THE TIP-OFF
Washburn hosts No. 3/1 Fort Hays State in conference action on Saturday at Lee Arena. The matchup will be featured as part of the NCAA Division II Basketball Showcase alongside the men's game and is the lone contest to-date representing the MIAA . Tip-off is slated for 1 pm. Saturday's matchup will the 81st meeting all-time as well as the only regular season clash of this in-state rivalry. Under head coach Ron McHenry, Washburn is 10-14 against the WBCA Top Five.

In addition to the usual coverage provided, Saturday's game will be broadcast for free on the NCAA Division II and Washburn Athletics Facebook and Twitter pages. The familiar voices of Jake Lebahn and Dan Lucero will have the call on KTPK 106.9 FM and the MIAA Network. Providing play-by-play on the Facebook/Twitter hybrid feed will be Dave Armstrong, who also announces games for the Jayhawk Network and ESPN Regional and Fox Sports, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten and ACC games and color commentary will come from Daimon Beathea, who played from 1992-96 at Michigan State appearing in 113 games for the Spartans.

GAME RECAP » GAME 15
» Washburn required overtime on Wednesday for a 62-60 win over Nebraska-Kearney, stretching its win streak to nine.
» Alexis McAfee netted the game winner with 0.3 left, finishing with nine points, four assists, three rebounds and three steals. Reagan Phelan has a team-high 13 points and six assists and setup McAfee for the game winner.
» The Ichabods' slim 27-24 advantage at the break quickly evaporated behind an early 6-3 run from the Lopers to start the third. Trailing 38-37, Washburn regained the lead behind a 7-2 run, before it headed to the fourth tied at 47.
» The Ichabods took a 56-55 lead with 1:33 left in the fourth thanks to a three-pointer from Shelbe Piggie. UNK however tied the frame with 18 seconds to go as it went 1-for-2 from the line. 
» Washburn shot .362 (25-of-69) from the field, and was 8-for-26 from behind the arc, while UNK was .500 (24-for-48) from the floor, with 5-of-12 shooting from deep. The Ichabod defense forced a season-high 26 turnovers and had a 37-34 advantage in rebounds.

THEY GOT HISTORY
» Saturday will be the 81st meeting all-time in series 49-year history.
» Washburn leads the series, 47-33
» Since their first game on Feb. 20, 1970, have faced-off at least in subsequent year with exception for 1973, 1996 and from 2001-06 when Fort Hays State was a member of the RMAC. 
» Since the Tigers' joined the MIAA in 2006-07, Washburn is 16-8 and 9-2 when FHSU visits Kansas' capital city.
» The Ichabods went 1-1 last season when facing the Tigers, winning 62-59 at home (12/6/17) before falling 66-47 on the road (2/3/2018).
» Washburn has won nine of its last 12 home contests versus the Tigers.

PREVIEWING FORT HAYS STATE
» The Tigers (15-1) come to Topeka on the heels of their first loss (54-51) of the season at Emporia State on Wednesday. Fort Hays State began the week topping the D2SIDA national rankings while also checking in at No. 3 in the WBCA poll.
» Statistically, FHSU leads Division II in turnovers per game (10.4) with other top 10 rankings including free throws made (2nd/298), scoring margin (4th/26.2), fewest turnovers (8th/166), turnover margin (5th/9.94)  and scoring defense (10th/53.8) to name a few. 
» Tthe Tigers are led by Tatyana Legette who paces the team in per game scoring (11.9), rebounds (8.0), blocks (1.5) and assists (2.6).
» Lanie Page and Kacey Kennett are outside threats, with Page shooting .352 (25-of-71) from three-point distance while Kennett has made 21-of-62 (.339) with both averaging about four attempts per game.
» FHSU is led by head coach Tony Hobson who's in his 11th season. 

WHAT A WASHBURN WIN MEANS...
» ...improve to 12-5 overall.
»  ...sit at 7-0 in the MIAA for the first time since 2009-10.
» ...record its first 10-game win streak since 2012-13 campaign.
» ...Ron McHenry's 438th career victory.

SHARED SCORING
» Washburn is averaging three double-figure scorers in its last four games and are netting an average 73.2 points in that span.
» Hunter Bentley leads the scoring with 11.3 on the season with 15.8 in her last four MIAA games, sinking 21-of-48 (.438) from the field with 6-for-18 (.333) from three-point distance.
» Taylor Blue is averaging 10.2 for the year, however is well above that in her last four games, averaging 17.3 in that span, while converting 30-of-60 (.500) attempts from the field, netting 7-of-18 (.389) from deep.
» 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 a freshman (11.2 ppg) and is on pace to eclipse 1000 career points this season. Since returning from the holiday break, Phelan is averaging nearly a point better than her season average (10.7) with a three-point bump in her last four (13.8). 
» Alexis McAfee and Shelbe Piggie are additional scoring options with McAfee averaging 8.5 a game thus far, while Piggie has chipped in 7.6  from the bench. 

ON THE GLASS
» The Ichabods have out rounded opponents in 12 of 15 games thus far, including seven of their last eight contests. 
» Against the MIAA, Washburn holds a +3.0 margin in rebounds, averaging 37.8 boards while opponents are pulling down 34.8 per game.  
» Hunter Bentley has team-bests in total rebounds (85) and per game average (5.7) with Taylor Blue close behind with 81 and 5.4 per game. 

STUFFY DEFENSE
» Washburn is holding opponents to an MIAA-best .357 shooting from the field, a which is also 29th among the Div. II leaderboard.
» The Ichabods are second in the MIAA (FHSU, 1st) in scoring defense, limiting all opponents this season to an average of 57.9 points per game.
» The Ichabods have seven game with double-digit steals including a season-best 16 against Saint Mary (Kan.) on Dec. 31.
» Alexis McAfee is second in the MIAA in steals (32) and steals per game (2.13) with Hunter Bentley listed eighth (27), ninth (1.80) respectively.

AGAINST THE TOP 25 (...well since 2000-01)
» Washburn is 2-0 this season against the WBCA Top 25. 
» Saturday will be Washburn's first venture against a Top 5 opponent since falling to No. 2 Emporia State (1/7/2017) and will be the fourth time either or both, it and Fort Hays State, are mentioned among the Top 25.
» Washburn's last Top 5 win was at No. 3 Nova Southeastern (11/27/2015) with No. 3 Drury (11/22/2014) being its last Top 5 win at Lee Arena.

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.  

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. 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
» Washburn returns to the road to face Missouri Southern on Wednesday before squaring of with in-state rival, Pittsburg State, on Saturday.