Scouting the Griffons
Washburn opens its final week of regular season play with a road game at No. 7 Missouri Western on Wednesday, looking to split the season series after a defeat at home earlier this year ... MWSU is currently the No. 1 team in the conference standings with two games remaining and is in line to hold the top seed in the MIAA Tournament ... MWSU was also the top seed in the Central Region rankings released last week ... MWSU won the matchup in Lee Arena, 68-59, to snap a nine-game losing streak to the Ichabods ... The Griffons have won six straight games entering Wednesday's matchup and are 8-2 over their last 10 games ... MWSU's only losses this season came to Nebraska-Kearney at home and Pittsburg State on the road ... The Griffons are scoring a conference-leading 83.9 points per game while holding opponents to 63.6 points on average (a +20.3 scoring margin) ... Individually, LaQuinta Jefferson (22.1 ppg), Sarafina Hardy (14.6 ppg) and Milakere Koyamainavure (11.8 ppg) are in double-digit scoring on average ... more information on stat leaders and the series history can be found on page one of the game notes.

Last Time Out (Feb. 20, 2016)
TOPEKA, Kan. – Washburn Women's Basketball took down Central Oklahoma, 69-62, on Saturday, Feb. 20 for its third consecutive win, closing the home portion of its regular season in style on Senior Night ... Seniors Haley Pfau and Jayna Smith had standout nights in their final regular season game at Lee Arena, as Pfau finished with a team-high (tied) 17 points while hitting five three-pointers, and Jayna Smith notched her third career double-double, finishing with 11 points and 13 rebounds ... Alyxis Bowens tied Pfau for the team lead in scoring (17), just missing a double-double of her own with eight rebounds ... Erin Dohnalek pulled down 10 rebounds and matched her career-high in assists, dishing out seven for the second straight game ... Jharian Bowen was also in double figures for the Ichabods, adding 13 points in the winning effort ... WU opened the game on a 10-2 run before UCO responded with a 9-2 run of its own over the next three minutes of play, putting the Ichabods ahead one (12-11) with 2:37 to go in the first ... WU closed the opening period with five unanswered and led 17-11 at the pause ... The Ichabods maintained that two-possession lead for a majority of the second frame until the 1:38 mark, when a UCO three-pointer brought the lead back to one and closed out a string of six unanswered for the Bronchos ... Dohnalek hit a jumper to stop the run and WU took a 32-30 lead into the half ... The teams played relatively even through the first seven minutes of the third quarter beore a 5-0 run by UCO saw the Bronchos take their only lead of the night, but six points for the Ichabods inside the final minute of the third put the home team back in the lead for good ... WU closed the fourth quarter strong to hold off a UCO comeback effort ... Facing a free throw shooting contest as UCO attempted to extend the game at the charity stripe, Bowens came through in the clutch on the defensive end with a steal and breakaway layup to seal the win with 23 seconds to go.

MIAA Tourney Outlook
With just two games remaining in the regular season, Washburn has clinched a spot in the MIAA Tournament but finds itself in a fight for a position in the upper half of the MIAA Tournament seedings ... the tournament, held Feb. 29 and March 3, 5-6 at campus sites and at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, features the top 12 teams from the MIAA standings with the top four earning byes to the semifinal round ... seeds 5-8 earn first round home games against the 9-12 seeds ... The top four seeds have already been locked up (though seeding has not been decided) by Missouri Western, Pittsburg State, Fort Hays State and Emporia State, and WU is currently alone in fifth in the standings at 11-9 in MIAA play ... The Ichabods are one-half game ahead of Missouri Southern (11-10) and a full game ahead ahead of Central Oklahoma and Nebraska-Kearney (10-10) ... MSSU plays PSU (No. 3) in its season finale, and UCO and UNK play each other on Wednesday ... SBU, at 9-11 overall, is ninth and two games back of WU ... the complete MIAA standings can be found on page six of the game notes.

