TOPEKA, Kan. -- The Washburn women's basketball team is back in Lee Arena this week hosting Missouri Western on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
OPENING TIP
>> The Ichabods (7-10) look to bounce back after two-straight tough road losses. They fell at No. 20-ranked Central Missouri on Saturday by the score of 62-56.
>> Missouri Western (6-11) is on a three-game winning streak and defeated Newman, 71-54, on Tuesday night.
>> WU picked up a 61-49 road win at MWSU on Jan. 9.
>> This will be the 99th all-time meeting between these programs since 1976 with Washburn leading the series, 56-42.
>> Washburn is currently tied for seventh in the MIAA standings and is vying to be one of the top-eight teams to participate in the conference tournament. Missouri Western is 10th in the standings.
FAN ATTENDANCE
>> Washburn is allowing a limited number of fans to attend home games. Social distancing measures will be in place and masks must be worn at all times.
>> All tickets must be purchased in advance. There will be no in-person ticket sales on game day. Please visit our website at wutickets.com to purchase tickets online or call 785-670-2637.
WASHBURN NOTES
>> Washburn shoots 39.2 percent from the field while averaging 61.4 ppg and allowing 60.1 ppg.
>> Hunter Bentley leads the Washburn offense and is fourth in the MIAA with 16.6 ppg. She has scored double-figures in all but two games this season.
>> Bentley also leads the league and ranks 13th in Division II in free throw percentage at 91.0%, making 71 of her 78 attempts from the charity stripe.
>> Nuria Barrientos contributes 11.2 ppg, 8.4 rpg (No. 4 in MIAA), 2.6 apg (No. 13 in MIAA), 1.3 bpg (No. 7 in MIAA), and 1.9 spg (No. 5 in MIAA).
>> Macy Doebele scores 5.7 ppg and grabs 3.9 rpg.
>> Aubree Dewey (6.5 ppg) and Mackenzie Gamble (6.0 ppg) round out the Washburn starting five.
>> Off the bench, Lauren Cassaday adds 4.5 ppg and 4.1 rpg. Out of her 70 total rebounds, 37 have been offensive.
>> At Central Missouri, Adyson Narber tallied five quick points for the Ichabods making 2-of-2 from the floor with one of those coming from behind the three-point lline.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE THIS THIS
>> Barrientos is currently one of 19 players in all of Division II to have seven or more double-doubles this season.
>> She is second in the MIAA behind Kelsey Johnson from Central Oklahoma, who has eight.
BODS AND ENDS
>> The Ichabods have outscored their opponents in the third quarter, 305-237.
>> Washburn forced a season-high 24 turnovers against Central Missouri on Saturday. The Ichabods capitalized on those miscues and turned them into 24 points.
>> Bentley is No. 13 on Washburn's all-time scorers list with 1,119 career points. She'll move up one spot in 17 points.
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
>> The 2020-21 season marks the 37th season of play in Lee Arena as the facility opened in the 1983-84 season.
>> Washburn is 428-108 all-time in Lee Arena.
>> Coach McHenry holds a record of 238-60 when coaching in the facility.
>> The Ichabods are 4-4 at home this season.
ABOUT THE MISSOURI WESTERN GRIFFONS
>> The Griffons have won their last three in a row and are 6-11 on the season.
>> MWSU is 2-7 in road games this season.
>> In Tuesday's game against Newman, Missouri Western rallied from being down 20-11 after the first quarter and exploded for 31 points in the third quarter.
>> The Griffons put in 13 players in Tuesday night's game with 10 of those scoring at least two points. Two of the three who did not score saw only one minute of action.
>> Logan Hughes leads the Griffs in scoring with 8.2 ppg.
>> Asia McCoy contributes 7.0 ppg and 5.2 rpg.
HEAD COACH CANDI WHITAKER
>> Candi Whitaker is in her second season with the Griffons after being name the ninth women's head basketball coach at Missouri Western in April of 2019.
