TOPEKA, Kan. -- The Ichabods will take the short trip south on the turnpike to square off against rival Emporia State on Saturday, Jan. 23. Tip-off in White Auditorium is set for 1:30 p.m.
 

OPENING TIP
>> Washburn is back to .500 at 5-5 after defeating Lincoln on Tuesday night, 73-49.
>> Emporia State is 7-2 on the season and has won three-straight. 
>> The Lady Hornets held on for a 76-73 victory on Thursday night against Central Oklahoma.
>> ESU was picked as the favorite in the 2020-21 Coaches Preseason Poll.
>> The Lady Hornets are 3-1 at home this season while the Ichabods are 2-2 on the road.

WASHBURN NOTES
>> The Ichabods are averaging 62.5 ppg and have a 39.9 field goal percentage.
>> Hunter Bentley leads the way for Washburn and is eighth in the MIAA with 15.8 ppg. She has scored double-digits in eight of 10 games played.
>> Bentley is also third in the conference in minutes played (36.0 mpg) and six in rebounds (7.1 rpg). 
>> Nuria Barrientos averages 11.8 ppg and a team-best 8.4 rpg, 2.9 apg, and 1.6 bpg.
>> On Tuesday, she recorded her second game of three or more blocks as she stopped four shot attempts.
>> Abby Oliver is averaging 9.3 ppg and 4.9 rpg.
>> In her first career start, Lauren Cassaday was 5-for-7 from the floor against the Blue Tigers and finished with a career-high 11 points, seven rebounds, and four assists.
>> Off the bench, Hannah Willey averages 3.4 ppg. She chipped in eight points on Tuesday.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE THIS THIS
>> Barrientos recorded her fourth double-double of the season on Jan. 19, finishing the night with 13 points and 12 rebounds. 
>> She is one of 22 players in all of Division II to have four or more double-doubles this season. Nine of those players have exactly four double-doubles.
>> Barrientos ranks second in the MIAA in double-doubles behind Central Oklahoma's Kelsey Johnson, who has six.

BODS AND ENDS
>> Bentley's career high of 29 points came against the Lady Hornets on Jan. 5, 2019.
>> All 14 available Ichabods played on Tuesday night with 11 scoring at least two points.
>> Washburn has held three opponents this season to 49 or fewer points.
>> Bentley is six points away from becoming the 24th player in Washburn history to eclipse 1,000 career points. The last to reach that milestone was Reagan Phelan in the 2018-19 season.
>> The Washburn women's basketball program hit a milestone as it recorded its 950th victory. The program's very first season was in 1969.

ABOUT THE EMPORIA STATE LADY HORNETS
>> The Lady Hornets went 24-7 (15-4 MIAA) in 2019-20. They were the MIAA Tournament runner-up and earned a trip to the NCAA Tournament before it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
>> This season, their only two losses so far have been to Nebraska-Kearney (L, 59-54) and Pittsburg State (L, 69-64).
>> With the score tied at 28 at halftime against Central Oklahoma on Thursday, Emporia's offense exploded with 32 points in the third quarter.
>> The Lady Hornets are second in the MIAA with a 34.5 three-point field goal percentage.
>> Emporia is led by Tre'Zure Jobe. She has earned MIAA Athlete of the Week honors twice so far this season and is tied for the best scoring average in the conference at 21.1 ppg. 
>> She is tied for first in steals (2.7 spg), fifth in assists (4.0 apg), and her 1.9 assist/turnover ratio is third overall.
>> Fredricka Sheats contributes 10.8 ppg, 6.0 rpg, and 2.2 apg.
>> Ehlaina Hartman has blocked 12 total shot attempts. She blocked three against UCO.

HEAD COACH TOBY WYNN
>> Toby Wynn is in his third season with the Lady Hornets and has led them to a record of 53-18 and two NCAA Tournament appearances.
>> Prior to joining ESU, Wynn was the head coach at Seward Community College (Liberal, Kan.) for 13 seasons where he went 349-84.
>> He also coached at the high school level for several seasons.
>> Wynn played one season of basketball at Northwestern Oklahoma State before transferring to Oklahoma State where he earned his Bachelor's in Business Education
>> Wynn is 2-2 against the Ichabods.