Achilles Heel
Washburn began February in the midst of some bad luck that led to a four-game losing streak  to open the month... despite shooting 44.6 percent as a team (and breaking the 50 percent mark in back-to-back games), WU faced teams that shot equally well, if not better on those occasions ... over those four games, opponents shot 50.7 percent from the field and were unrealistically hot 52-of-86 from three-point range (60.5 percent) against the Ichabods ... Washburn shot 36.6 percent from long range in that span,  above their season average of 32.8 percent as a team.

Ichabods set school record for MIAA games
Washburn's 85-27 win over Northeastern State on Feb. 17 as not only the Ichabods' largest win of the season, but it also was the lowest scoring total for an opponent in an MIAA game for the Ichabods ... WU allowed just 11 points through the first three quarters before NSU finished the game with 27 ... the MIAA conference record for fewest points allowed in a conference game is 23 (Missouri Rolla vs Truman, 1/23/02) ... WU's  school record during the shot clock error was 19 (Nov. 14, 2011 against Tabor, WU won 111-19) ... prior to the shot clock (which came into effect in 1986-87), the school record for fewest points allowed was 15 (Feb. 23, 1973) when WU won, 56-15 against Marymount.

Finishing Strong
As Haley Pfau's career wraps up this season, the Oskaloosa, Kan., senior was Washburn's top scorer in the final week of home regular season games, and is poised for a strong finish as the team heads for postseason play ... Pfau scored a career-high 20 points in the win over Northeastern State on Feb. 17, dropping six three-pointers (out of 8 attempts) ... she followed that with 17 points (and five three-pointers) against Central Oklahoma ... Pfau finished the week with 18.5 points per game, hitting 11 three-pointers and shooting above 60 percent from long range.

Pacing the Bods
Alyxis Bowens has stood as the team's leading scorer all season and paces the Ichabods with 11.5 points per game and 299 total points for the year ... the junior post player has started 15 games on the season and played an average of 20.0 minutes per contest, sharing time with Felisha Gibbs and Cindy Demosthene in the paint for WU ... Bowens is first on the team  in double-digit scoring efforts on the season (14) and has scored at least 10 points in seven of the last 11 contests ... dating back to games played after the New Year, Bowens has 10 double-digit scoring efforts in the 15 games played during that span ... Bowens also leads the team in blocks (29) and blocks per game (1.1) ... she also recorded her first career double-double on Feb. 17 against Northeastern State, grabbing 10 rebounds to go with 15 points in the win.

Double Down 
Washburn has had three player - Felisha Gibbs, Jayna Smith and Alyxis Bowens - combine for five double-doubles this season ... Smith has two on the year and now has three for her career, Gibbs has two in the season and for her career and Bowens has one ... Gibbs put together her first two career double-doubles and nearly averaged a double-double over three games the week of Jan. 4-9, leading the team in points (13.3 ppg) while averaging 9.7 rebounds per game ... Gibbs grabbed 29 total rebounds and scored 40 total points and had double-digits in all three games while shooting 56.7 percent from the field (17-of-30) and hitting 6-of-7 on free throws ... Gibbs swatted three shots as well while coming up with two steals ... The junior had an impressive 14-point, 13-rebound (career-high) double-double in WU's win over Lincoln as she shot 77.8 percent ... Against Northeastern State, Gibbs had 12 points with four rebounds and finished the weekend with her second career double-double of 12 rebounds and 14 points ... Smith joined the double-double club for 2015-16 against Missouri Western on Jan. 13, dropping 12 points to go with 10 rebounds for her second career double-double ... she notched her second of the year on Senior Day (Feb. 20) with 13 rebounds and 11 points against Central Oklahoma ... Smith also had one last season against Emporia State when she finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Post Presence
In addition to her two double-doubles on the year, Gibbs has been a go-to player down low for the Ichabods this season ... Gibbs has been close to double-doubles on three other occasions while starting 17 of 20 games she has appeared in ... she ranks third on the team with 9.7 points per game and second on the team with 6.2 rebounds per game ... Gibbs is also second in blocks on the team with 18 for the year ... she missed four games to end January and open February, but has scored in double digits in both games since returning on Feb. 10, dropping 12 against Central Missouri and 14 against Lindenwood ... Bowens' double-double came Feb. 17 against Northeastern State where she had 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Road Warriors
Washburn played nine road games in its first 11 of the season, and is 8-6 in road games this season ... the 2015 portion of the schedule featured three games on the road against ranked opponents and only one home conference game in that span ... Washburn has five home games in January (out of nine total games) and five home games in February (out of eight total games) ... WU has two remaining road games to secure a winning record in that category ... last season, WU went 6-5 on the road and 5-7 away from Lee Arena the year prior (2013-14).

