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Washburn and Emporia State are playing their 93rd game in the series. ESU won earlier this year and leads the series 48-44.
Washburn's seven juniors have 80 percent of Washburn's points this year and 71 percent of the rebounds. A junior has led the team in scoring and assists in every game and in rebounding in all but one game.
Kara Lee is Washburn's lone senior and she was honored Wednesday after WU's win over FHSU. She's averaging 9.5 points and 4.3 rebounds a game.
Lynch earned MIAA athlete of the week after recording 2 double-doubles last week. She averaged 14.3 points and 10.0 rebounds and shooting 66% from the field in six straight games through last week.
Washburn's streak of 13 straight years finishing either 1st or 2nd in the MIAA has come to an end. Washburn is three games out of second place with two games 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 3rd in the MIAA shooting .800 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 9.2 rebounds a game and she's 28th averaging 10.7 points a game.
Ron McHenry is 358-79 (.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.
Ichabods look for big win Saturday as Turnpike Tussle moves to Emporia State
The Ichabods will play seventh-ranked Emporia State Saturday at 5:30 p.m. at White Auditorium for the second edition of this year's Turnpike Tussle.
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 16-8 overall and fifth in the conference standings at 11-6. 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. They enter the weekend able to finish as high as third or as low as sixth with two games remaining.
Emporia State is 24-2 overall and first in the MIAA at 15-2. The Lady Hornets are tied in the loss column with Central Missouri and have clinched a first round bye.
Emporia State won the previous meeting 69-63 this year in Topeka and holds a 48-44 advantage in the series.
The Ichabods won their third straight game, 74-65 Wednesday against Fort Hays State while the Lady Hornets are on a six-game winning streak after beating Nebraska-Kearney, 82-68 on Wednesday.
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 9.2 rebounds a game.
Two double-doubles on the road earn Lynch MIAA athlete of the week
Brittney Lynch is the reigning MIAA athlete of the week after she recorded a pair of double-doubles last week on the road.
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 finished last week recording double figures in six straight games and she had recorded double-doubles in three straight. She averaged 14.3 points and 10.0 rebounds a game during that stretch that went from January 30 to February 15. She shot 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 finishes strong as lone senior on Senior Day
Senior center
Kara Lee transferred to Washburn this year after playing her junior year at Missouri-Kansas City and she was honored between games Wednesday during Washburn's Senior Day ceremony.
Lee scored nine points in the game against Fort Hays State off 4-of-6 shooting and she added three rebounds. Lee is averaging 9.5 points and 4.3 rebounds a game this year and shooting 52 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 24 games with 17 starts including in each of the last 16 games.
Strong class of juniors
Washburn has four double-figure scorers on the team and they're all juniors. Guard
Casyn Buchman leads the team with 15.0 points a game and
Taylor Ignoto is scoring 12.9. Forward
Brittney Lynch scores 10.7 a game and center
Honor Duvall is scoring 10.0 a game.
Janelle Travis is right behind them with 9.9 points a game. Lynch leads the team in rebounding with 9.2 a game, Buchman is second with 6.5 and Duvall is third with 4.5 a game.
Washburn has seven juniors on the team and they combine to make up 80 percent of Washburn's scoring and 71 percent of the rebounding. A junior has led the team in scoring and assists in every game and in rebounding in all but one game.
McHenry gets 350th career win and 200th MIAA win in same week
Washburn head coach
Ron McHenry is 358-79 (.819) overall and 207-52 (.799) 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
Washburn has traditionally rebounded well under McHenry. They haven't been out-rebounded in more than seven games in a year since his opening season in 2000-01 when teams out-rebounded Washburn nine times. and they have never been out-rebounded in more than three straight games. McHenry's teams have posted positive rebounding margins every year and usually average +7.0 or more.
Washburn currently has a +6.6 rebounding margin, third best in the MIAA.
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.
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 11-6 in the league and are three games out of second with two to play. Washburn can finish no worse than a tie for sixth.
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.
Postseason scenarios
With two games remaining, the Ichabods can finish as high as third in the MIAA or as low as sixth. If they finish as the No. 3 or No. 4 seed they will have a first round bye and play in the MIAA quarterfinals on March 6 in Kansas City's Municipal Auditorium. If they are seeded fifth or sixth they will host a first round game on March 3 against either the No. 11 or No. 12 team which could still be any team that is currently in the bottom eight in the conference.
Washburn is half a game away from No. 4 Missouri Southern but must pass the Lions in the standings to earn the fourth seed. MSSU beat Washburn in the only matchup this year and would hold a tie-breaker.
Nikkel makes her way into Washburn's fourth starting lineup combination
Junior guard Ally Nikkel made her first career start February 13 at Central Oklahoma 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 last three games, all wins.
Nikkel set a career high with nine points at UCO as she went 2 of 4 from the field and 4 of 4 from the free throw line.
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 4.1 assists a game. She's third shooting .800 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 10 times and has reached double figures 17 times. She's scored at least 20 six different times. She's been Washburn's leader in assists in 15 games and in rebounds six 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.
NCAA Central Region poll has five MIAA schools
The first NCAA Central Region ranking came out this week and the MIAA had five of the top 10 schools in the poll. Emporia State is No. 1 and Central Missouri is No. 3. The MIAA, Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and Great American Conference all get one automatic qualifier to the eight-team NCAA Central Region tournament and then the final five spots are determined by the ranking. The top team in the ranking will host the three rounds of the tournament March 14-17 and then the winner will advance to the Elite 8 Mach 25-28.
The Ichabods have been to 11 straight NCAA tournaments and 16 straight since joined Division II in 1990-91.
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 839-364-1 (.697) in 1204 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
Washburn will be off during the midweek next week and then wrap up the regular season March 1 at Pittsburg State. The Ichabods beat the Gorillas 70-60 earlier this year in Topeka and have won seven straight in the series.
