TIPPING OFF
• Washburn women's basketball continues its postseason on Thursday when it faces Pittsburg State in the quarterfinals round of the MIAA Tournament at historic Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, MO.
• WU finished the regular season 19-9 overall, and secured the No. 7-seed into the tournament with an 11-8 record.
• Pittsburg State is the No. 2-seed in the tournament.
• Thursday is WU's first time appearing in the MIAA Tournament quarterfinals since 2013.
• The Ichabods are have won six of their last seven games. 

FOLLOW THE BODS
Jake Lebahn (play-by-play) and Dan Lucero (analyst) will call the action and can be heard on the MIAA Network and Country 106.9 FM. Links for stats, video and radio can be found at wusports.com/live or the women's basketball schedule page.

A WASHBURN WIN...
• is better than a loss.
• gives Washburn its first 20-plus win season since 2013-14 (26).
• would give WU it's first appearance in the MIAA semifinals since 2013.
• would give head coach Ron McHenry career win number 427, putting him four shy of tying Patty Dick for the program-record in career wins (431).

MIAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
• Washburn is 38-17 all-time in the MIAA Tournament.
• For the third straight season WU qualifies for the MIAA tournament as the No. 7-seed and is 1-5 all-time at that seeding.
• The Ichabods are 17-6 all-time in the quarterfinals of the MIAA Tournament and 11-0 since 2003, when the tournament moved to Municipal Auditorium.
• Thursday marks the first time since 2000 WU has played in the MIAA quarterfinals as the No. 7-seed.
• WU has 12 MIAA titles.
• WU's last MIAA Tournament crown was 2011-12.
• Shelley Foster is Washburn's all-time leading scorer in MIAA Tournament history with 213 points.

THE STARTING FIVE
• The Ichabods have rolled out four different starting lineups this season.
• The collective group average 51 points a game (51.5) for the season.
• Against the MIAA, Washburn starters are shooting .427 on FGs, .346 on 3FG, .827 on FTs, while opposing starters are .386 from the field and .315 from three-point distance.

OFF THE BENCH
• The Ichabod reserves this season have accounted for 480 of the team's 1991 points.
• The Washburn bench this season is shooting .418 on FGs, .317 on 3FGs, and .597 on FTs, while opponents are shooting .381 from the field and .323 from three-point range.
• Mackenzie Loe is the leading scorer (6.2 ppg) and rebounder (3.1/game) of the bench.
• Loe, Makayla Vargo, and Hunter Bentley have combined for 42 steals this season.

RECORD PLAYER NOTES
• Phelan is listed 34th on Washburn's all-time career scoring chart with 757 points, and is 15th in scoring average (13.1/game).
• Phelan became just the 22nd different player in program-history to eclipse the 400 points in a single-season following a 16-point performance at Southwest Baptist (2/17).
• On Jan. 14, Phelan become the third player in program-history to score 32 points in a single-game and first player with 30 or more points in over six seasons.
• Bernard became the program's single-season block leader on Monday (2/26) when she surpassed Brenda Shaffer-Dahl's 1998-89 mark of 60.
• Bernard is on-track to post the best single-season blocks average (2.1) and in doing so would surpass Kelly's Jennings mark of 2.0 a game set in 1986-87.

THAT KANSAS CITY COOKIN'
• The Ichabods are 2-0 this season when playing at Municipal Auditorium.
• Since 2003, Washburn are 25-4 when playing MIAA Tournament games in Kansas City, Mo.

ABOUT PITTSBURG STATE
• The Gorillas come into the game at 22-6 overall, and went 15-4 in the MIAA to secure the No. 2-seed.
• Pitt State ended the year by winning 10 of its last 11 games.
• PSU is among the top five in the MIAA in several categories including turnovers per game (1st, 11.4), turnovers committed (2nd, 320), FG% (3rd, .441), scoring (5th, 73.5 ppg), and 3FG% (5th, .332).
• Paige Imhoff is ninth in Div. II in assists per game (5.9), 36th in the MIAA in scoring (9.8 ppg), and second in steals (62) and steals per game (2.2)
• Mikaela Burgess is 10th in the MIAA in per game points (15.8) and among the top 15 nationally in 3FG per game (12th, 3.0), 3FG made (11th, 84) and 3FG attempts (11th, 241).'
• Head coach Lane Lord is in his 11th season with the program.

EARLIER THIS SEASON...
• Washburn lost to Pittsburg State on the road, 77-52.
• The score was tied at 19 after the first, before the Gorillas took a 38-35 into the break.
• A third quarter collapse for the Ichabods was the turning point as they were outscored 18-7.
• McAfee led the Ichabods with 17 points and eight rebounds, while Bernard notched a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
• Mikaela Burgess led all scorers with 28, while Brenlee McPherson and Paige Imhoff followed with 12 and 11 points respectively.

A LIL' BIT OF HISTORY
• Thursday will mark the 86th all-time meeting between Washburn and Pittsburg State.
• WU leads the all-time series, 82-33.
• The Ichabods have dropped the last seven meeting to the Gorillas, dating back to March. 1, 2014.
• Since 1991, the teams have squared off four times in the MIAA Tournament with Washburn claiming victories in 1992,  2004 and 2009, while PSU won in 1997.
• WU is 1-2 with MIAA Tournament games played on March 1.

WASHBURN TRADITION
The 2017-18 campaign marks the 49th season of Washburn women's basketball. The program is 883-392-1 all-time, has seen 23 seasons with at least 20 wins, and 17 appearances NCAA Division II Tournament appearances with the 2004-05 team crowned as national champions. From Jan. 26, 2005 to Mar. 11, 2006, Washburn won 51 consecutive games. The streak is the longest in NCAA Division II and sixth all-time in NCAA history.

UPCOMING ON THE SCHEDULE
The winner of No. 7 Washburn vs. No. 2 Pittsburg State with advance to semifinals on Saturday, March 3 and play the winner of No. 3 Fort Hays State and No. 6 Emporia State at 12 pm.