THE TIP-OFF
Washburn women's basketball returns to the Show Me State on Saturday as it takes on Northwest Missouri (6-8, 2-3 MIAA) wrapping up a three game road swing. With the Ichabods (9-4) visit to Maryville, they will try to earn their eighth consecutive victory while improving to 5-0 in MIAA action. Saturday's match-up will be the first two meetings this season and is slated for a 1:30 tip.

The Ichabods are 4-0 this season against Missouri-based opponents and 2-2 when playing in The Ozark State, home to the Eastern bluebird.

Wednesday'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 
» Wednesday will mark the 65th meeting.
» Washburn leads the all-time series, 54-10, with a 10-game win streak.
» Washburn is 19-6 in Maryville, 4-0 since 2011-12 season.
» The Ichabods' last trip to Bearcat Arena yielded a 87-77 win (2/11/2017). 
» For head coach Ron McHenry this will be his 38th meeting against the Bearcats. In 18 seasons, McHenry is 31-6 overall with an 11-4 road record. This will be his first meeting against counterpart, Austin Meyer.

PREVIEWING MISSOURI WESTERN
» Northwest Missouri head into the weekend at 6-8 on the year and are 3-4 at Bearcat Arena this season. The Bearcats are 2-3 in MIAA action and are coming a 54-41 loss to Emporia State on Wednesday, ending a three-game win streak.
» Statistically, the Bearcats top the MIAA and are second in the nation in free throw percentage (81.2), trailing top-ranked Carson-Newman by 0.8. NWMSU however are among the league's bottom half in attempts (14th/170) and free throws made (138).
» While averaging 60.5 points per game, last in the MIAA, the Northwest Missouri offense is sixth in the MIAA in three-point percentage (.339), and three-pointers per game (7.4) and fifth in total threes made (103). 
» The NWMSU offense is also among the league's best in protecting the ball, as its third in total turnovers (180), ranked second in turnovers per game (12.9) and as a result third in turnover margin (+3.7)
» Northwest Missouri has made strides on the defensive end this season moving from last in the conference last year (74.1 ppg) in team scoring defense to sixth (59.9 ppg) this season. 
» The Bearcats are led by first-year head coach Austin Meyer. Meyer spent the last 10 seasons with NWMSU men's basketball, where served as the associate head coach for the last three seasons, helping the men's program to a national title in 2017.

ON THE GLASS
» The Ichabods have out rebounded opponents in 10 of 13 games thus far, including five of their last six contests. 
» Against the MIAA, Washburn averages 38.0 boards with opponents pulling down 37.5 per game.  
» Senior Taylor Blue has team-bests in total rebounds (70) and per game average (5.4), while also having a team-high 28 rebounds in all MIAA match-ups.  

STUFFY DEFENSE
» Washburn's field goal defense (.348) tops the MIAA and is 19th among the Div. II leader board. League opponents meanwhile are shooting .373 (87-for-233) in four MIAA contests.
» On the road, opponents are shooting .373 (69-for-185) from the field.
» The Ichabods have tallied double-digit steals six times this season including a season-best 16 against Saint Mary (Kan.) on Dec. 31. 
» Alexis McAfee has nine steals in MIAA play, and is ranked third among league leaders in total steals (29) and second in per game average (2.23).

WHAT A WASHBURN WIN MEANS...
» ...improve to 10-5 overall, 5-0 in the MIAA.
» ...stretch the current win streak to eight games for the first time since rattling off 10-straight during the 2012-13 campaign.
» ...extends the program's record to 902 consecutive victories when outscoring the opponent. 
» ...Ron McHenry's 436th career victory.

BALANCED ATTACK
» After starting 2019 with no one averaging 10+ points per game, the Ichabods have changed that as they head into Saturday's contest with three double-figures.
» Hunter Bentley leads the way with a team-best 11.8 on the season. Since the turn of the calendar, Bentley has been on fire averaging 23.5 points in her last two outings with 15-for-28 (.536) shooting with 5-of-11 (.455)from three-point land and 12-of-17 (.706) from the charity stripe.
» Taylor Blue follows averaging 10.2 points on the year and is with a combined 46 points in the last two performances.  During that span, she is shooting a team-best .571 (20-for-35) from the floor with a .444 clip (4-of-9) from behind the arc. 
» Reagan Phelan is no stranger to double-figure totals as the junior was the team's scoring leader a season ago (14.9 ppg) and among third as freshman (11.2 ppg) and recently eclipsed 900 career points. The Holyrood native is currently second on the team in per game points (10.2), netting a 13-point average in the last two contests, while also distributing the wealth with 15 assists in during that two game span. 
» Alexis McAfee and Shelbe Piggie are additional scoring options. McAfee is averaging 8.5 a game thus far, while Piggie is coming off the bench to chip in with 7.8 per game.

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).

GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY
The 2018-19 academic year marks the 50th season of women's athletics at Washburn University, which began with volleyball, basketball, softball, field hockey and gymnastics. A ... although, field hockey and gymnastics are no longer available, the offerings for female student-athletes has grown to eight sports with the addition of soccer, tennis, and cross country and indoor/outdoor track and field.

UP NEXT
» The Ichabods return action at Lee Arena next week when they host Nebraska-Kearney on Wednesday, Jan. 16 with tip-off slated for 5:30 pm.
» Washburn will then face nationally-ranked Fort Hays State on Saturday, Jan. 19, which has been tabbed as an NCAA Division II Game of the Week. As a result, the game will be broadcasted on Facebook Live (NCAADivisionII) and Twitter (@ncaadii) at NCAA Division II.