THE TIP-OFF
Washburn returns to the quarterfinal round of the MIAA Championship for the second consecutive season on Friday when it faces familiar foe, Emporia State. Trailing the series, 46-56, Friday's matchup will be the 103rd meeting all-time against the Lady Hornets and eighth MIAA postseason showdown since joining the conference for the 1990-91 campaign. Listed as the fourth-seed, the Ichabods are making their 29th consecutive tournament appearance and 19th under the watch of head coach Ron McHenry. 

ON THE CALL
Friday's game will be streamed online through The MIAA Network (themiaanetwork.com) 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 EMPORIA STATE
Emporia State, the No. 5-seed, comes into the tournament at 22-7 on the year after going 13-6 in conference. The Lady Hornets went 2-2 in their final four games of the season and are coming off a 78-62 loss at Central Oklahoma to end the season. Collectively, the Emporia State leads the MIAA in three-pointers made (251) and threes per game (8.7), while its .349 (251-of-719) percentage efficiency from distance is third. The offense is also third in scoring (73.1), ninth in field goal percentage (.414), seventh in free throw percentage (.722). Defensively, Emporia State paces the MIAA in steals (303) and steals per game (10.4) while listed second in blocks (144) and blocks per game (5.0) and fourth in opponent field goal percentage (.384).

SHARED SCORING
» The Ichabods average 68.8 points this season, but netted 76 points per game in its last three outings to close the season. In that three-game stretch, the offense is performing better their season averages, shooting at a .497-clip (85-of-171), with .400 (22-of-55) from deep.
» During the last three-games, four of the starting five averaged double-figure points. Shooting at a .460-clip (23-of-50) from the field Taylor Blue leads the way with 21.3 points per game. Hunter Bentley follows at 12 points as she's 14-of-26 (.538) shooting. Alexis McAfee and Reagan Phelan trail with with 10.7 and 10.3 points per game, respectively. Nicole Murugarren is not far behind with 9.0 points per game.

STUFFY DEFENSE
» Against the MIAA, Washburn is third in the league in scoring defense (64.9) and fourth in field goal percent defense (.400). The Ichabods are also fifth-overall in the league in blocks (107) and fourth in turnovers by opponents (472). 
» Washburn's 252 steals in third amongst the MIAA. The Ichabods have tallied double-digit steals eight times, including a season-best 16 on Dec. 31—as a result, the Ichabods eclipsed the 200-steal mark for the fifth time since 2010-11 and the 250 threshold for the first time 2012-13 when it had 265.
»  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.
» McAfee, Bentley and Phelan are each among the MIAA Top 10 in steals. 

#MIAAMADNESS
» Dating back to 2003, Washburn is 25-6 when playing MIAA Tournament games in the City of Fountains.
» In three MIAA Tournament games, Phelan is averages 13.7 points with 3.0 assists per game, while McAfee has amassed 28 points in two career MIAA Tournament appearances.
» All-time in MIAA history, Washburn is 38-18 in the conference postseason gala dating back to 1991. 
» The Ichabods are 17-7 in the quarterfinal round of the tournament and 4-2 when playing as the No. 4-seed. 

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 1,072 career points heading into Friday is good for 16th-best on the Washburn all-time scoring list and is 132nd 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. 

MIAA HONORS
Prior to the start of the MIAA Championship later this week, the conference office announced late Tuesday that four Washburn Ichabods garnered all-conference honors. Phelan led the quartet as she picked up second team honors for second consecutive season, while Blue, McAfee and Bentley each received an honorable mention nod. 

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.