TOPEKA, Kan. --- The Washburn Ichabod women's basketball team officially opens its 2016-17 campaign later today as it takes on Minot State at Schendel Court at Lee Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.
Ichabod Basketball Notes
Tip-Off The Washburn Ichabods open the the 2016-17 schedule with an regular season against regional rival Minot State on Nov. 11 at Schendel Court at Lee Arena ... The Ichabods finished the 2015-16 season with a 15-14 record and tied for sixth in the MIAA with an 11-11 mark ... The Beavers are coming off an 11-18 season with a 8-14 record in the Northern Sun ... The Icahbods were picked third in the MIAA Preseason Coaches' Poll ... Washburn looks to extend it season opening record to which currently stands at 15-1 under head coach Ron McHenry ... McHenry enters the 2016-17 season 11 wins shy of 400 ... McHenry would be just the second coach in program-history to reach the milestone ... Washburn returns 10 players from last season ... Senior foward Alyxis Bowens led Washburn during 2015-16 in scoring (333) and points per game (11.5) while shooting 58.4 percent from the field to finish second ... Senior guard Erika Lane finished the 2015-16 with team-best in assists per game (3.1), was second in points/game (10.0) and was the only player to start all 29 games ... Lane shoot .841 from the charity stripe and .411 from 3-point distance ... Senior center Felisha Gibbs was second on the team last season in blocks (22) and per game rebounding (5.5) and third in points/game (8.6) ... Gibbs had a team-high .584 shooting from the floor ... Senior guard Julie Ravn started in 23 games last season before going down to injury ... Ravn finished with 8.0 points/game and averaged 28.0 minutes ... she knocked down 35.0 percent of her 117 3-point attempts ... In 2015-16, senior guard Erin Dohnalek had six starts and appeared in 29 games ... finished the season with 8.5 points/game and completed 81 of 229 shot (.354) from the field.
Exhibition History Washburn is 10-20 all-time in exhibitions under Ron McHenry since 2000-01 ... The Ichabods dropped both their preseason games as they faced Division I opponents Kansas State and Kansas ... under McHenry, WU is 4-16 against NCAA Division I opponents all-time.
Last Season - Quick Hits Washburn's 2015-16 campaign with a three consecutive wins and a 4-2 mark through the first six games ... it closed the season 15-14 overall and finished tied for sixth in the MIAA at 11-11 ... The Ichabods entered the MIAA Tournament as the No. 7-seed and lost in the first round to No. 10-seed Central Missouri, 74-70 ... Erika Lane was named All-MIAA Third Team while Felisha Gibbs and Alyxis Bowens garned Honorable Mention nods.
MIAA Preseason Poll Emporia State topped the preseason poll with 12 first-place votes and 168 total points ... Pittsburg State followed with 156 points and two first-place votes ... Ichabods were third (132) ... Fort Hays State was forth (127) and Missouri Western fifth (124).
Washburn on the Radio Washburn games will be broadcast on KTPK 106.9 FM radio with Jake Lebahn and Dan Lucero calling the action. Games will also be streamed live on wusports.com by following the listen live links on the women's schedule page.
New Faces Washburn has seven new players on its 2016 roster, including one NCAA Division I transfer, three junior college transfers and three true freshmen ... Charisma Alexander joins the Ichabods after one season at Division I Stephen F. Austin. Alexander averaged 4.2 points, 4.0 rebounds and 25.4 minutes while appearing in all 31 games for the LadyJacks and helping them win the Southland Conference championship ... Tatiana Grant played two seasons at Pratt Community College is the most decorated of the three junior college transfer as she earned the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference MVP in 2014 before later being named an NJCAA All-American after finishing 27.4 points/game and 8.6 rebounds/game ... Shambrey Budd played two seasons at Northwest Kansas Technical where she averaged 10.9 points/game and shot 32.7 percent from 3-point range her sophomore year ... Macy Myers joins Washburn following two seasons with Otero Junior College where she finished her career averaging 19 points/game for the Trojans ... the crop of true freshmen are made up of Cara Donley, Reagan Phelan and Jo Roepke ... Donley was multi-sport letterwinner at both Abilene and Scared Heart HS where she earned various individual accolades ... Phelan was also a multi-sport athlete during her time at Central Plains where she was named the 2015-16 KBCA Miss Kansas Basketball ... Roepke played for Valley Hieghts where she lettered in basketball, volleyball and track and was the 2016 Kansas 2A long jump champion.
