TOPEKA, Kan. -- The Washburn women's basketball team will kick off a five-game homestand and play its first home contest of 2022 in a makeup game against Northwest Missouri on Monday at 5:30 p.m.

GAME INFORMATION
Washburn (5-9, 3-5 MIAA) vs. Northwest Missouri (11-4, 6-3 MIAA)
Monday, Jan. 17 | 5:30 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 (5-9, 3-5 MIAA) are looking to bounce back after losing both games on their road trip last week, falling at Missouri Southern, 69-50, and at Pittsburg State, 69-56.
>> Northwest Missouri has also lost its last two games, droppings its home contests against No. 2 Fort Hays State and No. 16 Nebraska-Kearney.
>> The Bearcats are now 11-4 (6-3 MIAA) and are 1-2 in true road games.
>> Northwest Missouri has already played two games in Lee Arena this season as it took part in the Washburn Thanksgiving Classic and defeated Winona State and Rockhurst.
>> The Ichabods have won their last two home games and are 2-5 when playing in Lee Arena this season.
>> These two teams played each other twice last season with Washburn winning both.
>> Monday's game will be the 71st all-time meeting between these programs and Washburn leads the series, 59-11.
>> Washburn is 8-6 all-time when playing on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

WASHBURN NOTES
>> The Ichabods average 58.2 ppg and have a 40.4 field goal percentage.
>> Hunter Bentley leads Washburn's offense with 12.6 ppg this season. When playing against Northwest Missouri in her career, Bentley averages 12.3 ppg and has scored double-figures in six of the seven games she has played against the Bearcats.
>> Bentley has 10 double-doubles in her career and three have occurred against NWMSU.
>> Abby Oliver filled the stat sheet at Pittsburg State on Saturday, leading the team with 16 points, six rebounds, and four blocks. She made a career-best eight field goals in the contest.
>> For the season, Oliver averages 7.7 ppg, 4.4 rpg, and 1.4 bpg.
>> Macy Doebele contributes 7.2 ppg and 4.3 rpg. She made all six of her free throw attempts at Pittsburg State to extend her streak to 23 successful free throws in a row across the last six games.
>> Off the bench, Shae Sanchez saw 30 minutes of action in both games last week and averages 6.8 ppg.
>> Mackenzie Gamble and Nuria Barrientos are both averaging 5.6 ppg.
>> Barrientos leads the squad with 4.9 rpg and 0.9 spg.
>> In the post, Lauren Cassaday contributes exactly 4.4 in both ppg and rpg.
>> Irene Sanz scored a career-best seven points in Saturday's game. She hit two three-pointers for the third time in her career.
>> Aubree Dewey has dished out a team-high 30 assists to average 2.1 apg.
>> The Ichabod bench scored 36 of Washburn's 56 total points on Saturday.
>> Nine of the 10 Ichabods that played on Saturday scored.

MILESTONE TRACKER
>> Bentley passed Joy Benton (1981-85) on Washburn's all-time scorers list on Thursday at Missouri Southern to move up to No. 8 and now has 1,377. She needs 91 more points to pass former teammate Reagan Phelan.
>> Bentley is also third in most minutes played in a Washburn uniform. She has put in 3,767 minutes of work on the hardwood and will pass Phelan for second-most in 36 more minutes of playing time.
>> Cassaday is 10 points away from 200 career points as an Ichabods.
>> Dewey is also approaching the 200 milestone and is 16 points away.
>> Oliver and Doebele are nearing the 200 mark in rebounds. Oliver needs six and Doebele needs 16.

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 433-113 all-time in Lee Arena.
>> The Ichabods went 7-4 at home last season.
>> Head Coach Ron McHenry is 243-65 when coaching in Lee Arena.

WASHBURN'S LAST TIME OUT
PITTSBURG, Kan. – The Washburn women's basketball team lost its road contest at Pittsburg State on Saturday afternoon, 69-56.

Pittsburg State (11-5, 6-4 MIAA) jumped out to an 8-0 lead before Abby Oliver's jumper at the 6:21 mark started a 6-0 run for the Ichabods. The Gorillas responded with a 7-2 run over the next 1:45 to extend their lead to 15-8. Aubree Dewey scored the final points of the opening quarter with a jump shot to cut the deficit to 20-15.

Shae Sanchez's layup to start the second quarter pulled Washburn within three and the Ichabods (5-9, 3-5 MIAA) made it a four-point contest on four occasions but got no closer in the frame as Pittsburg State went into the break up, 32-25.

The Ichabods came out firing in the second half and scored on three of their first four possessions and made it a two-point affair, 34-32, with 7:34 on the clock. The Gorillas created some space again with an 8-1 run and ended the quarter on a 6-0 burst to lead 53-42 heading into the final stanza.

The Gorillas maintained their double-digit lead until Oliver's layup sparked a 6-0 rally midway through the fourth quarter to trim the deficit to 64-56. That would be the final points for Washburn, though, as Pittsburg scored the last five points to close out the 69-56 victory.

