Tip-off // After not being home for 17 days, the Ichabods return to the friendly combines of Lee Arena on Thursday to take on Missouri Southern. This will be the 76th time both have met with Washburn holding a 46-29 advantage in the all-time series. The Ichabods are also 29-11 against MSSU. Last season the series was split 1-1. This will be the only time Washburn and Missouri Southern will see each during the regular-season. Prior to the game, their will be a brief ceremony to honor head coach Ron McHenry for reaching 400 career wins.
Scouting the Lions
• Missouri Southern is 10-7 overall, 5-3 in the MIAA.
• The Lions have won 3 of their last five games.
• MSSU is 2-2 when playing MIAA games on the road.
• The Lions shot 74.0 percent from the line (305-412) ... 42.7 from the field ... 35.9 from 3-point distance.
• Deb Holcomb leads the team in scoring with 17.2 points/game.
Player Quick Facts
• Senior guard Erika Lane leads the team in assists (51 total, 3.2/gm) and minutes (31.6/game) ... Lane is also third in scoring (10.2 ppg) and second in rebounds (78 total, 4.9/gm) ... Lane has scored double-digit points seven times and distributed three more assists on nine occasions ... on Jan. 12 she tallied her first career double-double (10 pts, 10 rebs).
• Freshman guard Reagan Phelan is fourth on the team in scoring (8.9 ppg) ... has reached double-figure scoring eight times this season including a career-best 20 points on Nov. 14 ... she shares the team lead in steals (22) and is second in assists (46 total, 2.9/gm) ... Phelan has converted on 19 of 56 chances from 3-point range (.339).
• Senior forward Alyxis Bowens is a co-leader in scoring (10.9 ppg) ... on Jan. 2 tied a career-high when she scored 28 points against Peru State ... has tallied double-digits in five of the last six games ... has a total of nine double-digit outings ... paces WU in rebounds (97 total, 6.1/gm), blocks (23) and shares the lead in steals (22).
• Senior guard Jharian Bowen is a scoring co-leader with 10.9 ppg ... has reached double-figure points 10 times including a career-high of 20 against Peru State on Jan. 2 ... leads WU in 3-pointers made and attempts (31 of 83) and is 37.3 percent from behind the arc ... Bowen is second-best from the line where she shoots .824.
• Senior forward Erin Dohnalek per game averages shake out to 8.3 points, 1.8 assists and 4.3 rebounds ... tied for second on the team in FT attempts (35) ... converts 77.1 percent of shots from the charity stripe ... Dohnalek has reached double-digit scoring six times.
• Senior center Cindy Demosthene made her season debut on Jan. 12 but played limited minutes ... pulled down 11 boards in her second appearance.
Team Quick Facts
• The Ichabods are 7-2 at Lee Arena this season.
• Washburn has started games with only two variations of a starting five.
• The Ichabods have benefited from a balance offense having two or more double-figure scorers in 15 of its 16 games with the breakdown as follows: five games with two players; six games with three players and four games with four players.
• Collectively, WU shoots .436 from the floor while holding opponents to .351.
• WU and its opponents are shooting .313 from 3-point distance.
• Ichabods have made fewer trips to the line than opponents (242-304) ... WU is shooting .694 while opponents are .714.
• The Ichabods average a little under 70 points/game (67.9) while they surrender around 57 per night (57.6).
• This season Washburn has outscored opponents by an average of +10.4 points/game.
• The last time a Ron McHenry coached team went to 2-2 to start was the 2013-14 season.
Last Season // Washburn's 2015-16 campaign opened with 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 garnered 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.
Monthly Breakdown // Under Ron McHenry, Washburn has put together 25 perfect months, including a career-best 10-0 mark in February of the 2001-02 season. Aside from his first season, McHenry has never lost more than four games during January ... a month-by-month breakdown of the Ichabods under Coach McHenry is available on the attached game notes.
Where Are They From? // Washburn's 2016-17 roster has a wide mix of hometowns geographically, with its 13 players hailing from two countries (United States, France and Denmark) and three different states within the US ... There are eight players from Kansas (Jharian Bowen, Alyxis Bowens, Erika Lane, Reagan Phelan, Jo Roepke, Cara Donley and Madison and Makayla Vargo) ... Colorado (Macy Myers), Missouri (Erin Dohnalek) and 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 ... the mark is also 17th-best for active NCAA women's basketball coaches across all divisions and 23rd all-time ... amongst the Division II ranks, McHenry's winning percentage is fourth-best for active coaches and fifth-best all-time, while his 389 victories to open the season placed him 23rd for active coaches in 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 has a combined 15 MIAA regular-season and tournament championships ... the Ichabod bench boss entered the season 11 wins shy of 400 ... on Jan. 12, 2017, McHenry became the fastest active coach in NCAA Division II women's basketball to reach 400 career wins while joining a list with 23 of his peers ... McHenry now needs 32 wins to past Patty Dick to become the winningest coach in program-history ... McHenry graduated from Washburn in 1984.
Last Time Out // Missouri Southern 73, Washburn 67 • Feb. 6, 2016
TOPEKA, Kan. – Washburn Women's Basketball shot over 50 percent from the field as a team but couldn't overcome a fourth-quarter charge from Missouri Southern in a 73-67 loss on Saturday, Feb. 6 at home ... WU (12-10, 8-8 MIAA) shot 51 percent from the field and hit 10-of-18 three-pointers in the game, outshooting the Lions everywhere but the free throw line, where MSSU held a 17-7 advantage ... Erika Lane led the team with 19 points to go with five assists while Alyxis Bowens dropped in 12 with a 6-of-10 effort from the field. Julie Ravn (nine points) and Erin Dohnalek (eight points) just missed double-digits ... On the boards, Cindy Demosthene paced the Ichabods with seven rebounds while Lane, Bowens and Smith (who also had four assists) each had three rebounds ...Washburn fell behind five (11-6) midway through the first quarter before recovering to lead, 18-15, at the end of the first. Haley Pfau hit a three-pointer with 8:59 to go in the second as the final points of a 10-0 burst that gave the Ichabods a 21-15 advantage, the largest lead of the first half. MSSU tied it at 23 moments later, but an Ichabod three-pointer from Erin Dohnalek put WU back on top as the home team took a 31-29 lead into the locker room ...The Ichabods maintained their lead through the third quarter and lead by four (55-51) headed for the final period, but found itself dealing with a hot shooting Lions team to close the game as WU was tagged with a 15-2 MSSU run early in the fourth that the Ichabods couldn't recover from.
'Bods History // The 2016-17 marks the 48th season of Washburn women's basketball ... the Ichabods are 885-399-1 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
• 1883 - The first electric lighting system employing overhead wires, built by Thomas Edison, begins service at Roselle, New Jersey.
• 1937 - Cy Young, Tris Speaker & Nap Lajorie elected to Baseball Hall of Fame.
• 1938 - General Motors begins mass production of diesel engines.
• 1953 - Jesse Owens named Illinois Athletic Commission secretary.
• 1955 - Einsenhower gives first presidential news conference filmed for TV.
• 1977 - Ernie Banks elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
