TOPEKA, Kan. --- The Washburn women's basketball team will look to get back into the win column on Monday evening when it hosts Saint Mary (Kan.) at Schendel Court at Lee Arena for a 7 p.m. tipoff. The Ichabods are 1-1 on the season, while the Spires come into the game at 0-3.
Ichabod Basketball Notes
Tpoff The Washburn Ichabods look to rebound after its first loss of the season ... its the first time WU has started 1-1 since the 2013-14 season when they fell to Nova Southeastern and defeated Barry as they began the year in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. ... Monday's game will be the fifth time the teams have met since the 1983-84 season ... after falling in the initial meeting by 63-60, Washburn gone on to win the last three to hold a 3-1 series lead ... the last meeting was Dec. 31, 2014 when Washburn won, 93-42 ... the Ichabods entered that game ranked No. 8 in the USA Today Sports poll ... heading into Monday's contest senior Erika Lane leads the team in scoring with 18.0 pts/game while averaging 35.5 minutes ... Lane also as shooting 42.9 percent from distance ... freshman Reagan Phelan follows with 13 pts/game and 31.5 mins ... Felisha Gibbs has 11 boards through two games ... Erin Dohnalek has a team-high eight assists ... the Ichabods have seven players shooting .500 or better from the charity stripe and are 68 percent as a team ... compared to opponents WU has a takeover ratio of 2:1 ... the Ichabods have outscored opponents in 50 percent of total quarters played and hold a slim 34-33 advantage in fourth quarter scoring ... head coach Ron McHenry entered the season 11 wins shy of 400.
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  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 can been on page five of the attached game notes.
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 his first 16 season McHenry has amassed a 389-108 record ... was named the fifth coach in program-history in 2000 ... his .783 winning percentage to start the 2016-17 season is the best by any coach to lead the Ichabods/Lady Blues and listed him as the NCAA's 23rd winningest coach all-time in women's basketball across all divisions (based on percentage) ... he is also listed fifth in the all-time wins for Division II ... 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 10 wins from No. 400 ... McHenry graduated from Washburn in 1984.
Saint Mary's Bruce Erickson ...enters his fourth season with the Spires ... prior to St. Mary's he spent 24 seasons coaching high school basketball in Kansas and amassed over 300 victories ... he then served as director of basketball operations and player player development at Oklahoma State before moving onto UMKC where he helped the 2011-12 team win 27 games and earn its first WNIT berth ... Erickson is a 1982 graduate of Kansas.
Last TIme Out
Mary 66, Washburn 62 -- Nov. 12, 2016
TOPEKA, Kan. --- The Washburn women's basketball dropped its first game of the season Saturday with a 66-62 loss to the University of Mary and slid to 1-1 on the season ... the Ichabods were led Erika Lane who finished with 16 points as she converted six of 17 attempts from the field. Reagan Phelan finished with 11 points while Jharian Bowen and Tatiana Grant each had nine. Felisha Gibbs had a team-best eight rebounds, while Bowen, Alyxis Bowens and Charisma Alexander chipped in with at least four boards each ... WU controlled the first half outshooting Mary 43.3 percent to 37.5 ... three-pointer by Bowen made it 22-12 with 7:04 to play in first half ... the Marauders answered with a 12-4 run cutting the WU advantage to two ... Washburn closed out half scoring eight of the last 13 points to take a 34-29 heading into the break ... WU margin began to shrink in the third as Mary netted a 14-4 run to move out front 48-47. The lead was short lived as Lane knocked a three-pointer before the end of the period to give Washburn a 50-48 lead as it headed into the fourth ... Mary reclaimed the advantage midway through the quarter as following a three-pointer from Hannah Larson to make it 60-58 with 4:53 left. The Marauders led the rest of the way pushing the gap to much as seven as they scored six of the final 10 points of the game.
About Saint Mary (Kan.)  With 23 players on the roster, the Spires have plenty of depth with plenty of experience as it features 16 upperclassmen including seven seniors ... Saint Mary's is a Division II basketball member of the NAIA ... the Spires are 0-3 on the season with two overtime losses ... Kelsey Switzer leads the team in scoring with 13.0 pts/game ... Cassidy Harbert and Imani White follow with 9.7 and 9.0 pts/game respectively.
'Bobds 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.
Up Next ...the Ichabods will close out their four-game home stand on Friday, Nov. 19 when they take on Drury at 3 p.m.
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