Tip-off // After starting 2017 with a 57-point win over Peru State earlier this week, Washburn will have a much more difficult task as it faces second-ranked Emporia State (12-1, 3-1 MIAA). Washburn head coach Ron McHenry looks for career win No. 400 while the Ichabods look to extend their win streak to five straight. Saturday's contest will be the 98th time WU and ESU have squared off with the Lady Hornets holding a 53-44 series lead. The matchup will mark the Icahbods' 41st trip to White Auditorium where they are 16-25 all-time. The game is slated for 5:30 p.m.

Player Quick Facts
• Senior guard Erika Lane leads the team in assists (41) while logging a team-best 30.9 minutes/game ... Lane is also third in scoring (10.5 ppg) and rebounds (64 total, 4.9/gm) ... She has scored double-digit points five times and distributed three more assists on six occasions ... she is 4th in the MIAA in minutes played (402:00) while placing 11th in assists, 16th in assist/game and 15th in Assist/Turnover Ratio (1.14).

• Freshman guard Reagan Phelan is fourth on the team in scoring (9.6 ppg) ... has reached double-figure scoring seven times this season including a career-best 20 points on Nov. 14 ... she is second in steals (18) and assists (37 total, 2.8/gm) ... Phelan has converted on 19 of 53 chances from 3-point range (.358) ... she finished 2016 among the conference leaders in assists (14th), 3FG made (17th) and 3FG attempts (13th).

• Senior forward Alyxis Bowens is second on the team in offense (10.8 ppg) ... against Peru State Bowens netted 28 points tying a career-high ... has tallied double-digits in six of the last seven games ... Bowens also paces WU in rebounds (76 total, 5.8/gm), blocks (19) and steals (20) ... she ranks fifth in MIAA in blocks and blocks/game (1.46) and is among nation's leader in the respective categories at 55th and 78th

• Senior guard Jharian Bowen leads the team in scoring (11.1 ppg) and has reached double-figure points eight times ...  Bowen is coming off a career-high after dropping 20 pts against Peru State ... she leads WU in 3-pointers made and attempts  (22 of 67) and is 32.8 percent from behind the arc ... Bowen has also completed 80 percent of chances from the line (24 of 30) ... in the MIAA she ranks 8th in 3FG attempts and 12th in FG made. 

• Senior forward Erin Dohnalek per game averages shake out to 8.1 points, 1.8 assists and 4.4 rebounds ... Dohnalek leads Washburn in FT attempts (33) and FT made (26) while making just under 80 percent (78.8) from the charity stripe. 

Team Quick Facts
• The Ichabods are 2-1 on the road this season.

• Washburn has tip-offed games with only two variations of a starting five. 

• The Ichabods have benefitted from a balance offense having two or more double-figure scorers in 12 of its 13 games with the breakdown as follows: four games with two players; four games with three players and four games with four players.

• Collectively, WU shoots .452 from the floor with a 3PT% of .310 compared to respective opponent shooting numbers of .340 and .313

• The Ichabods trails opponents in FT attempts (263-216), FT made (183-147) ... WU is shooting .681 while opponents .696.

• The Ichabods average just over 70 points/game (70.9) while they surrender around 56 per night (56.1) ... 

• This season Washburn has outscored opponents by an average of +3.8 points/quarter. 

• 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 in the attached games 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 ... he's now on3 away from the milestone ... McHenry graduated from Washburn in 1984.

Scouting the Lady Hornets
• Emporia State is 12-1 overall with a 3-1 record in the MIAA.

• At home, ESU is 8-0 this season and are 25-16 all-time against WU.

• The Lady Hornets are nationally ranked in both the WBCA (No. 2) and D2SIDA (No. 4) polls.

• The lone loss for Emporia State came on the road at Fort Hays State (54-51).

• As a team, Emporia State are shooting .452 from the field and .392 from 3-point range while converting 75.4 percent of free throws.

• Through their first 13 contests the Lady Hornets have a +31.6 per game margin of victory. 

• With 17.8 points/game Kelly Moten leads the Lady Hornets' attack ... she is also the team leader in assists (4.6/gm), FT attempts (95) and FT made (77) while placing second in steals (29), FT percentage (.811) and blocks (14).

Last Time Out // Emporia State 98, Washburn 61 -- Feb. 27, 2016 
EMPORIA, Kan. – Washburn Women's Basketball couldn't slow a hot-shooting Emporia State team in the regular season finale, falling 98-61, on Saturday, Feb. 27 ... Washburn finished the regular season at 15-13 (11-11 MIAA) after shooting 34 percent as a team in the game, while ESU (23-5, 17-5 MIAA) hit 49.2 percent from the field ... Up 7-6 after a three-pointer from Erin Dohnalek early in the first, was tagged with a 16-4 ESU run over the next six minutes of play before Cindy Demosthene stopped the run with a layup as WU trailed, 22-13, at the end of the quarter ... The teams traded bursts of six unanswered to open the second quarter, but down 30-19 with 6:06 to go in the half, Washburn went on an 8-2 rally (with six free throws) to shrink the deficit back to five (32-27) at 3:43.  Just over under the 1:30 mark in the quarter, Bowen drained a three-pointer to make it a four-point game (34-30), and WU went into the half down six, 36-30 ... Washburn hung tough and matched the Lady Hornets early in the third, but saw its deficit grow back to double-digits inside the final five minutes and trailed, 67-55, headed for the fourth.  And though WU battled, a fourth quarter comeback wasn't in the cards in the second matchup between the schools this season ... Haley Pfau led the team with 13 points while Dohnlaek (12 points) and Jayna Smith (11 points) joined her in double figures.  Smith, Alyxis Bowens and Demosthene all finished with six rebounds and four Ichabods had two assists in the game.

'Bods History // The 2016-17 marks the 48th season of Washburn women's basketball ... the Ichabods are 875-396-1 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
• 1714 - Englishman Henry Mill patented the typewriter (built years later)

• 1830 - First railroad station in United States opens in Baltimore, Md.

• 1890 - W.B. Purvis patents the fountain pen

• 1899 - Walter Camp publishes his first all-American football in Collier's

• 1927 - Harlem Globetrotters play first game in Hinckley, Ill.

• 2007 - Phil Jackson wins 900th game as a head coach, becoming the fastest coach to reach 900 career wins