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As of Thursday morning, the Ichabods enter the weekend with a chance to finish as high as the No. 4 seed or as low as sixth. If Missouri Southern wins Thursday night then Washburn can finish no higher than fifth.
The Bods will need to pass MSSU in the standings to jump to 4th. The Lions hold a tiebreaker over WU so a tie wouldn't be good enough. FHSU, one spot behind Washburn with a chance to catch WU, also holds a tie-breaker.
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.
Pittsburg State made it through the month of February undefeated and has won 11 straight since Washburn's 70-60 win in Topeka on January 18.
The Ichabods are playing their third straight Senior Day game as they honored their senior February 19 against FHSU, ESU honored its seniors last Saturday against WU and Pittsburg State will honor its seniors Saturday.
Washburn's seven juniors have 81 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 9.4 points and 4.2 rebounds a game.
Washburn's streak of 13 straight years finishing either 1st or 2nd in the MIAA has come to an end. Washburn has finished first or second every year since 2001-02.
Washburn has five of its nine loses on a Saturday this year. No other day of the week has more than one loss. The Ichabods are 6-5 on Saturdays and their winningest day is Thursday when they are 7-1.
Brittney Lynch is third in the MIAA with 9.2 rebounds a game and she's 28th averaging 10.5 points a game.
Head coach
Ron McHenry earned his 350th career win and his 200th MIAA win in January.
Ron McHenry is 358-80 (.817) 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.
Regular season closes Saturday at Pittsburg State with tournament seeding on the line
The Ichabods will close the regular season Saturday at 23rd-ranked Pittsburg State with a 1:30 p.m. game at John Lance Arena. After Wednesday's action the Ichabods still have a chance to finish as the No. 4 seed while the Gorillas will have a chance to share the MIAA title.
Washburn is 16-9 overall and tied for fifth in the MIAA with an 11-7 record after losing 70-53 last Saturday at Emporia State. The Gorillas kept their MIAA title hopes alive with an 81-75 win Wednesday against ESU as they improved to 22-6 and 15-3 in the MIAA. Pittsburg State is on an 11-game winning streak and has not lost since Washburn's 70-60 win in Lee Arena on January 18.
The game will be carried live on 580 AM WIBW. Links to video, live stats and audio are available at wusports.com/live.
Multiple scenarios remain going into Thursday, Friday and Saturday's MIAA action and Washburn still has a chance to finish as the No. 4 seed and get a first round bye. A win by Missouri Southern Thursday at Lindenwood would erase that chance and Washburn would be either the No. 5 or No. 6 seed and host a first round game on Monday.
Pittsburg State needs a win Saturday and a loss by Central Missouri against Northwest Missouri to force a three-way tie atop the MIAA standings.
Postseason scenarios
- If Missouri Southern wins its game Thursday at Lindenwood then the Ichabods will either be the No. 5 or 6 seed in the MIAA postseason tournament and have to host a first round game on Monday.
- If the Lions lose then Washburn will enter Saturday with a chance to jump MSSU in the standings and finish fourth to get a first round bye.
 -For Washburn to finish as the No. 4 seed, the Lions must lose at Lindenwood on Thursday and at Lincoln on Saturday and Washburn must win at PSU on Saturday. Fort Hays State also needs to lose against Northeastern State on Saturday because the Tigers hold the tie-breaker over Washburn.
- Missouri Southern holds the tie-breaker over Washburn so the Ichabods must do better than tie MSSU in the standings.
- Missouri Southern also holds a tie-breaker in the case of a three-way tie for fourth with WU and FHSU and would get the No. 4 seed by virtue of wins over WU and FHSU.
- If the Ichabods finish fifth they'll host the No. 12 seed and if they finish sixth they'll host No. 11. That game would be Monday at 7 p.m. at Schendel Court in Lee Arena. If Washburn finishes fourth then the Bods will play Thursday in Kansas City, Mo., at 2:15 p.m. against the winner of Monday's 5/12 game.
- As of Thursday, the Nos. 11 and 12 seeds can still be earned by multiple teams fighting for the final spots.
Two double-doubles on the road earn Lynch MIAA athlete of the week
Brittney Lynch won the MIAA athlete of the week two weeks ago after she recorded a pair of double-doubles 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 February 13 and at Northeastern State February 15.
Lynch finished that week recording double figures in six straight games. She averaged 14.3 points and 10.0 rebounds a game during that six-game 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 was 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 last week against Fort Hays State 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 9.4 points and 4.2 rebounds a game this year and shooting 52 percent from the field, second best on the team. 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 14.6 points a game and
Taylor Ignoto is scoring 12.5. Forward
Brittney Lynch scores 10.5 a game and center
Honor Duvall is scoring 10.2 a game.
Janelle Travis is right behind them with 9.7 points a game. Lynch leads the team in rebounding with 9.2 a game, Buchman is second with 6.4 and Duvall is third with 4.5 a game.
Washburn has seven juniors on the team and they combine to make up 81 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 358-80 (.817) overall and 207-53 (.796) 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.
Win or lose, Ichabods usually toughest on the boards
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 +6.7 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 12 straight seasons, every year since
Ron McHenry's second season in 2001-02. They are currently tied for fifth at 11-7 in the league and can finish no higher than fourth and no lower than 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 in his career.
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 four games.
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 began the week near the top in several MIAA statistic categories in the latest report. She's eighth in scoring with 14.6 points a game and third with 4.1 assists a game. She's fourth shooting .793 from the free throw line and 16th with 6.4 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 16 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 fell to twice in February, is fifth. Nova Southeastern is eighth and Drury is seventh. 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 four MIAA schools
The second NCAA Central Region ranking came out Wednesday and the MIAA had four 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 based on conference tournament winners 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 poll since then. 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 839-365-1 (.697) in 1205 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
The Ichabods will await Saturday's results to see if they will host an MIAA tournament first round game on Monday. That game would be at 7 p.m. at Schendel Court in Lee Arena and would be against the No. 12 seed if Washburn is seeded fifth and against No. 11 if Washburn is seeded sixth.
The MIAA tournament quarterfinals are Thursday, March 6 in Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo. as the top four seeds will play the winners of the four first round games.
