Tipping Off // Washburn goes back on the road as it opens a two-game run in the Show Me State, starting on Thursday against Southwest Baptist. With about 10 games left in the season, both lineups are looking to bolster their positioning with the MIAA tournament on the horizon. Thursday's match-up (5:30 p.m. start) will be the 52nd all-time meeting with Washburn leading the series 38-13. The Ichabods fell to SBU in their trip to Bolivar last season, but are 13-9 all-time when playing there.
Scouting the BearCats
• SBU is 11-7 overall, 3-6 in the MIAA where they are 9th in the standings.
• The Bearcats are 10-2 at home this season.
• They shot .471 from the floor and .321 from 3-point distance.
• Megan Rosenbohm is the team's top scorer (15.8 ppg) ... converts 48.6 percent from the field and 91.7 from the line.
• Collectively, SBU is shooting 73.8 percent from the charity stripe.
Player Quick Facts
• Senior guard Erika Lane leads the team in assists (56 total, 3.1/gm) and minutes (31.8/game) ... Lane is also third in scoring (10.6 ppg) and second in rebounds (87 total, 4.8/gm).
• Lane has scored double-digit points nine 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 11th in the MIAA in assists and 13th assists/game and 14th in assist-turnover ratio (1.08).
• Freshman guard Reagan Phelan is fourth on the team in scoring (9.4 ppg) ... has reached double-figure scoring 10 times this season including a career-best 20 points on Nov. 14.
• Phelan leads the team in steals (25) while sitting at second in assists (48 total, 2.8/gm) ... Phelan has converted on 23 of 69 chances from 3-point range (.333).
• 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 seven of the last eight games and a total of 11 double-digit outings ... paces WU in rebounds (117 total, 6.5/gm) and blocks (30).
• Bowens is among the league leaders in total blocks and blocks/game (1.7) as she ranks 3rd in both ... nationally ranked in both categories; 46th blocks, 49th blocks/game.
• Senior guard Jharian Bowen is the second leading scorer with 10.7 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-92) and is 35.9 percent from behind the arc ... is second-best from the line, .881.
• Senior forward Erin Dohnalek per game averages shake out to 8.5 points, 1.8 assists and 4.1 rebounds.
• Dohnalek has a team-high 48 FT attempts and is shooting .750 from the charity stripe ... she has reached double-digit scoring seven times.
• Senior center Cindy Demosthene made her season debut on Jan. 12 after sitting out the first of the season ... she pulled down 11 boards in her second appearance.
Team Quick Facts
• The Ichabods are 13-9 when playing in Bolivar, Mo and 3-3 on the road 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 17 of 18 games with the breakdown as follows: five games with two players; seven games with three players; four games with four players; one game with five players.
• Collectively, WU shoots .436 from the floor while holding opponents to .363.
• WU trails opponents from 3-point accuracy, .324-.313.
• Ichabods are shooting 69.8 percent from the charity stripe while opponents are 72.5 percent.
• Washburn average just shy of 70 points/game (67.3) while they surrender around 60 per night (59.1).
• This season Washburn has outscored opponents by an average of +8.2 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 is available on the attached Washburn 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 available in the attached Washburn 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 31 wins to past Patty Dick to become the winningest coach in program-history ... McHenry graduated from Washburn in 1984.
Last Time Out // Southwest Baptist 65, Washburn 64 • Jan. 30, 2016
BOLIVAR, Mo. – Washburn was dealt a heartbreaking loss on Saturday, Jan. 30 at Southwest Baptist, falling 65-64 in a back-and-forth game that saw 12 lead changes and four ties ... WU (12-8, 8-6 MIAA) had two runs of eight or more unanswered in the game and rallied back from an eight-point deficit midway through the third, taking the lead with 12 seconds to play before SBU (12-8, 7-7 MIAA) hit the winning jump shot with seven seconds left ... Four Ichabods scored in double-digits as Cindy Demosthene led the team with 13 points and just missed a double-double, adding eight rebounds while finishing 5-of-6 from the field. Erika Lane and Alyxis Bowens each had 12 points and Julie Ravn added 10 points ... Jayna Smith paced the team with 13 rebounds to go alongside her team-high five assists in addition to seven points, matching Erin Dohnalek (who had four assists) in scoring ... The Ichabods fell behind early, 8-3, before responding with 11 straight over the next three minutes of play to lead, 14-8. Up three (16-13) at the end of the first, WU saw the Bearcats cut the lead to one twice in the first four minutes of the second, before WU went on an 9-2 run that opened with back-to-back jumpers from Ravn to grow the lead to eight, 29-21, inside three minutes to go in the half. SBU, however, hit three unanswered three-pointers over the final two minutes to take a 30-29 lead into the half ... The barrage of hot shooting by the Bearcats continued into the second half as SBU opened the third with seven more unanswered, stretching the rally to 16-0 before Haley Pfau hit a three-pointer with 7:13 on the clock, making it 37-32 in SBU's favor. Down seven (45-38) after SBU's Megan Rosenbohm hit a layup at 2:44 in the third, Washburn woke up and ran off eight straight to regain the lead, 46-45 after Demosthene scored on a layup with two seconds left in the quarter ... Setting up for a wild fourth quarter, the teams traded baskets and saw six lead changes happen in the fnal quarter. Lane sunk a pair of free throws at 4:28 to give WU a lead for the fourth time on the day, up 56-54, but an 11-6 advantage for SBU over the final four minutes proved too much for WU to overcome. After SBU's Caylee Richardson sunk both free throws with 27 seconds on the clock, Ravn gave the Ichabods a 64-63 lead with 12 seconds on the clock with her second three-pointer of the day, but after a Bearcat timeout, Richardson hit a jump shot and WU's attempt at a buzzer-beater fell off its mark.
'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:
• 1837 - Michigan admitted as 26th US state.
• 1913 - Jim Thorpe relinquishes his 1912 Olympic medals for playing as a professional.
• 1934 - The Apollo Theater reopens in Harlem, N.Y.
• 1960 - Oakland Raiders enter the American Football League.
• 1980 - NY Islanders and Hartford Whalers play a NHL penalty-free game.
• 1986 - Chicago Bear defeat New England Patriots, 46-10, in Super Bowl XX.
