Tipping Off
• Washburn wraps up its first of two trips to the Show Me State on Saturday as it scoots over to Central Missouri. WU and the Jennies are set to tip at 1:30 p.m.
• Saturday's contest is 57th all-time meeting. The Ichabods hold a 39-17 series lead and are 15-9 when playing in Warrensburg.
Scouting the Jennies
• Central Missouri enters with a 16-2 overall record while tied with UCO atop the MIAA standing at 9-1.
• The Jennies are ranked 19th in the WBCA Div. II poll.
• UCM is coming off a win over No. 7 Emporia State (61-56) to extend its win streak to six-games.
• Paige Redmond leads UCM in scoring (15.8 ppg) while Kayonna Lee is the team's top rebounder (8.5).
• As a team, the Jennies shot .432 from the floor and .369 from 3-point distance. They shoot .751 from the line with three players converting over 80 percent of attempts.
• UCM is the MIAA's third-best scoring defense (57.2 ppg) as it outscores opponents on average by +16.2 ppg.
•Opponents 38.2 percent from the field and 29.6 from behind the arc.
Player Quick Facts
• Senior guard Erika Lane leads the team in assists (63 total, 3.3/gm) and minutes (32.2/game) ... Lane is also third in scoring (10.5 ppg) and second in rebounds (90 total, 4.7/gm).
• Lane has scored double-digit points 10 times and dished three more assists on 11 occasions ... on Jan. 12 she tallied her first career double-double (10 pts, 10 rebs).
• Lane is 8th in the MIAA in assists and 10th assists/game and 14th in assist-turnover ratio (1.2).
• Freshman guard Reagan Phelan is fourth on the team in scoring (9.1 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), sits at second in assists (50 total, 2.6/gm) and 3FG made (23).
• 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 eight of the last nine games for a total of 12 double-digit outings ... paces WU in rebounds (128 total, 6.7/gm).
• Bowens ranks third among league leaders in total blocks (31) and blocks/game (1.7) and is listed nationally at 50th and 51st, respectively.
• Senior guard Jharian Bowen is the second leading scorer with 10.7 ppg ... has reached double-figure points 12 times including a career-high of 20 against on Jan. 2.
• Bowen leads WU in 3-pointers made and attempts (36-of-96) and is 37.5 percent from distance ... places second on team in FT percentage, .761.
• Senior forward Erin Dohnalek per game averages shake out to 9.0 points, 1.8 assists and 4.1 rebounds.
• Dohnalek has a team-high 58 FT attempts and is shooting 70.7 from the charity stripe ... she has reached double-digit scoring eight times including a new career-high of 18 pts on Jan. 26.
Team Quick Facts
• Washburn carries a 13-6 overall record with a 6-4 mark in league play and is in a three-way tie for fifth in the standings with Fort Hays State and Missouri Western.
• Washburn has started games with only two variations of a starting five this season.
• WU have benefited from a balanced offense having two or more double-figure scorers in 18 of 19 games with the breakdown as follows: five games with two players; seven games with three players; five games with four players; one game with five players.
• Collectively, WU shoots 43.4 percent from the floor while holding opponents to 36.4.
• On the road, WU has edged out opponents from 3-point distance, 29.1 to 28.3, with 11 fewer attempts.
• The 'Bods have been inconsistent from the charity stripe making only 68.2 percent of free throws while opponents shoot 72.8.
• WU's average scoring margin victory is +7.9, as it outscores opponents 67.0 to 59.1.
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) -- a full poll is available is 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 available in 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 30 wins to past Patty Dick to become the winningest coach in program-history ... McHenry graduated from Washburn in 1984.
Last Time Out
WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- Washburn built an early double-digit lead and hung on late for a 59-54 road win over Central Missouri on Wednesday, Jan. 27 ... WU (12-7, 8-5 MIAA) snapped a two-game losing streak to Central Missouri (7-11, 6-7 MIAA) while shooting 37.5 percent from the field and 38.1 percent from long range. Both teams were plauged by turnovers throughout with 18 apiece, through returned to its spot atop the rebounding battle, winning 41-37 ... WU lit the nets on fire in the opening five minutes, rolling out to a 13-3 lead before UCM called a timeout with 5:26 to play, pausing a 10-0 run for the Ichabods that included three-pointers from Erika Lane and Julie Ravn ... Just less than a minute later, UCM stopped the run with a layup from Ashley Duffy, but Washburn held the Jennies scoreless for over four minutes of play early in that span. UCM closed the gap quickly, however, but another push late from the Ichabods helped them lead, 21-16, at the break ... The torrid pace held up early on in the second, though both teams found themselves struggling at the net early before Washburn pulled away late before break, taking a 32-23 lead into the half with seven unanswered to end the period ... UCM charged hard in the third, cutting the lead to two (34-32) with a 9-2 rally over the first four minutes of play before WU slowed the attack and went to the final period up four, 40-36 ... The opening minutes of the fourth saw the Jennies again charge, but with 6:51 to play Pfau hit a three-pointer off an assist from Lane to put WU back up seven, 46-39. Erin Dohnalek hit her first field goal of the night just over a minute later to push WU's lead to eight (49-41), but the Jennies refused to go away and once again brought the game within three (49-46) before Jayna Smith sunk a pair of free throws with 1:07 to go. That proved to be enough as WU hung on over the final minute for the win ... Pfau led the Ichabods with a new career-high in scoring, finishing with 16 behind four three-pointers. Ravn added two more three-pointers to finish with nine, and Alyxis Bowens and Cindy Demosthene each had eight points ... On the boards, Dohnalek and Jayna Smith had eight rebounds as Lane grabbed seven (to go with six assists) and Bowens added six with two blocks and three steals.
'Bods History
• The 2016-17 marks the 48th season of Washburn women's basketball ... the Ichabods are 883-397-1 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:
• 1851 - Northwestern University in Chicago is chartered
• 1887 - Work begins on the Eiffel Tower in Paris
• 1904 - First college sports letters given to seniors who played on University of Chicago's football team are awarded blankets with letter "C" on them
• 1960 - NFL announces and awards the expansion franchises to Dallas (Cowboys) and St. Paul/Minnepolis (Vikings)
• 1985 - Charity single "We Are the World" is recorded by supergroup USA for Africa which included Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie and other pop stars
