THE BASICS
Washburn women's basketball will look to extend its four-game winning streak as it closes the 2018 calendar year Monday, Dec. 31 with a New Year's Eve matinée against Saint Mary (Kan.) in a 2 pm tip-off at Lee Arena. The match-up will be the Ichabods' (6-4) final non-conference tilt of the regular season and seventh all-time meeting with the Spires, who visit Topeka with a 3-9 mark.

Since the 2000-01 season, WU is 172-24 in non-conference action, which includes a 28-4 mark at Lee Arena dating back to the 2010-11 campaign.

Monday's game will be streamed online through The MIAA Network (themiaanetwork.com/washburnichabods) with Jake Lebahn (play-by-play) and Dan Lucero (commentary) on the call. The contest can all be heard by turning your radio dial to KTPK 106.9 FM in Topeka or by visiting wusports.com/live for a streamed link for those outside the Topeka area, with Lebahn and Lucero calling the action.

THEY GOT HISTORY
» Monday will mark the seventh all-time meeting.
» The Ichabods leading the series, 5-1 with WU winning the last five.
» Washburn began the 2018 calendar year against the Spires 364 days earlier with a 80-51 victory on Jan. 2. 
» This will be the second time ever Washburn has hosted the Spires on New Year's Eve, with the last occurrence being a 93-42 victory in 2004.

STARTING THE PARTY EARLY
» Monday will be the fourth-ever game played on New Year's Eve in program-history.
» Washburn is 3-0 all-time when playing on NYE.
» Previous NYE games featured a non-conference clash with Saint Mary in 2014 as well as conference bouts at Central Missouri in 2011 and a home tilt with the Jennies in 2010.
» The largest margin of victory for Washburn on NYE was 51 points in 2014, while the smallest was eight in 2011.

PREVIEWING SAINT MARY
» Saint Mary enter Monday's contest with a 3-9 record and will be playing its first game since Dec. 15. The Spires are 2-7 in the KCAC, where they  are 12th in per game scoring (57.7), fifth in field goal percentage (.376), 12th in per game offensive (35.7) and ninth in per game defensive boards (39.2). Nationally, Saint Mary is 46th in NAIA Division II in scoring defense per game (63.0).
» Paige Scheckel paces the offense averaging 9.7 points with five double-figure outings, including a 26-point effort against Baker (11/3).
» Danielle Cassady is 29th nationally in assists per game (4.3) and 36th in total assists (52), while Sienna Brown, who is 24th in NAIA Division II in blocks per game (1.5) and 28th in total blocks (18).
» Saint Mary is led by first-year head coach Katelyn Loecker. Loecker graduated from Oklahoma State in 2017, where she played four seasons for Cowgirl head coach Jim Littell.

ON THE GLASS
» Washburn has out rounded opponents in eight of 10 games thus far.
» Washburn's 40.9 rebounds a game is 4th in the MIAA and 83rd in Div. II.
» Averaging 29 defensive rebounds per game, Washburn is listed 35 in Div. II and third among the MIAA leaders.
» Sophomore Hunter Bentley has team-bests in total rebounds (58) and boards per game (5.8). She is also the team leader in defensive rebounds per game (4.0) and offensive rebounds per game (1.8).

SHOOTING DEFENSE
» Washburn's defensive field goal percentage (.339) tops the MIAA and is  12th-best among the Division II leaderboard. 
» In five games at Lee Arena this year Ichabod opponents have shot .335 (92-of-245) from the floor with Southwest Baptist (12/6) shooting at a season-low .298 (17-of-57). 

PASSING THE ROCK
» Washburn's 132 assists thus far is eighth-best in the MIAA and 157th in Division II, while their 13.2 assists per game is ninth among the league and 150th nationally. 
» Washburn's assist-turnover ratio (0.80) is 10th-best in the MIAA.
» Washburn has recorded double-digit assist totals nine times including a season-high 20 against Montevallo (11/23).
» Reagan Phelan is third in the MIAA and among the Top 100 in Division II in assists (40) and assists per game (4.0). She's also ninth in the conference in assist-turnover ratio (1.18). Phelan has five games with five or more assists.

MARGIN OF VICTORY
» Washburn's average scoring margin this season is 7.8 points.
» The Ichabods have recorded four-digit wins, three games of 20 or more.
»  In its last four games, Washburn has defeated opponents by a combined 68 points with a per game average of 17. 
» Washburn's largest point spread at home this season is a 23-point win over conference counterpart Southwest Baptist (12/6), while its season-high us a 27-point result  against Embry-Riddle (12/18).

AT THE LINE 
» Washburn has made 89 of 147 (.605) attempts from the free throw line.
» Washburn opponents have made 137 of 204 (.672) from the line.
» Reagan Phelan leads the team in free throws made (17), Hunter Bentley leads in attempts (25), while Taylor Blue leads in percentage (.786).
» In the last four games, the Ichabods have shot .618 (34-of-55) at the line. 

BLOCKING BODS
» Washburn ranks sixth among the MIAA charts in blocks (31) and eighth in blocks per game (3.1), while holding 116th and 118th respective in Div. II.
» Beginning Nov. 23, the Ichabods have registered two or more blocks in seven consecutive games including a season-high of seven against Southwest Baptist (12/6).
» Annette Warner is listed 12th among the MIAA leaders in total blocks (8) and blocks per games (0.89).

PPG PAINT
» Washburn has outscored opponents 350-214 in the paint this season, thereby averaging 35 paint points per game.
» In Las Vegas, the Ichabods scored 90 points in the paint while surrendering a combined 34 in two games.
» In the last four outings, the Ichabods are outscoring opponents in the paint on average by 18 points a game (162-90).

RUN THE OFFENSE
» Guards Reagan Phelan and Hunter Bentley are Washburn's top scorers as the duo combine, account for roughly .300 (200-653) percent of offense. Phelan leads the way averaging 10.2 points while Bentley closely follows at 9.8 per game. Taylor Blue is next is averaging 9.0 points with Alexis McAfee netting 8.9 a contest.
» Among the MIAA, the Washburn offense is 10th in field goal percentage (.422) and 14th in three-point field goal percentage (.243).

HISTORY MAC-KER
On Dec. 18, with a decisive victory over Embry-Riddle (Fla.), head coach Ron McHenry surpassed Patty Dick as the all-time leader wins as he notched No. 432. McHenry's latest accomplishment comes nearly two seasons after notching his 400th career win. Now in his 19th season with Washburn, McHenry has eight MIAA titles with 12 trips to the NCAA Championship plus Washburn's only NCAA national title (2005).

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Washburn basketball has been listed among the NCAA Division II top 10 in attendance for 16 consecutive seasons. During the 2017-18 season, the Ichabods were ranked fifth nationally in overall attendance drawing 25,311, averaging 1,582 fans per home contest. Thus far during the 2018-19 season, Washburn is ninth in overall attendance (5,690) and 10th in average attendance (1,138) with only five home dates played. 

UP NEXT
» Washburn will return to MIAA action with a three-game road swing, beginning with I-335 rival, Emporia State, on Jan. 5.
» The Ichabods will then face Missouri Western (Jan. 9) and Northwest Missouri (Jan. 12).