THE TIP-OFF
Washburn closes the 2018-19 regular season on Saturday as it welcomes Missouri Western to Lee Arena for a 1 pm tip-off. The Ichabods (18-9, 13-5 MIAA) are coming off a tough 72-70 loss just two days earlier. Saturday's matchup will mark the 95th all-time meeting between Washburn and Missouri Western, with the blue and white leading the series, 53-40, with a 27-15 record at home. Saturday will mark the final home contest for Washburn's Denisa Smith, Nicole Murugarren, Taylor Blue, Olivia Montague and Makayla Vargo.
ON THE CALL
Saturday's game will be streamed online through The MIAA Network (themiaanetwork.com/washburnichabods) or on The MIAA Network app available on Apple TV, Roku and GooglePlay. The contest can also 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. Jake Lebahn (play-by-play) and Dan Lucero (commentary) will call the action with the pregame show starting 20 minutes prior to tip-off.
PREVIEWING MISSOURI WESTERN
Missouri Western visits Topeka with a 13-14 record on the year and 8-10 against MIAA opposition. Currently on a four-game road trip, the Griffons are 3-8 away from Looney Field House this season and are coming off a 66-56 victory at Northwest Missouri on Tuesday. From the floor, the MWSU offense is shooting at .481-clip (637-for-1525) and are 130-of-395 (.329) from deep with a .706 (338-of-479) mark from the line. Opponents meanwhile average 64.4 points, .435 from the field and .346 from three-point distance. Katrina Roenfeldt paces the Griffons in scoring (16.7 pg), on the glass (5.2 rpg), assists (39) and steals (55). Missouri Western is led by Rob Edmission who's in his seventh season at the helm and began the year with 102-70 record.
SHARED SCORING
» The Ichabods average 68.4 points this season, but in their last three games are netting 71.7 points per game. In that three-game stretch, the offense is performing better their season averages, shooting at a .470-clip (85-of-181), with .351 (20-of-57) from deep.
» During the last three-games, Taylor Blue, Hunter Bentley and Alexis McAfee are each averaging double-digit points. Blue leads the way with 18.0 points as she's shooting 21-for-47 (.447) from the field. Bentley follows with 14 behind 16-of-29 (.552) shooting, while McAfee is shooting .632 (12-of-19) and averaging 11.7 points per game.
PASSING THE ROCK
» The Ichabods have six games with 20 or more assists, including a season-high 24 at Emporia State on Jan. 5. In that game, Reagan Phelan recorded a career-best 11 assists.
» Among the MIAA, Washburn leads the league in assists (410), assists per game (15.2) and is second in assist-turnover ratio (1.08) and is fourth in turnover margin (3.07).
» Phelan is second among MIAA leaders in assists (123), assists per game (4.6), and assist-turnover ratio (1.89). This is her first season with 100+ assists.
BLOCKING BODS
» From Nov. 23 till Jan. 23, Washburn had a season-best 12-game streak of two or more blocks. It has since registered five or more blocks five times including a season-high nine-block effort at Lindenwood (2/21).
» Annette Warner's 46 blocks is third among MIAA leaders and the seventh-best single-season total. Warner is one shy of tying Cassie Lombardino's 2011-12 mark (47) and four back of moving into the top five. The junior transfer began the week tied with Bojana Samardziska for 19th in career blocks and three short of passing Sierra Moeller from 18th in the Washburn record books.
STUFFY DEFENSE
» Against the MIAA, Washburn is third in the league in scoring defense (64.3) and fourth in field goal percent defense (.399). The Ichabods are also fourth-overall in the league in blocks (104), third in steals (238) and third in turnovers by opponents (452). Washburn has tallied double-digit steals eight times, including a season-best 16 (12/31), as a result, the Ichabods eclipsed the 200-steal mark for the fifth time since 2010-11 and are fourth (220) in the MIAA.
» McAfee and Bentley are each among the MIAA Top 5 in steals as the duo is tied for second with 49 takeaways, while Phelan's 42 steals is ninth-overall.
START ME UP
Head coach Ron McHenry has used four different starting lineups this season, however none more than the Phelan, McAfee, Bentley, Blue and Nicole Murugarren, as Washburn is 13-5. The last time McHenry went with a different lineup was Dec. 8 when Washburn hosted Central Missouri at Lee Arena.
REAGAN MAKING MOVES, UP THE CHARTS
On Feb. 6, Phelan became the Washburn's 23rd member of the 1,000-point club and first since Laura Kinderknecht during the 2012-13 season. Phelan's 1,067 career points heading into Saturday is tied for 16th-best on the Washburn all-time scoring list with Lori Roenbaugh and is 129th among active Division II leaders. Phelan is also ninth on the three-point list with 119 career made triples, one shy of passing Alison Garrett who is listed eighth with 120 career three-pointers.
FINAL FIVE MINUTES
In the final 300 seconds of regulation this season Washburn is shooting .424 (87-of-205) from the floor with an impressive .373 (28-of-75) from three-point land, while converting 69-of-95 (.726) attempts from the line. Conversely, opponents are shooting .365 (74-of-203) and .297 (22-of-74) from deep. As a result, the Ichabods are 14-1 when leading in the final minutes. Inside the final five minutes from the line, Phelan is 16-for-22 (.727), while Bentley is 11-for-15 (.733). McAfee however leads the way converting 20-of-27 (.741) attempts.
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. 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 will return to action on Wednesday, March 6 in the MIAA Tournament, which will run from March 6-10. All games this season will be held at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City. Game time and opponent information is yet to be determined.
