The Game
• Washburn opened the 2016-17 MIAA schedule last week with a 1-1 record.
• WU has wins in four of its last five outings.
• This will be the 7th meeting between the teams ... Washburn leads the all-time series 5-2 (.714) ... the Ichabods swept the season series in 2015-16.
• Washburn has a favorable 2-1 (.666) mark while facing the Lions at Schendel Court at Lee Arena.
• Under head coach Ron McHenry, WU is 3-2 against the Lions.
• Reagan Phelan is third on the team in scoring (9.6 pts/game) ... record a career-high of 20 points against Saint Mary on Nov. 12 ... Phelan has reached double-figure scoring in five of the Ichabods 10 games this season ... she is shooting .357 from three-point distance ... Phelan has 25 assists.
• Alyxis Bowens is tied-sixth in the MIAA with 13 blocks ... she also leds WU in rebounds (53 total, 5.3/gm) ... Bowens ranks 24th in MIAA in steals (14).
• Erika Lane is the team leader is scoring (11.2pts/gm), minutes (318), minutes/game (31.8) and assists (30) while placing third in rebounds (49 total, 4.9/gm) and second in 3FG% (.318) ... As a result of her numbers Lane is among the conference leaders in minutes played (7rd) and assists (14th).
• Felisha Gibbs is second on the team in boards (50 total, 5.0/game) and is the team leader in FG% (.673) for all players with 60+ minutes ... she is fifth on the team with 7.6 pts/game and has eight blocks on the season to rank 13th in MIAA.
• Jharian Bowen is second in points (10.5/gm) while averaging 3.7 rebounds and has converted 17 of 21 (.810) chances from the line.
• Erin Dohnalek's per game averages shake out to 7.2 points, 1.8 assists and 4.3 rebounds ... Dohnalek is shooting .700 (14-20) from the line.
• As a team WU is shooting .445 from the floor with a 3PT% of .310 compared to respective opponent shooting numbers of .351 and .299 ... from the free throw stripe WU is being edged out .703-.654
• The Ichabods average just under 67 pts/game (66.9) to their opposition's 56.8 ... Washburn has outscored opponents by a combined 506-394 during the first three quarters though have lost the final period by a combined 165-157
• McHenry entered the season 11 wins shy of 400 ... he enters Saturday's contest with four to go.
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 is below.
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 five wins from No. 400 ... McHenry graduated from Washburn in 1984.
Last Time Out // Washburn 70, Lindenwood 60 -- Feb. 13, 2015
ST. CHARLES, Mo. – Washburn Women's Basketball had three Ichabods score in double-digits en route to sweeping its regular season series with Lindenwood, defeating the Lady Lions, 70-60, on Saturday, Feb. 13 at Hyland Arena ... WU (13-11, 9-9 MIAA) just missed its third straight shooting effort above the 50 percent mark, finishing 26-of-54 from the field (48.1 percent) while hitting five three-pointers on the day to snap a four-game losing streak. WU led for nearly 35 minutes of game play and trailed for only 16 seconds during the contest ... Erika Lane led the team with 22 points to go with two assists and five rebounds and Felisha Gibbs and Jharian Bowen joined her in double-digits with 14 and 11 points, respectively. Gibbs added five rebounds, tied second on the team behind Jayna Smith (six rebounds) on the boards and Bowen led the team with three steals. Erin Dohnalek scored seven points and had a team-high three assists ... The Ichabods built an early four-point lead, 10-6, in the opening five minutes thanks to three-pointers from Lane and Bowen, but saw the Lions soon answer to tie it at 10 in the next three minutes of play. From there, the teams traded points to stay tied at 15 headed for the second ... That back-and-forth play continued until the 4:16 mark of the second when Alyxis Bowns scored four straight as the opening part of a 10-2 run that ended the half and sent WU to the locker room ahead seven, 29-22 ... WU grew its lead into double-digits in the first 3:05 of play in the third, combining the second half run with another scoring burst early to make it 37-27. LWU soon responded with a quick burst of five straight, though, to bring it back within five, 37-32 at the 5:24 mark of the third. Moments later the Ichabods again put the lead at 10 (43-33) before Lindenwood responded to cut the deficit to five (50-45) at the end of the quarter ... The fourth quarter saw Gibbs hit a layup at 7:12 that gave WU a nine-point lead before both teams settled in for a scoreless span of over three minutes before Lane ended the drought with her second three-pointer of the game at 3:56, putting the score at 61-49. Dohnalek scored on a layup a minute later to close a stretch of seven unanswered for Washburn, which was enough for the Ichabods to close out the win.
A look at Lindenwood
• Lindenwood is 5-3 overall, 1-1 in the MIAA.
• The Lions opened league play at 1-1 with a 95-80 loss to No. 4 Pittsburg State and an 86-80 win over Missouri Southern State.
• LWU is 2-1 when facing the Ichabods at Lee Arena.
• Category leaders for the Lions:
Points - Kallie Bildner (16.5/game)
Assists - Lindsey Medlen (3.5/game)
Rebounds - Kallie Bildner (9.6/game)
Blocks - Lindsey Medlen (5)
Steals - Charisse Williams (15)
'Bods History // The 2016-17 marks the 48th season of Washburn women's basketball ... the Ichabods are 875-396-1 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.
Before game day, this happened...
• 1903 - The Wright Brothers make their first sustained motorized aircraft flight at 10:35 AM, piloted by Orville Wright at Kitty Hawk, NC
• 1928 - John McGraw backs NL Pres John Heydler's designated hitter idea
• 1933 - NFL starts official stats as Bears beat Giants 23-21 in champ game
• 1964 - Third film of the James Bond franchise, "Goldfinger" premieres in London
• 1989 - "The Simpsons" debuts as a half-hour series after nearly two years as a short on the Tracey Ullman Show
• 2013 - Cat Stevens, Hall & Oates, Kiss, Linda Ronstadt and Nirvana are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