Lockdown Defense
Six times this season, Washburn has held its opponent to 49 or less points, including a stifling effort against Northeastern State at home on Feb. 17 where the RiverHawks scored just 27 points (and 11 points through the first three quarters) ...  WU has also held Missouri Southern (42), Northwest Missouri (43), Lincoln (44), Newman (46) and Northeastern State (46) under that mark ... for the season, Washburn has held opponents to 59.5 points per game, which ranks second in the MIAA.

Crashing The Boards
Washburn has outrebounded its opponent in 21 of 26 games this season, holding a +8.5 rebounding margin per game on the year ... nationally, the Ichabods rank 13th in rebound margin and second in the MIAA (as of Feb. 22 stats release) ... Jayna Smith (9.5 rpg) leads the team (and MIAA) in rebounds per game while Felisha Gibbs (6.0 rpg) and Alyxis Bowens (5.3 rpg) are also above the 5.0 mark on average ... the team has 14 40-plus rebounding efforts on the season and reached that mark in eight straight games from Dec. 5 to Jan. 9, including a 55-rebound effort against Lincoln on Jan. 4 and a 59-rebound effort against Northeastern State on Feb. 17.

From Long Range
Washburn has proved its ability to hit the three-point shot in games is a key factor in the outcome ... WU is 10-1 in games that it makes more three-pointers than its opponent and 5-10 in games that the opponent has a better mark (or tied) in that category ... as a team, the Ichabods are shooting 34.0 percent from beyond the arc on the year while opponents are shooting 31.4 percent 

Zero to 60
A trend has played out thus far for the Ichabods in 2015-16, as Washburn is 12-3 in games that it scores 60 or points and 10 of its 11 losses have come when an opponent reaches that mark (5-10 overall) ... when holding opponents under 60, Washburn is 9-1, and when the Ichabods score less than 60, they've won just three times (losing eight games).

Board Certified
Jayna Smith's impact isn't always felt in the points category on the stat sheet (though she has led the team in scoring in two games and has two double-doubles), but she has proved vital towards the team success this season ... the senior nursing major leads the team in rebounds (247) and rebounds per game (9.5) thru 26 games while also dishing out 69 assists (second-best on the team) ... Smith had a career-high 20 rebounds on the road at Northeastern State (Jan. 7) ... Smith earned her first start of the season on Dec. 2 at Fort Hays State and made the most of it, leading the team in points (13), rebounds (eight) and assists (five) ... She followed that effort by tying her previous career-high in rebounds (12) in back-to-back games against UNK and SBU ... Smith leads the MIAA in rebounds and rebounds per game as well ... earlier this season she reached double-digit rebounds in six consecutive games and has hit the mark on 13 occasions this season ... as her career winds down, Smith is currently looking at joining the career rebounding average list (min. 50 games), where she currently has the No. 5 spot on the list (No. 1 is Kelly Jennings with a 9.6 rpg average) ... she is also currently in line to have the No. 5 spot on the WU single-season rebounding list with 9.5 per game (No. 1 is Terri Lasswell with 10.6 rpg).

Quick Lane
With 13 double-digit scoring efforts this season, Erika Lane is second in that category while sitting second in scoring average (9.7 ppg) and total points (252) ... the guard had a career-high 25 points in WU's second game of the year (at Minot State) and had three double-digit scoring games over the final five contests in 2015 ... Lane's quickness has also been felt away from the hoop, defensively and offensively ... her 3.0 assists per game (and  78 total assists) is highest on the team and she is fourth on the team in steals (16), rebounds (96) and rebounds per game (3.7) ... the point guard has started all 26 games this season and played 40 minutes on five different occasions this season.