>> Whitaker brings ample coaching experience to the program as she was most recently the head coach at Texas Tech (2013-18) and also led the UMKC women's team (2006-12).
>> She became one of the youngest head coaches in women's basketball, taking over the UMKC program at age 26 and winning 83 total games in her tenure and holds the second-most wins as a coach in program history.
>> She also served as an associate head coach at Oklahoma State (2012-13) and started her coaching career as an assistant at Valparaiso (2002-04).
>> As a student-athlete, Whitaker played two seasons at Seward County Community College and then transferred to Texas Tech where she helped the Lady Raiders to back-to-back NCAA Sweet 16 appearances.
>> She is 2-1 against Washburn.
SERIES WITH MISSOURI WESTERN
>> Washburn leads the all-time series, 56-42.
>> When playing against the Griffons in Topeka, WU is 28-16.
>> Coach McHenry is 32-14 against Missouri Western.
>> Bentley led the Ichabods with 27 points in their meeting with the Griffons earlier this season.
>> Hughes and Brionna Budgetts both contributed 10 points for Missouri Western in that contest.
LAST TIME AGAINST MISSOURI WESTERN (JAN. 9, 2021)
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The Washburn women's basketball team got back on the court for the first time in 23 days and captured their first win of 2021 with a 61-49 decision over Missouri Western on Saturday evening.
The Ichabods (3-4, 3-4 MIAA) got on the board before the game even started as Missouri Western received an administrative technical foul for not submitting its starters 10 minutes before tip-off. Hunter Bentley netted both free throws to start an 18-2 Washburn scoring tear over the first 4:56 of the first quarter. The Griffons (2-6, 2-6 MIAA) scored the final five points of the opening frame, but the Ichabods led, 23-12, and shot 56.3 percent from the field.
The Washburn offense went cold in the second quarter, though, and shot just 2-of-9 from the field. The Griffons chipped away at the deficit by outscoring the Ichabods, 12-7. Bentley scored all seven Washburn points in the period. At the break, Washburn led by six with the score sitting at 30-24.
Missouri Western hit two free throws 46 seconds into the second half to cut the Washburn lead to four, 30-26, but that would be as close as it would get for the remainder of the contest. The Ichabods went into the final frame in front, 46-39, and started the fourth quarter on a 12-3 scoring run over the course of the first three minutes, seven seconds to propel themselves to the 61-49 road win.
Washburn finished with a 46.9 field goal percentage (23-of-49) while Missouri Western finished with a 31.7 clip (19-of-60). MWSU made two more three-pointers (7-of-18) than WU (5-of-19). The Ichabods out-rebounded the Griffons by double-digits, 42-31.
Bentley led all scorers with 27 points and finished the night shooting 8-of-13 from the field, 4-of-8 of which were from deep, and went a perfect 7-of-7 from the charity stripe. She was also one rebound shy of her third double-double of the season as she grabbed nine boards. Abby Oliver went 6-of-10 from the floor and tied a career-high 12 points. Nuria Barrientos did a little of everything as she contributed 12 rebounds, nine points, five assists, and three blocks.
2020-21 MIAA POSTSEASON PICTURE
>> The top-eight teams in the final MIAA standings will take part in the conference tournament.
>> The tournament will take place on campus sites this season with the top-four teams hosting the quarterfinal games and the top remaining seed will host the semifinal games and the championship.
>> Central Missouri, Fort Hays State, Nebraska-Kearney, and Emporia State have already punched their ticket for postseason play.
>> Washburn is tied for seventh with Northwest Missouri. The two teams will play each other twice in the span of four days before the end of the regular season.
WASHBURN COACHES
>> McHenry is in his 21st season at Washburn and holds an overall record of 471-162 (279-116 MIAA).
>> His .745 winning percentage ranks 21st among active Division 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 952-444-1 (.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
>> Washburn hosts Northwest Missouri on Saturday to close out the week before going to Maryville to take on the Bearcats again in a makeup game on Tuesday, Feb. 23.
