU and overall
UCM Coach Dave Slifer: 167-94 (.640) in 9th year at UCM and 549-193 (.740) in 24th season overall
Micro-Blogging the Blues
(Around) 140-character or less tweets highlighting the season
The winner of Saturday's game will claim the No. 1 seed in the MIAA tournament and the loser will be No. 2. Washburn clinched at least a share of the MIAA title and UCM can share it with a win.
Washburn earned its second straight No. 5 ranking in Tuesday's USA Today Sports national poll. Washburn was last that high at No. 4 in week 4 of 2010-11.
Last Saturday's win over FHSU & UCM's loss helped Washburn clinch at least a share of its second straight MIAA championship and ninth in school history. McHenry has won eight of those titles in his 13 years.
Washburn sits at No. 1 in the NCAA Central Region ranking. Central Missouri is No. 2.
The Lady Blues just clinched their 12th straight 20 win season. All 12 have come under McHenry.
Washburn was first in the MIAA and fourth in the nation when the week began allowing 50.8 points a game. They were eighth in the nation and first in the MIAA allowing opponents to shoot .333 from the field.
Washburn had kept 13 straight opponents to under 60 points until ESU scored 61 Wednesday. Nine of those 13 teams scored less than 50 against Washburn.
Washburn ranked fifth in the nation in rebound margin at +10.3. SBU is second at +5.1. Only four teams have out-rebounded Washburn (UWP, FHSU, NWMSU and ESU).
Laura Kinderknecht is third in career 3-pointers at WU, now with 190. She's 7th with 301 assists & she needs 31 points to get to 1,000. She would be the 1st Lady Blue with 200 3s, 300 assists & 1,000 points.
Kinderknecht was fifth in the MIAA averaging 15.0 points a game when the week started and third with 3.0 3-pointers made per game. Her 3-point total was eighth in the nation.
Head coach
Ron McHenry earned his 300th win last year and is currently 340-69 in his 13th year at Washburn.
McHenry now has 8 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 can wrap up No. 1 seed and outright MIAA title on Senior Day against UCM
The MIAA Television Network will be broadcasting a battle for the MIAA title and the No. 1 seed in the postseason tournament as Washburn hosts Central Missouri Saturday at 5 p.m. The game, played on Schendel Court at Lee Arena, will be Senior Day for Washburn and the final regular season game in the MIAA.
If the fifth-ranked Lady Blues (21-4, 15-2 MIAA) win, they'll own their second straight MIAA title outright. If the No. 13 Jennies (22-3, 14-3 MIAA) win they'll force a split title with Washburn.
The Lady Blues fell 61-48 Wednesday at Emporia State and Central Missouri won 58-56 against Truman to set up Saturday's showdown. Washburn could have clinched the title outright with a win or a UCM loss.
Mark Ewing and JC Pearson will be calling the game on the MIAA Network and Cox 22 in Kansas will carry the game, as well as many other channels around the conference.
The game will also be carried on Country Legends 106.9 FM with Jake Lebahn and Mark Elliott calling the action.
Lady Blues clinch at least a share of their second straight MIAA title
The Lady Blues clinched at least a share of their second straight MIAA title and ninth in school history with their win last Saturday against FHSU. The win also gave Washburn a bye in the MIAA tournament first round. Washburn will need to win Saturday against UCM to claim the title outright.
The Lady Blues would also wrap up the No. 1 seed in the MIAA postseason tournament with a win and play at 12 p.m. on March 8 in Kansas City, Mo., against the winner of the No. 8/No. 9 first round game. They would play at 6 p.m. as the No. 2 seed if they lose to UCM.
The Lady Blues have now won MIAA championships in eight of head coach
Ron McHenry's 13 years. This is their third title in the last four years.
Busy Senior Day scheduled for regular season finale
Seven seniors return to this year's team and they will all be honored after Saturday's game against Central Missouri. 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.
Lady Blues secure 12th straight 20-win season
The Lady Blues' win February 21 against Nebraska-Kearney clinched their 12th straight 20-win season. All 12 20-win seasons have come under 13-year head coach
Ron McHenry.
Overall, Washburn has 22 20-win seasons with Patty Dick presiding over the first 11 from 1982-83 through 1994-95.
