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Washburn snapped a 3-game losing streak with 2 wins on the road last week. The Ichabods trailed at halftime and at the 5-minute mark of both those games but came back. They trailed by 11 early in the 2nd half at NSU.
The wins last week were the first this year while trailing with 5:00 remaining. They were 0-7 before the two comebacks.
This will be Senior Day as lone senior
Kara Lee will be honored after the game. She is averaging 9.6 points and 4.4 rebounds a game in her only year here after transferring from UMKC.
Lynch earned MIAA athlete of the week after recording 2 double-doubles last week. She's averaging 14.3 points and 10.0 rebounds and shooting 66% from the field in the last six games.
Washburn fell on the road, 69-62 at FHSU on Feb. 1 to snap a six-game winning streak. That was FHSU's 2nd win over Washburn since joining the MIAA in 2006-07. Overall, Washburn leads the series 45-27.
Washburn's streak of 13 straight years finishing either 1st or 2nd in the MIAA has come to an end. ESU is tied for 1st in the MIAA with UCM at 14-2. Washburn is four games away from those two teams with three to play.
The Ichabods will need to pass MSSU in the standings to jump to fourth and get a 1st-round bye in the MIAA tournament. The Lions hold a tiebreaker over Washburn so a tie wouldn't be good enough.
The top 4 teams in the league get a bye while Nos. 5-8 host Nos. 9-12 on March 3 in the 1st rounds. The remaining three rounds are March 6-9 in Kansas City's Municipal Auditorium.
Head coach
Ron McHenry earned his 350th career win and his 200th MIAA win in January.
Buchman is 4th in the MIAA shooting .765 from the free throw line. She has gone perfect seven times and has missed more than two in a game just twice. She made 32 straight at one point.
Brittney Lynch is second in the MIAA with 9.3 rebounds a game and she's 27th averaging 10.8 points a game.
Ron McHenry is 357-79 (.819) in his 14th year at Washburn. He is the winningest DII coach among those with at least 10 years of experience and he's led Washburn to 12 straight NCAA tournaments.
Senior Day and rematch with FHSU up next as Ichabods look to finish strong
The Ichabods will return home for their final scheduled game at Schendel Court in Lee Arena when they host Fort Hays State Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. Two games on the road will remain after Wednesday and Washburn can climb as high as third or fall as low as eighth in the standings.
The game will be carried live on 106.9 FM KTPK. Links to video, live stats and audio are available at wusports.com/live.
The Ichabods are 15-8 overall and fifth in the conference standings at 10-6. They must finish as the No. 4 seed to earn a first round bye in the MIAA tournament or they will have to play in a first round game March 3.
Fort Hays State is 16-6 overall and sixth in the league at 9-6. The Tigers beat Washburn 69-62 in Hays earlier this month to end a six-game winning streak for the Ichabods.
Washburn won twice last week on the road with a 56-52 victory Thursday at Central Oklahoma and a 63-59 win Saturday in overtime at Northeastern State. The Tigers have lost two straight including an 80-77 setback at Emporia State on Saturday.
Casyn Buchman leads the Ichabods and is seventh in the MIAA scoring 15.0 points a game.
Brittney Lynch is second in the MIAA with 9.3 rebounds a game.
Two double-doubles on the road earn Lynch MIAA athlete of the week
Brittney Lynch recorded a pair of double-doubles last week on the road to help her earn MIAA Women's Basketball Athlete of the Week as the award was announced Monday afternoon.
Lynch averaged 19.0 points and 11.5 rebounds a game and shot 68 percent (17 of 25) from the field in the wins at Central Oklahoma Thursday and Northeastern State Saturday. She was 9 of 11 for 22 points at UCO and added 13 rebounds. She then went 8 of 14 at NSU for 16 points with 10 rebounds. She played 43 minutes that game as Washburn won in overtime.
Lynch has now reached double figures in scoring in six straight games and she's recorded double-doubles in three straight. She's averaging 14.3 points and 10.0 rebounds a game during that stretch that dates back to January 30. She's shooting 66 percent from the field (35 of 53) and 80 percent from the free throw line (16 of 20).
This is Washburn's first MIAA Athlete of the Week award this year and the first of Lynch's career.
Lee is lone senior being recognized during Senior Day ceremony
Senior center
Kara Lee transferred to Washburn this year after playing her junior year at Missouri-Kansas City. She will be honored between games Wednesday during Washburn's Senior Day ceremony. Men's senior Leon Flowers will also be honored.
Lee is averaging 9.6 points and 4.4 rebounds a game this year and shooting 51 percent from the field. She's scored in double figures 11 times and reached 10 or more rebounds twice with one double-double. Lee has played in all 23 games with 16 starts including in each of the last 15 games.
McHenry gets 350th career win and 200th MIAA win in same week
Washburn head coach
Ron McHenry is 357-79 (.819) overall and 206-52 (.798) in MIAA games. He earned his 350th career win January 9 against Oklahoma Christian and he got his 200th MIAA win January 11 against Northwest Missouri.
McHenry started this year, his 14th season at Washburn, with the highest winning percentage among active NCAA II coaches with at least 10 years at four-year schools.