Early Success/Monthly Breakdown Under Ron McHenry, Washburn has put together 12 perfect Novembers, including a 6-0 mark in 2014-15 and a 3-0 mark so far in 2015-16 ... Washburn has no more than two losses in November under McHenry ... a month-by-month breakdown of the Ichabods under Coach McHenry is below.
Where Are They From? Washburn's 2016-17 roster has a wide mix of hometowns geographically, with its 17 players hailing from three different countries (United States, France and Denmark) and six different states within the US ... There are 10 players from Kansas (Shambrey Budd, Jharian Bowen, Alyxis Bowens, KayLee Farmer, Erika Lane, Reagan Phelan, Jo Roepke, Cara Donley and Madison and Makayla Vargo) ... Arkansas (Felisha Gibbs), Colorado (Macy Myers), Missouri (Erin Dohnalek), Texas (Charisma Alexander) and Wisconsin (Tatiana Grant) are the other US states represented on WU's roster ... traveling abroad, Cindy Demosthene (France) and Julie Ravn (Denmark) are international players on the Ichabods' squad.
The Coaches
Washburn's Ron McHenry ...is in his 17th season with the Ichabods ... during that time he has amassed a 389-108 record ... was named the fifth coach in program-history in 2000 ... his .782 winning percentage to start the 2016-17 season is the best by any coach to lead the Ichabods/Lady Blues ... McHenry has 12 seasons with 20 or more wins and three seasons topping 30 ... in his first 16 years, McHenry has coached 21 All-American selections, 42 All-MIAA nominees and one WNBA draft pick ... during the 2004-05 campaign McHenry steered the program to an NCAA Division II title ... McHenry also has a combined 15 MIAA regular-season and tournament championships ... McHenry is 11 wins from No. 400 ... McHenry graduated from Washburn in 1984.
Minot State's Sheila Green Gerding ...enters her 22nd season for the Beavers ... during that time SGG has a a 357-257 record ... in her first 21 seasons, Green Gerding has averaged 17 victories a season with five seasons with 20 or more ... under her watch, Minot State finished in the top three in its conference standings 11 times ... in her first 16 seasons MSU advanced to the NAIA Division II Quarterfinals twice, captured two NDCAC postseason championships, won one DAC tournament championship and a share of a NDCAC regular season title ... Green Gerding is a graduate of Montana State-Northern.
Last TIme Out for the 'Bobds
Kansas 81, Washburn 57 -- Nov. 6, 2016
LAWRENCE, Kan. --- The Washburn women's basketball team concluded its exhibition schedule with an 81-57 loss to Kansas on Sunday afternoon at Allen Fieldhouse ... Three Ichabods registered double-figure scoring as Alyxis Bowens, Felisha Gibbs and Reagan Phelan netted 10 points each. Gibbs also finished with a team-high seven rebounds, while Tatiana Grant and Charisma Alexander followed with six apiece. Erika Lane finished with nine points and five boards ... Washburn outrebounded its Division I opponent to the tune of 42-37 in addition to forcing the Jayhawks into 27 turnovers. WU also had the advantage in second chance points 12-4 ... Trailing 11-10 in the first quarter Washburn took its only lead of the contest when Phelan converted layup to make it 12-11. The advantage was short-lived as KU retook the lead soon after with back-to back buckets as part of a 10-2 run before the end of the period to make it 21-14 ... Kansas quickly opened a double-digit lead before going into the break trailing 40-28 ... WU started the third period scoring seven of the first 11 points to push the score to 44-35. That was closest Washburn would get before Kansas as it pulled away with a 23-9 run before taking an 81-57 final.
About Minot State Under longtime head coach Sheila Green Gerding, MSU went 11-18 with a 8-14 mark in the NSIC ... the Beavers lack experience as they feature just four upperclassmen including juco transfer Kristal Flowers ... Kari Clements finished third in scoring (9.4ppg) and second in shooting from the field (.409) compared to the last season's starters ... MSU went 1-1 is its preseason slate, losing to Dickinson State (87-75) and topping an MSU Alumni team (110-52)
'Bods History
The 2016-17 marks the 48th season of Washburn women's basketball ... the Ichabods are 869-393-1 all-time ... the program has seen 23 seasons with at least 20 wins and had made 17 trips to the NCAA Division II Championship ... in 2004-05 Washburn won the NCAA Division II Championship and finished the season 35-2.