SERIES WITH EMPORIA STATE
>> Washburn has faced Emporia State more times than any other team in its program history as this will be the 106th meeting.
>> The Lady Hornets lead the all-time series, 58-47.
>> Washburn is 18-27 at Emporia.
>> The last time Washurn won in White Auditorium was on Jan. 5, 2019, in a double-overtime thriller, 96-88.
>> Emporia State won both meeting last season.
>> Coach McHenry is 27-26 against ESU.

LAST TIME AGAINST EMPORIA STATE (Jan. 4, 2020)
TOPEKA, Kan. – The No. 20-ranked Emporia State Lady Hornets shot 73.9 percent from the field and were 8-for-12 from behind the arc in the first half to quickly create a double-figure lead they would hold for the rest of the game in a 69-57 victory over Washburn on Saturday evening. With the loss, the Ichabods fall to 7-5 and are 1-2 in MIAA play while the Lady Hornets move up to 10-2 overall and an undefeated 3-0 in conference action.

The two teams exchanged buckets to start the game and a jump shot by Hayley Thompson tied up the game at 14-all at the 3:38 mark in the first quarter. The Lady Hornets broke the tie and quickly created a double-digit lead as they finished the opening period on an 11-0 run with three triples to lead 25-14.

Emporia State went up by 21 with 3:56 left in the first half when Washburn put together a 9-0 burst over the course of nearly a minute and a half to chip away at the Lady Hornets' lead. The visitors retaliated yet again to close out the quarter, going on a 7-0 run to carry a 46-27 advantage into the locker room. The Lady Hornets shot a scorching 73.9 percent from the field (17-of-23) while the Ichabods shot 42.3 percent (11-of-26) in the first half.

In the second half, the Washburn defense held Emporia State to just 25 percent shooting (7-of-28) and just 2-for-12 from deep as the Ichabods outscored ESU in the third (17-14) and fourth (13-9) quarters, but it was too late to overcome the early deficit. Reagan Phelan made it a 10 point game on two occasions as she hit a three-pointer with 4:07 in the fourth quarter and then a free throw a minute later, but that's as close as it would get for the Ichabods.

Shelbe Piggie paced four Ichabods in double-digit scoring with 13 points. Thompson chipped in a dozen points on 6-of-8 shooting and pulled down five rebounds. Hunter Bentley added 11 points and Alexis McAfee had 10 points to go along with five assists.

The Lady Hornets were led by Mollie Mounsey who finished with 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field.

Emporia State finished the contest with a 47.1 shooting percentage while Washburn was close behind with a 45.5 clip. The Ichabods won the battle of the boards with 27 rebounds to the Lady Hornets' 26 with both teams pulling down 10 offensive rebounds. Emporia State grabbed 10 steals to Washburn's nine while both teams scored 26 points off turn overs.

2020-21 MIAA COACHES PRESEASON POLL
>> Heading into the new season, Washburn was tabbed eighth in the MIAA Coaches Preseason Poll and earned 79 total points.
>> Emporia State was voted the conference favorite, earning four first-place votes and 153 total points.
>> Nebraska-Kearney, Central Missouri, Pittsburg State, and Fort Hays State rounded out the top-five.

WASHBURN COACHES
>> McHenry is in his 21st season at Washburn and holds an overall record of 467-157 (275-111 MIAA).
>> His .749 winning percentage ranks 14th among active Division II coaches and 17th all-time among D-II coaches.
>> Brette (Ulsaker) Herber begins her eighth season on the Ichabod bench as a coach. Herber played for McHenry for three seasons (2007-10) and was named the MIAA Defensive Player of the Year as a senior.
>> Erika (Lane) Yoder is in her second season as an assistant coach for Washburn. She also played for McHenry from 2014 to 2017 and was a two-time all-MIAA selection.

WASHBURN HISTORY
>> Washburn women's basketball is 950-440-1 (.683) all-time and will commence the 52nd year of the program's history.
>> Washburn is sixth all-time in Division II in victories.
>> Washburn claimed the 2005 NCAA National Championship over Seattle Pacific with a 70-53 win to cap off a 35-2 season.
>> Washburn has made 17 NCAA Tournament appearances and is 26-16 all-time in those postseason games.
>> The program has won 18 total MIAA Championships, earning nine regular season conference titles and winning nine MIAA Tournament championships.
>> There have been 30 All-American awards given to Washburn players, with 11 of those coming from the WBCA.
>> Washburn has finished 14 seasons with 25 wins and four seasons with 30 victories.

TAKE A LOOK AHEAD
>> The Ichabods will play two road contests next week at Newman (Jan. 28) and Central Oklahoma (Jan. 30).