TOPEKA, Kan. --- After a perfect 2-0 outing at the Puerto Rico Invitational last weekend, the Washburn Ichabod women's basketball returns to the familiar Schendel Court at Lee Arena for it's last two non-conference contests before starting the MIAA schedule. Washburn will take on Oklahoma Panhandle State on Saturday before squaring off against NAIA nationally-ranked Benedictine on Monday, start times for each game is 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. respectively.
Tip-Off // The Washburn Ichabods return to Kansas with back-to-back wins during the Puerto Rico Invitational to extend its record on the island nation to 4-0 ... Washburn's 2-2 start this season is just the second time in 17 seasons that a Ron McHenry led team has done so and the first since 2013-14 ... the Ichabods are 2-2 at Lee Arena this season ... freshman Reagan Phelan leads the team in scoring (10.8 pts/game) after a 20 point outburst against Saint Mary on Nov. 12 ... Phelan has reached double-figure scoring in four of six games for the Ichabods this season ... she is ranked 26th in MIAA in PPG and is tied 15th in 3-pointers made (11) ... Alyxis Bowens leads the team in steals (10) and steals/game (1.7) ... Bowens is tied for seventh in the MIAA in offensive rebounds per game (3) and 20th in steals ... Erika Lane is second on the team with 10.5 points/game ... Lane leads the Ichabods in minutes (185) and minutes/game (30.8) and is second in rebounds (33 total, 5.2/gm) ... Felisha Gibbs is third-best for total boards with 29 (4.8 per game) and is the team leader in FG% (.688) for all players with 50+ minutes ... Gibbs also has a team-high seven blocks placing her seventh in the MIAA and 103rd in Division II ... Jharian Bowen (9.5 ppg, 2.8 rpg) and Erin Dohnalek (14 assists, 6.2 ppg, 3.5 rpg) have also made noticable contributions for the Ichabods ... as a team WU is shooting .433 from the floor with a 3PT% of .336 (compared to a an .327 by opponents) ... from the line WU is edged out .721-.627 ... the Ichabods average just under 65 ppg (64.7) to opponents 60 ... Washburn has outscored opponents by a combined 295-257 during the first three quarters though have lost the final period by a combined 102-93 ... head coach Ron McHenry entered the season 11 wins shy of 400 ... Washburn's wins in Puerto Rico moves McHenry seven 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) -- full poll on page 6.
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 five new players on its 2016 roster, including one NCAA Division I transfer, one junior college transfer 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 ... 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 are in the attached game notes.
Where Are They From? // Washburn's 2016-17 roster has a wide mix of hometowns geographically, with its 15 players hailing from three different countries (United States, France and Denmark) and four different states within the US ... There are nine players from Kansas (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) 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 Coach // 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 seven wins from No. 400 ... McHenry graduated from Washburn in 1984.
Last TIme Out // Washburn 55, P.R.- Bayamon 49 -- Nov. 26, 2016
BAYAMON, Puerto Rico -- Behind season-high scoring from Jharian Bowen and Erin Dohnalek the Washburn Ichabod women's basketball wrapped up the Puerto Rico Invitational with a 55-49 win over Puerto Rico-Bayamon (2-6). With the result, the Ichabods bettered their season record to 4-2 while bringing head coach Ron McHenry just seven wins shy of 400 ... Bowen led the Washburn offense with a game-best 17 points. Dohnalek followed with 11 points in the effort while helping WU control the glass with seven rebounds. Erika Lane pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds as she finished with six points and a team-best six assists ... After jumping out to a 15-3 lead early in the first quarter, Washburn stumbled during the second period as UPRB moved out front with an 11-2 run to lead the Ichabods 28-26 at the break. The Vaqueras edged out Washburn in shooting during the first 20 minutes as they converted 39.3 percent of their attempts from the field to WU's 32.1 percent ... Washburn regained control as it pushed the score to 44-39 following an 18-11 third quarter. A see-saw fourth quarter tested the WU late but the Ichabods maintained their advantage as they accounted for 11 of the final 21 points before settling on the final of 55-49 ... Collectively, the Ichabods improved their field goal shooting during the second half to 40 percent while holding UPRB to 24.1 percent. Washburn out rebounded its host 44-39 and also edged out UPRB 14-8 in bench points.
About Oklahoma Panhandle State // The Aggies started the week 1-4 with its lone win coming against Saint Gregory's (57-51) ... OPSU's trip to Topeka will mark the third game in seven days with other games against NW Oklahoma State (11/28) and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (11/30) ... Denise Levine, Addison Munch, Taylor Acosta and Darby Price each began the week averaging at least eight pts/game.
About Benedictine // The Ravens are Division I basketball members of the NAIA ... Benedicitine is ranked 11th nationally ... they come to Topeka playing their fourth game in eight days ... Kristen Murphy is 43rd nationally in points/game (16.38) ... Serena Parker is sixth in the NAIA in FG% (.631) and leads team in rebounds (62 total/7.75 per game).
'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.
