TOPEKA, Kan. -- The Washburn women's basketball team wraps up a five-game homestand on Saturday as the Ichabods host No. 21 Nebraska-Kearney. The MIAA matchup in Lee Arena is slated for a 1 p.m. start.

GAME INFORMATION
Washburn Ichabods (1-5) vs. No. 21 Nebraska-Kearney Lopers (6-1)
Saturday, Dec. 4 | 1 p.m. | Topeka, Kan. | Lee Arena
Tickets: Online only
Watch: MIAA Network
Radio: 106.9 FM
Live stats: wusports.com/sidearmstats/wbball

OPENING TIP
>> The Ichabods (1-5, 0-1 MIAA) face a tough schedule to start conference play as Washburn lost in the MIAA opener, 72-50, to No. 1-ranked Fort Hays State.
>> The Lopers are off to a 6-1 (1-0 MIAA) start and are coming off a 59-58 victory at Emporia State on Thursday evening. UNK closed out the game on a 10-1 scoring run.
>> Nebraska-Kearney is 2-1 so far this season when playing on the road.
>> The Ichabods are 1-1 in Saturday games this season.
>> Washburn faced Nebraska-Kearney in the first and last game of the 2020-21 season and lost both meetings. 
>> These two teams last met in the 2020-21 MIAA Tournament semifinal and the Lopers claimed a 59-40 victory over the Ichabods and went on to win the conference tournament over Fort Hays State.
>> The Ichabods have one final non-conference game this season on Dec. 29 when Washburn hosts Bethany College.

WASHBURN NOTES
>> Through five games, the Ichabods have a 37.9 field goal percentage and average 56.8 ppg and 38.5 rpg.
>> Washburn has outscored its opponents 93-72 in the first quarter.
>> Hunter Bentley leads the Washburn scorers with 10.3 ppg to go with 3.5 rpg.
>> Macy Doebele is shooting 45.0 percent from the field and contributes 7.8 ppg and 4.5 rpg. She went 5-for-6 at the free throw line against Fort Hays State.
>> Gamble averages 7.5 ppg and has had at least one three-pointer in every game so far this season. She leads the team with 12 triples.
>> In the post, Abby Oliver averages 6.3 ppg and 5.8 rpg. Out of her 30 rebounds, 13 have been offensive.\
>> Shae Sanchez has tallied 35 points and 17 boards on the year.
>> Nuria Barrientos tallied nine points against Fort Hays State to move her scoring average to 5.3 ppg. She was also successful on all three free throw attempts against the Tigers.
>> Aubree Dewey leads the team with 17 assists. She also grabbed five rebounds against FHSU.

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
>> The 2021-22 season marks the 38th season of play in Lee Arena as the facility opened in the 1983-84 season.
>> Washburn is 431-112 all-time in Lee Arena.
>> The Ichabods went 7-4 at home last season.
>> Head Coach Ron McHenry is 241-64 when coaching in Lee Arena.

MILESTONE TRACKER
>> Bentley needs 37 more points to hit 1,300 in her career and is also 48 away from moving up to No. 11 all-time on Washburn's scorers list.
>> Nuria Barrientos is 14 points away from collecting 300 in her time as an Ichabod.
>> Oliver is nearing the 200 mark in rebounds, needing 37 more.
>> Gamble is 12 points away from 200 career points. 

LAST TIME OUT
TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn women's basketball team fell in the first MIAA contest of the season against top-ranked Fort Hays State on Wednesday evening, 72-50. 

The Tigers (6-0, 1-0 MIAA) never trailed in the game and got off to a quick start, leading 12-2 three minutes into contest. Jump shots by Hunter Bentley and Shae Sanchez in the final 55 seconds of the opening period cut FHSU's lead to 17-12.

Fort Hays State extended its lead over Washburn (1-5, 0-1 MIAA) in the second quarter, thanks to shooting 53.9 percent from the floor in the frame, and held a 36-24 advantage at the break.

A 10-2 Washburn scoring run midway through the third pulled the Ichabods within eight points, 42-34, but that would be as close as it got as the Tigers responded with an 11-2 run to close out the quarter and led by double-digits for the remainder of the game.

Fort Hays State finished the night shooting 45.3 percent from the field and made 7-of-15 from deep while Washburn had a 34.0 field goal percentage and made 3-of-15 from behind the arc. The Tigers had a slight edge on the glass, 34-30, and netted 10 second chance points.

Bentley and Nuria Barrientos both contributed nine points. Macy Doebele added seven points and tied for a team-best five rebounds. Abby Oliver led the team with three assists.

Four Tigers finished in double-figures, led by Olivia Hollenbeck's 13 points.