McHenry is a four-time MIAA coach of the year and he has eight MIAA regular season titles. He's been to 12 straight NCAA tournaments and he coached Washburn to an NCAA II national title in 2004-05. He started the year second all-time in NCAA II history among coaches with at least 10 years with an .828 winning percentage. Lloyd Clark holds the record with an .834 winning percentage at Delta State from 1984-2002.
Rare case of getting out-rebounded
The Ichabods had been out-rebounded in three straight games before getting more against ESU on February 5, a feat they had suffered only three other times in head coach
Ron McHenry's 14 years. Fort Hays State's +18 margin over Washburn on February 1 was the highest difference the Ichabods had suffered since also having an 18-rebound difference at FHSU in 2010-11.
Washburn has traditionally rebounded well under McHenry. They haven't been out-rebounded in more than seven games since his opening season in 2000-01 when teams out-rebounded Washburn nine times. McHenry's teams have posted positive rebounding margins every year and usually average +7.0 or more.
Washburn currently has a +7.1 rebounding margin, third best in the MIAA. Washburn has never been out-rebounded in more than three straight games under McHenry.
Ichabods will finish out of top two for first time since 2001-02
The Ichabods have finished first or second in the MIAA every year since
Ron McHenry's second season in 2001-02 but can finish no better than third this year. They are currently fifth at 10-6 in the league and are four games out of Emporia State and Central Missouri's first-place tie with 14-2 records with three games to play. Washburn can finish no worse than a tie for eighth.
Washburn has finished first or tied for first eight times under McHenry and has finished second four times. The Ichabods finished seventh in 2000-01, McHenry's first year and the only time they didn't finish first or second.
Nikkel makes her way into Washburn's fourth starting lineup combination
Junior guard Ally Nikkel made her first career start Thursday when Washburn debuted its fourth starting lineup combination this year. Channel rejoined the lineup and the pair joined mainstays
Casyn Buchman,
Brittney Lynch and
Kara Lee as starters in Washburn's two wins last week.
Nikkel set a career high with nine points at Central Oklahoma as she went 2 of 4 from the field and 4 of 4 from the free throw line.
Pair of comeback wins end three-game losing streak
The Ichabods trailed at halftime and at the 5:00 mark of both their comeback wins last week. They trailed 38-36 at halftime at UCO on Thursday and 56-54 with five minutes remaining. They failed to hit a field goal the final six minutes of that game but managed to win by going 9 of 10 from the free throw line down the stretch.
Saturday at Northeastern State they ended regulation on a 9-0 run to tie it and win in overtime. The RiverHawks led 27-19 at halftime and by nine, 45-36 with 4:37 remaining before Washburn went on its 9-0 run. NSU led by as much as 11 early in the second half.
Washburn was previously 0-7 when trailing or tied at the 5:00 mark of games this year and 3-6 when trailing or tied at halftime.
Buchman seventh in scoring and near the top in several MIAA categories
Junior guard
Casyn Buchman is near the top in several MIAA statistic categories in the latest report. She's seventh in scoring with 15.0 points a game and third with 4.2 assists a game. She's fourth shooting .795 from the free throw line and 16th with 6.5 rebounds a game. Overall, her name appears in eight of the 13 categories.
Buchman has led Washburn in scoring eight times and has reached double figures 16 times. She's scored at least 20 six different times. She's been Washburn's leader in assists in 15 games and in rebounds five times.
Tough Schedule
Washburn has three opponents this year ranked in the top 10 in this week's poll. Emporia State, a school Washburn plays twice in February, is seventh. Nova Southeastern is sixth and Drury is eighth. Those two schools beat Washburn earlier this year on their home courts in non-conference games. Central Missouri is 12th.
Washburn drops out of national poll
The Ichabods dropped out of the USA Today Sports national poll after week four and they have been absent from the last nine polls now. Washburn was ranked in 176 of the last 177 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 before this season.
Quick history review
In Washburn's 44 years of basketball since 1969-70, the Ichabods are 838-364-1 (.697) in 1203 games. They have 13 MIAA regular season titles and nine tournament titles since joining the league in 1989-90. Thirty all-America awards have been won between 16 different players and Washburn has seven MIAA MVPs and 22 MIAA first-teamers.
The Ichabods won the 2004-05 NCAA II national title and set an NCAA II record with a 51-game winning streak stretching from 2004-05 into the 2005-06 season. Guard Jennifer Harris was the NCAA II player of the year in 2005-06 and was the No. 20 pick in the 2006 WNBA Draft.
Coming up next
Just two games remain on the schedule for the Ichabods as they wrap up the regular season on the road. Saturday they'll play at No. 7 Emporia State at 5:30 p.m. and March 1 they'll play at Pittsburg State at 5:30 p.m.
The MIAA tournament will play its first round games March 3 and the Ichabods will have to climb at least one spot in the standings to avoid playing in that round as a top four finish would advance them straight into the quarterfinal March 6 in Kansas City, Mo., in Municipal Auditorium. If they finish fifth through eighth they will host a first round game.