Washburn is averaging 27 wins a season in the last 11 years and has five 30-win seasons.
Lady Blues stay put at No. 1 in NCAA regional ranking
The Lady Blues won twice last week and remained the No. 1 team in the NCAA Central Region ranking released Wednesday.
Central Missouri remained fourth while Concordia-St. Paul stayed third and Minnesota State stayed fourth. Truman, the only other MIAA team in the top eight, remained fifth. Northeastern State is ninth and Pittsburg State is 10th.
The Central Region is made up of the MIAA, Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and the Great American Conference. The winners of those three conference tournaments will earn automatic berths to the NCAA Central Region tournament with the five remaining spots filled in by the top teams in the final NCAA ranking. The eight-team Central Region tournament will take place March 15-18 at the site of the top seed in the region. The winner will advance to the Elite 8, March 26-29 in San Antonio, Texas.
McHenry just coached 400th career game
Washburn head coach
Ron McHenry coached his 400th career game, all with the Lady Blues, January 24 at Lindenwood.
He's gone 340-69 in his 13 years and with his .831 winning percentage, McHenry entered the year with the highest winning percentage in NCAA II among active coaches with at least five years of experience. He's second all-time (active or not) among coaches with at least 10 years.
His teams have gone to 11 straight NCAA tournaments with eight MIAA titles.
Lady Blues remain nation's fifth-ranked team
Washburn kept its highest ranking of the season as the Lady Blues stayed at No. 5 in Tuesday's USA Today Sports national poll. Washburn has now been in the top 10 eight times this year.
The Lady Blues have been ranked in 170 of the last 171 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. This is Washburn's 123rd time in the national top 10.
For the second straight week their is a new No. 1 team. Bentley fell from first to third and Clayton State, the lone undefeated team, moved up a spot to No. 1. Ashland is No. 3 and Colorado Mesa is No. 4. Central Missouri fell from seventh to 13th after losing and Truman got itself back into the ranking at No. 25. Fort Hays State and Pittsburg State earned votes.
Washburn is 21-3 and first in the MIAA at 15-1. The Lady Blues clinched at least a share of their second straight MIAA title and they can clinch it outright with a win Wednesday at Emporia State in the 7 p.m. game at White Auditorium.
Lady Blues keeping recent opponents to under 55 points, lead MIAA and are fifth in nation in scoring defense
The Lady Blues had kept 13 straight opponents to 54 or less points before giving up 61 to Emporia State Wednesday. Washburn entered the week first in the MIAA and fourth in the nation allowing just 50.8 points a game. Washburn's field goal percentage defense of .333 was eighth lowest in the nation and first in the MIAA.
Washburn has only allowed 60 or more six times this year with the 68 in a win against Emporia State on January 2 being the highest allowed this year.
Only four of Washburn's opponents have shot better than 40 percent. Northwest Missouri shot 50 percent on February 9 and 43 percent on February 16, Arkansas Tech shot .439 on November 24 and Northeastern State shot .435 on January 13. Washburn won three of those four games.
Kinderknecht named to Capital One Academic All-America second team
Senior guard
Laura Kinderknecht was named to the Capital One Academic All-America second team as the teams were announced Wednesday by the College Sports Information Directors of America. Members of CoSIDA select the all-district teams and a national panel selects the All-America team.
Kinderknecht has a 3.84 GPA in mathematics. She's the fifth academic All-American in Washburn history and the first since Nikki Olberding won a second team honor in 1997-98. She's the first to win the honor under head coach
Ron McHenry.
Kinderknecht moving up in record books
Laura Kinderknecht moved to third in career 3-pointers earlier this year and currently has 190, 27 away from second at Washburn. She's seventh with 301 assists and February 27 at Emporia State she became the seventh Lady Blue to reach 300 assists. She is 24 points away from becoming the 22nd Lady Blue to score 1,000 career points.
With 10 3-pointers and 24 points, she will become the first Lady Blue to reach 1,000 points, 200 3-pointers and 300 assists in school history.
Coming Up Next
The bracket for the MIAA tournament will be announced Saturday after Washburn's game as the Lady Blues and UCM have the final game of the day. Washburn will either play Friday at 12 p.m. as the No. 1 seed or at 6 p.m. as the No. 2 seed. The opponent will be determined by a first round game on Tuesday.