Clutch Off the Bench
Division I transfer Erin Dohnalek has made her mark in several games this season, taking over on the offensive end when needed on her way to sitting fourth on the team in scoring (8.4 ppg) ... the junior guard has appeared in all 26 games and earned her first career start on Feb. 13 at Lindenwood, playing 22.0 minutes per contest on average off the bench ... from long range, Dohnalek has hit 21-of-62 attempts (33.9 percent) to rank third on the team in three-pointers made ... she has 10 double-digit scoring efforts for the year and has also dished out 58 assists (2.2 per game) ... over the final two home games of the regular season, Dohnalek achieved a career-high in rebounds (10 vs UCO) and assists (seven against NSU and UCO).

Run Away Win
Washburn's 89-44 win over Lincoln on Jan. 4 was the first 40-plus margin win for the Ichabods since Dec. 31, 2014 (93-42 over Saint Mary) ... The last time Washburn won by 40-49 points was Nov. 16, 2014 against Southwestern (108-60).

Top Five Takedown
Washburn's 70-60 win over Nova Southeastern (ranked No. 3) was the program's first ranked win of the season ... Washburn's last top five win came on Nov. 21, 2014 against then-No. 4 Drury at home ... Washburn is 12-15 all-time under Ron McHenry against Top 5 teams.

Washburn Versus Ranked Opponents
The Ichabods have set themselves up with one of the toughest schedules in the nation, thanks in part to two non-conference matches with ranked opponents and a stacked conference that features three of the Top 25 teams in the nation ... In conference games, WU has faced No. 5 Fort Hays State, No. 10 Missouri Western and No. 12 Emporia State (rankings at the time) and in non-conference matchups, WU has faced No. 11 Drury and No. 3 Nova Southeastern ... WU is 1-4 against ranked opponents on the season with a win over Nova Southeastern and a near-win against FHSU, during a game they lead for a majority ... WU went 1-6 against ranked opponents last season and is 49-39 against ranked opponents all-time under head coach Ron McHenry dating back to 2000-01.

Washburn in Home Openers
The Ichabods are 34-10 all-time in home openers, winning their last 18 (dating back to the 1998-99) season ... WU has never lost a home opener under Ron McHenry.

No. 400
Head Coach Ron McHenry is just 11 victories away from No. 400 in his career  and at Washburn with 389 wins thus far in his career ... he entered the season 26 wins away.

McHenry's Home Court Edge
The Ichabods have been dominant in years past inside Lee Arena under the direction of Ron McHenry, going 197-35 (.856) since 2000-01 ... WU had perfect home records in 1991-92 and 2004-05, the year the Lady Blues won the national title ... McHenry and the Ichabods have had one-loss home records nine different times in McHenry's 15 years leading up to the 2015-16 season.

Washburn in Season Openers
Washburn is 15-1 in season openers under head coach Ron McHenry, with the only loss coming in 2013-14 at Nova Southeastern (a non-conference opponent on this year's schedule) ... all-time, the Ichabods are 27-2 in season openers as members of the MIAA (and NCAA), and in the 38-9 since the program's inception in 1969-70.

Noting the WBCA Poll
Though Washburn has not been ranked nationally this season, several 2015-16 opponents and MIAA foes are listed in the Feb. 9 version of the WBCA Poll ... Fort Hays State (No. 5) and Missouri Western (No. 8) are top 10 teams along with Central Region foe Winona State (No. 9) from the NSIC ... MIAA opponents Emporia State (No. 21) and Pittsburg State (No. 23) are also in the rankings, along with regional matchups Arkansas Tech (No. 15) and Sioux Falls (No. 25) ... 2015-16 non-conference opponents in the poll are Drury (No. 12) and Nova Southeastern (No. 14) ... the complete WBCA poll is on page three of the game notes.

Ichabods Add Four in Early Signing Period
Four incoming student-athletes signed National Letters of Intent to join Washburn in 2016-17 ... Cara Donley (Salina, Kan. / Abilene HS), Alexandra McDowell (Hill City, Kan. / Hill City HS), Raegan Phelan (Holyrood, Kan. / Central Plains HS) and Brandi Roepke (Waterville, Kan. / Valley Heights HS) make up the class.

