Tipping Off // Washburn will close out its two game homestand on Saturday, Jan. 21 as conference rival Pittsburg State comes to town. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m.
This will be the 84th meeting all-time. Despite coming up short in their last five meetings, the Ichabods lead the series 52-31 and own a 29-13 record at Lee Arena.
Scouting the Gorillas
• Pittsburg State is 16-2 overall and tops the MIAA standings at 8-1.
• They are ranked No. 3 in WBCA poll and No. 4 in D2SIDA rankings.
• PSU is 4-1 in its last five outings.
• Gorillas are coming off a 77-67 loss to Emporia St.
• Pitt State shots 44.7 percent from the field ... 36.5 from 3-point distance ... 65.0 percent from the line.
• Mikaela Burgess is the team's leading scorer (16.6 ppg), while Madison Northcutt (11.8 ppg) paces PSU in rebounds 8.5/game.
Player Quick Facts
• Senior guard Erika Lane leads the team in assists (56 total, 3.3/gm) and minutes (31.9/game) ... Lane is also third in scoring (10.4 ppg) and second in rebounds (84 total, 4.9/gm).
• Lane has scored double-digit points eight times and distributed three more assists on 10 occasions ... on Jan. 12 she tallied her first career double-double (10 pts, 10 rebs).
• Lane is 13th in the MIAA in assists and assists/game and 15th in assist-turnover ratio (1.16).
• Freshman guard Reagan Phelan is fourth on the team in scoring (9.2 ppg) ... has reached double-figure scoring nine times this season including a career-best 20 points on Nov. 14.
• Phelan is second on the team in steals (22) and assists (48 total, 2.8/gm) ... Phelan has converted on 23 of 68 chances from 3-point range (.339).
• Senior forward Alyxis Bowens is the team's scoring leader (11.2 ppg) ... on Jan. 2 Bownes tied a career-high when she scored 28 points against Peru State.
• Bowens has tallied double-digits in six of the last seven games and a total of 10 double-digit outings ... paces WU in rebounds (108 total, 6.4/gm), blocks (24) and steals (24).
• Bowens is among the league leaders in total blocks and blocks/game (1.4) as she ranks 3rd in both ... nationally ranked in both categories; 71st blocks, 74th blocks/game.
• Senior guard Jharian Bowen is the second leading scorer with 11.1 ppg ... has reached double-figure points 11 times including a career-high of 20 against on Jan. 2.
• Bowen leads WU in 3-pointers made and attempts (33-of-87) and is 37.9 percent from behind the arc ... is second-best from the line, .806.
• Senior forward Erin Dohnalek per game averages shake out to 8.5 points, 1.9 assists and 4.2 rebounds.
• Dohnalek has a team-high 46 FT attempts and is shooting .739 from the charity stripe ... she has reached double-digit scoring seven times.
• Senior center Cindy Demosthene made her season debut on Jan. 12 ... she pulled down 11 boards in her second appearance.
Team Quick Facts
• The Ichabods are 8-2 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 16 of its 17 games with the breakdown as follows: five games with two players; six games with three players; four games with four players; one game with five players.
• Collectively, WU shoots .437 from the floor while holding opponents to .357.
• WU edges out its opponents from 3-point distance, .319-.313.
• Washburn have made fewer trips to the line than opponents (264-313) ... WU is shooting .689 while opponents are .719.
• The Ichabods average just shy of 70 points/game (68.1) while they surrender around 57 per night (57.8)
• This season Washburn has outscored opponents by an average of +10.3 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 six of the attached game notes.
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 below:
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 31 wins to past Patty Dick to become the winningest coach in program-history ... McHenry graduated from Washburn in 1984.
Last Time Out // Pittsburg State 88, Washburn 57 • Feb. 3, 2016
TOPEKA, Kan. – Washburn Women's Basketball couldn't slow a hot-shooting Pittsburg State team in a 88-57 home loss on Wednesday, Feb. 3 ... WU drops to 12-9 overall on the season and 8-7 in the MIAA while Pittsburg State is now 18-4 overall and 12-4 in the MIAA ... The Ichabods shot 37.1 percent from the field and hit 7-of-8 from the free throw line, but PSU was 21-of-31 from three-point range and shot 50.9 percent from the field, allowing the Gorillas to pull away ... Alyxis Bowens lead the Ichabods with 16 points, one ahead of Erin Dohnalek who finished with 15. Bowens and Lane (four assists) both had six rebounds, tied for second on the team behind Jayna Smith, who finished with eight rebounds to go with nine points. On the defensive end, Cindy Demosthene had a career-high four blocks ... Pitt State shot 9-of-10 from three-point range in the first quarter to take a 29-14 lead before WU slowed the Gorilla attack in the second. Both teams had 13 in the second frame and WU trailed, 42-27 at half ... Washburn looked to rally in the third with an 8-2 run early, cutting the lead to nine (44-35) and forcing a PSU timeout with 7:20 on the clock, but the Gorillas soon put the deficit back in double-digits and WU couldn't close the gap any further.
'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
• 1887 - The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) forms.
• 1949 - Harry Truman's inaugural parade becomes first in US history to be televised.
• 1987 - Blues musician B.B. King is inducted into the Rock an Roll Hall of Fame and donates his 7,000+ record collection to the University of Mississippi.