Washburn finished the afternoon shooting 40.7 percent from the field while Pittsburg State made 50 percent. The Gorillas made 7-of-18 from three-point range and the Ichabods were 4-of-12 from deep. Both teams went exactly 8-of-11 from the free throw line. The Washburn bench scored 36 points on the afternoon.

Nine out of the 10 Ichabods that played scored at least one point. Oliver filled the stat sheet for Washburn and led the team with 16 points, six rebounds, four blocks, one steal, and one assist. Hunter Bentley added eight points and three assists. Macy Doebele made all six of her free throw attempts and grabbed four rebounds.

Three from Pittsburg State scored double-digit points led by Jayme Jackson, who was 7-of-11 from the field and made three triples to total 17 points.

ABOUT THE NORTHWEST MISSOURI BEARCATS
>> The Bearcats (11-4, 6-3 MIAA) have already bested their record from a year ago when they went 7-15 in 2020-21.
>> NWMSU has only had 10 or more wins in three seasons since 2011-12. The most wins they gathered in a single season during the last decade was 15 in 2012-13.
>> NWMSU has the second-best defense in the MIAA as its opponents average just 54.7 ppg.
>> Mallory McConkey leads the offense with 11.3 ppg and a 56.9 field goal percentage. She also adds 4.1 rpg.
>> Molly Hartnett also contributes double-figures with 10.9 ppg and leads the team with 2.4 apg.
>> Peyton Kelderman has made a team-best 28 three-pointers and is shooting 33.3 percent from behind the arc. She is third on the team in scoring, averaging 8.4 ppg.

HEAD COACH AUSTIN MEYER
>> Austin Meyer (37-55) is in his fourth season leading the Northwest Missouri women's basketball team after being a full-time staff member of the Bearcats' men's team from 2008-18.
>> Meyer became the Northwest Missouri men's associate head coach in 2015. During his tenure, he helped the Bearcats to 215 victories, 10 total MIAA titles and one NCAA National Championship.
>> As a student-athlete, Meyer was a four-year letterwinner at Northwest Missouri and held the then-program career record with 215 made three-pointers.
>> Meyer is a native of the best hometown in America, beautiful Blue Springs, Mo.
>> He is 1-5 against Washburn.

SERIES WITH NORTHWEST MISSOURI
>> Washburn and Northwest Missouri have met 70 times since 1981 and Washburn holds a 59-11 series advantage.
>> WU has won 15 of the last 16 meetings including the last four in a row.
>> When playing the Bearcats in Topeka, WU is 34-3.
>> Coach McHenry is 36-7 against NWMSU.

LAST MEETING WITH NORTHWEST MISSOURI
Washburn 56, Northwest Missouri 43 -- Feb. 23, 2021
MARYVILLE, Mo. -- The Ichabods led from start to finish in Tuesday night's game against the Bearcats and cruised to a 56-43 victory. Washburn is on a three-game winning streak and improved to 10-10 on the season while Northwest Missouri falls to 7-13.

Washburn made its first three shot attempts of the game and quickly jumped out to a 7-0 lead. A three-pointer from Hunter Bentley put the Ichabods up 15-4 with 4:03 left in the quarter before the Bearcats put together a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 15-10. Lauren Cassaday battled for an offensive rebound and made the second chance layup with four seconds in the period to send Washburn into the second quarter with a 17-10 advantage.

The Ichabod defense held the Bearcats to just five points in the second quarter as Northwest Missouri made just 1-of-15 from the field. Washburn extended its lead by shooting 50 percent from the floor (6-of-12) and making both three-pointer attempts in the frame. Mackenzie Gamble hit her second triple of the half with 27 seconds left to send Washburn into the break with a 32-15 advantage.

The script flipped in the third quarter as Washburn scored the first three points and then did not score for the next eight minutes while Northwest Missouri went on a 15-0 scoring tear, with the help of three made three-pointers. The Ichabods added a layup and a free throw for the final points of the third to stay in front, 38-30.

The Bearcats got within six points with 7:19 in regulation, but a 7-2 scoring run by Washburn pushed it to a double-figure lead for the remainder of the game.

Washburn shot 42 percent from the floor and made 6-of-12 from deep while Northwest Missouri finished with a 29.2 field goal percentage and went 5-of-24 from behind the three-point line. The Ichabods dominated on the glass, out-rebounding the Bearcats 40-23.

Gamble was 5-for-8 from the field and finished with 13 points. Bentley contributed 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Nuria Barrientos also had eight boards and added nine points.

Molly Hartnett led the Bearcats with 13 points and four steals.

WASHBURN COACHES
>> McHenry is in his 22nd season at Washburn and holds an overall record of 480-172 (287-122 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 962-454-1 (.680) 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
>> Washburn will be back in action at the end of the week, hosting rival Emporia State on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Lee Arena.