Exhibition History
Washburn is 10-18 all-time in exhibitions under Ron McHenry since 2000-01 ... The Ichabods dropped a 48-75 contest at Kansas State on Monday, Nov. 2 in the first exhibition of the season before defeating NCAA Division I opponent Omaha, 61-56, in the final exhibition on Wednesday, Nov. 4. ... WU is 4-15 against NCAA Division I opponents, 7-3 at home and 3-24 on the road in exhibitions.

Where Are They From?
Washburn's 2015-16 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 10 players from Kansas (Alyxis Bowens, Jayna Smith, Haley Pfau, KayLee Farmer, Madison and Makayla Vargo, Erika Lane, Jada Lynch, Ashlee Ivy and Jharian Bowen) ... Arkansas (Felisha Gibbs), Missouri (Erin Dohnalek) and South Carolina (Kierra Campbell) 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.

McHenry Winningest Active Coach in NCAA Division II
Ron McHenry's .799 winning percentage entering the 2015-16 ranks first among active coaches at the NCAA Division II level ... the 16th-year head coach for Washburn is No. 4 all-time in winning percentage among coaches at the NCAA Division II level ... for all NCAA Divisions (I, II and III), McHenry ranks 13th among active coaches and is No. 18 all-time. 

A First For McHenry
This year's 2015-16 Washburn Women's Basketball roster features no true freshman, a first for the Ichabods since McHenry's arrival in 2000-01. 

Non-Conference Recap
Washburn finished its non-conference portion of the 2015-16 regular season schedule last week with a 4-2 record in those games ... against regional opponents, Washburn went 3-1 in non-conference action ... WU now holds a combined 19-7 record in those six series, picking up wins over University of Mary, Minot State, Newman and Nova Southeastern with losses to Drury and Palm Beach Atlantic.

Eyeing a Return to the Top
The Ichabods have made 17 NCAA Tournaments under Ron McHerny, won eight MIAA regular season titles and seven MIAA tournament titles, but have not make the national tournament since the 2012-13 season ... A relatively inexperienced group will be tested with one of the toughest schedules in NCAA Division II as they eye a return to the NCAA Tournament.

New Faces
Washburn has five new players on its 2015-16 roster, including one NCAA Division I transfer and four junior college transfers ... Erin Dohnalek  joins the Ichabods after two years at Division I Northern Iowa.  Dohnalek averaged 3.7 points per game as a freshman and 2.6 per game as a sophomore, playing in 51 total games with the Panthers ... Kierra Campbell was a two-time all-conference selection (at Denmark Tech and Panola ... Ashlee Ivy played two years at Butler Community College in 2012-13 and 2013-14, earning First Team All-NJCAA honors in 2013-14 and a Second Team All-NJCAA selection in 2012-13 ... Ravn is a shooting specialist who played in 29 games with 28 starts last year at Cowley Community College, hitting 39.3 percent from beyond the three-point arc last year with 14.1 points per game ... KayLee Farmer (a sophomore) joins the program after a year at Independence Community College ... prior to ICC, Farmer ran track at the University of Kansas.

Last Season - Quick Hits
Washburn's 2014-15 campaign opened with seven straight wins and a 9-1 record through the first 10 games ... WU closed the season at 16-12 overall and finished eighth in the MIAA at 8-11 ... The Ichabods earned the No. 8 seed in the MIAA Tournament and lost a 59-46 contest with Northeastern State in the first round ... WU's signature win of the season was a 87-79 overtime victory at Lee Arena over then-No. 3 Drury on Nov. 22 ... Casyn Buchman was named All-MIAA Second Team while Taylor Ignoto and Honor Duvall garned Honorable Mention nods.

MIAA Preseason Poll
Emporia State topped the preseason poll with 13 first-place votes and 169 total points after an Elite Eight berth last season ... Fort Hays State, which hosted the NCAA Central Regional last year, had one first-place vote and 147 points while Central Missouri (135 points), Pittsburg State (128 points) and Missouri Western (124 points) rounded out the top five ... Washburn (103 points) was in sixth, just ahead of Central Oklahoma's 102 points ... the complete MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll can be found on page six of the game notes.