ABOUT THE NEBRASKA-KEARNEY LOPERS
>> The Lopers are coming off a 23-4 (19-3 MIAA) season in which they won the conference tournament and advanced to the NCAA Central Region Tournament semifinal game.
>> UNK is 6-1 to start the new season with its lone loss of the season coming against Southwest Minnesota State on Nov. 13 in a 76-66 decision.
>> The team averages 72.1 ppg while shooting 44.3 percent from the floor and allows just 54.7 ppg.
>> Three Lopers average double-digits right now led by Elisa Backes' 10.7 ppg. She also contributes 4.7 rpg and leads the team with five blocks.
>> Three-point shooter Trinity Law chips in 10.3 ppg and has drained 14 triples.
>> Shiloh McCool rounds out the top-scorers with 10.0 ppg and has made over half of her shot attempts for a 65.0 field goal percentage. She is also the team leader in rebounds with 8.6 boards per game.

HEAD COACH CARRIE EIGHMEY
>> Reigning National and MIAA Coach of the Year Carrie Eighmey is in her seventh season leading the Lopers and holds a record of 113-61.
>> The Lopers have reached the MIAA Tournament all six seasons since Eighmey took over
>> Prior to joining UNK, Eighmey was the head coach at her alma mater, Hastings College. In three seasons (2012-15), she compiled a record of 68-31 including an NAIA Final Four and an NAIA Elite Eight appearance.
>> She was also an assistant at Fort Hays State (2008-12) and started out as an assistant at Hastings (2004-08) right after she graduated.
>> As a student-athlete at HC, she was named a first team All-American her senior year and finished with program records for career assists and steals. She was also a part of back-to-back NAIA National titles in 2002 and 2003.
>> Eighmey is joined on the UNK bench by her husband, who has been an assistant coach since 2015.
>> She is 4-5 when coaching against Washburn.

SERIES WITH NEBRASKA-KEARNEY
>> Washburn holds a 28-16 series advantage over Nebraska-Kearney.
>> Coach McHenry is 11-5 when facing the Lopers.
>> The Lopers have won four of the last five meetings, including the last three in a row.
>> When playing UNK in Topeka, WU is 14-6.
>> Washburn's last home victory over Nebraska-Kearney was on Jan. 16, 2019 when the Ichabods won 62-60 in overtime.

LAST MEETING WITH NEBRASKA-KEARNEY
Nebraska-Kearney 59, Washburn 40 -- March 6, 2021
HAYS, Kan. -- The Washburn women's basketball team held a four point lead after the first quarter, but the No. 14-ranked Nebraska-Kearney Lopers outscored the Ichabods 24-9 in the third quarter and went on to capture the 59-40 MIAA Tournament semifinal victory on Saturday afternoon. With the loss, Washburn's season comes to a close with an overall record of 12-12 (11-11 MIAA).

The No. 3 seed Lopers (21-3, 19-3 MIAA) advance to Sunday's championship game against the top-seed and No. 5-ranked Fort Hays State.

The Ichabods started out strong as they made 9-of-14 from the field (64.29 percent) in the opening quarter to take an early 20-16 lead.

Both offenses went cold in the second quarter and just 13 combined points were scored between the two programs. The Lopers closed out the first half on a 7-2 scoring run to take a 25-24 lead into the break.

Aubree Dewey scored the first basket of the second half at the 8:21 mark before the Lopers took control of the game, rattling off 11 unanswered points to go in front, 36-26, midway through the third quarter. Nebraska-Kearney scored the final five points of the period to go up, 49-33.

Washburn was unable to cut the deficit to back down to single digits as Nebraska-Kearney defense stood strong and held on for the win.

The Ichabods shot 36 percent from the field and made just 2-of-10 from three-point range while the Lopers had a 44.2 field goal percentage and went 6-for-16 from deep. UNK edged out WU in rebounding, 33-28, and both teams scored 11 points off of turnovers.

Dewey was 8-for-14 from the field and had a team-high 16 points and dished out three assists. Nuria Barrientos added seven points and five boards.

Three Lopers scored double-digits led by Elisa Backes with 16 points to go with five rebounds, three steals, and two blocks.

WASHBURN COACHES
>> McHenry is in his 22nd season at Washburn and holds an overall record of 476-168 (283-118 MIAA).
>> Brette (Ulsaker) Herber begins her ninth season on the Ichabod bench as an assistant 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 starts her third 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 958-450-1 (.683) all-time and will commence the 53rd year of the program's history.
>> 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.

NEXT UP
>> The Ichabods will hit the road for the first time in nearly four weeks as they travel to Central Oklahoma (Dec. 9) and Newman (Dec. 11).