TOPEKA, Kan. -- The Washburn women's basketball team will make the trip to historical Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo., to compete in the MIAA tournament this week. The Ichabods are tabbed as the No. 9 seed and will face No. 8 seed Pittsburg State on Wednesday at noon for the first round game.
OPENING TIP
>> Washburn ended the regular season with a record of 13-15 while going 11-11 in MIAA play.
>> The Ichabods lost a heartbreaker at Emporia State in the regular season finale on Saturday, 79-77. The Ichabods rallied from a 17 point deficit to take the lead with 90 seconds left in regulation, but the Lady Hornets hit the go-ahead jumper with three seconds remaining to win the game.
>> The Gorillas closed out the regular season 16-12 (11-11 MIAA) and won their last game, 77-52, against Newman.
>> These two teams faced only once this season with Pittsburg State winning on its home court 69-55 on Jan. 15.
>> Wednesday's game will be the 91st all-time meeting and WU leads the series, 54-36.
WASHBURN IN THE MIAA TOURNAMENT
>> Washburn has competed in the MIAA Tournament every year since it was eligible starting in the 1990-91 season.
>> Washburn has won nine MIAA Tournament titles.
>> WU is 41-22 all-time in MIAA postseason play and 2-4 in the first round games.
>> Washburn has never played as the No. 9 seed.
>> When facing the No. 8 seed, WU is 7-0.
>> WU has played Pittsburg State five times in the MIAA tournament and leads that series, 3-2.
>> The two programs last faced each other in the conference tournament on March 1, 2018. The No. 2 seed Gorillas defeated the No. 7 seeded Ichabods, 71-63, in the quarterfinal.
>> After last season's MIAA Championship field was trimmed down to eight teams and games were played at campus sites, the tournament returns to Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City with 10 teams making the bracket.
>> The Ichabods won the first round game against Missouri Southern in the 2019-20 season.
>> Last year, Washburn upset No. 15-nationally ranked and No. 2 seed Central Missouri in Warrensburg, 63-55, in the quarterfinal game.
>> The Ichabods' 2020-21 season came to a close against No. 14 Nebraska-Kearney in the MIAA semifinals.
>> Hunter Bentley has played in eight MIAA tournament games and has averaged 10 ppg and 6.8 rpg.
WASHBURN NOTES
>> The Ichabods average 60.2 ppg and have a 41.2 field goal percentage.
>> Bentley closed out the season eighth in the MIAA in scoring, averaging 14.5 ppg and sixth with a 44.6 field goal percentage.
>> She has led the team in scoring in 19 games this season and has scored double-figures in 19 games with seven contests with 20 or more points.
>> Bentley also leads the team in assists (2.6 apg) and steals (1.3 spg).
>> Abby Oliver scored a career-high 20 points at Emporia State to improve her scoring average to 9.2 ppg. She has been consistent and has scored seven or more points in the last nine games with six double-digit scoring games during that time.
>> Macy Doebele is third on the team in scoring with 7.9 ppg to go with 5.0 rpg.
>> Nuria Barrientos leads the team with 149 total rebounds this season for a 5.3 rpg average. She also adds 7.0 ppg and scored a season-high 18 at Emporia.
>> Shae Sanchez averages 6.9 ppg off the bench. She tallied eight points and four boards at ESU.
>> Mackenzie Gamble and Lauren Cassaday average 4.5 ppg and 4.1 ppg, respectively.
>> Aubree Dewey has started the last three games and adds 3.8 ppg, 2.1 rpg, and has dished out 44 assists this season.
>> The Ichabods are 2-2 when playing on Wednesdays this season.
>> WU played only one neutral site game this season and won, 62-50, in overtime over Oklahoma Baptist in Weatherford, Okla. in the opening weekend of play
ALL-MIAA AWARD WINNERS
>> Bentley received the fourth all-MIAA selection of her career as she was named to the third team this season.
>> She was an honorable mention in 2019 and 2020 and landed on the second team last year.
>> Oliver made her debut on the all-MIAA list with an honorable mention nod.
WASHBURN'S LAST TIME OUT
EMPORIA, Kan. – The Washburn women's basketball team rallied from a 17-point deficit in the third quarter and took its first lead of the game with 90 seconds left in regulation, but a late foul call helped set up the game-winning jump shot to give Emporia State the 79-77 victory in Saturday's regular season finale.
Emporia State (15-13, 10-12 MIAA) jumped out to a 14-1 lead in the first 4:34 of the game and held a 21-11 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
A 6-0 run by Washburn trimmed Emporia State's lead to 29-23 with 3:58 in the first half, but the Lady Hornets extended their lead with three triples and made a jump shot right before the buzzer to go up 44-31 at halftime.
Emporia State took its largest lead of the game at 52-35 with 7:06 on the clock in the third frame when Washburn started its comeback with an 11-0 burst. After the Lady Hornets stopped the run with a three-pointer, Washburn started another scoring tear with six unanswered points to make it a 55-52 game at the 3:06 mark. The teams traded baskets in the final two minutes and Emporia State led 63-57 heading to the fourth quarter.
Trailing 75-69 with 3:53 to go, Abby Oliver made a layup to start an 8-0 run to give Washburn its first lead of the game at 77-75 with 1:30 remaining. Oliver scored six of the eight points during that run. ESU went 1-of-2 at the free throw line at the 38 second mark to put the score at 77-76 and on Washburn's ensuing possession, a jump ball was the official call and the arrow pointed in ESU's direction. A technical foul was issued to Washburn's head coach Ron McHenry after the jump ball decision and the Lady Hornets' Tre'Zure Jobe went 1-for-2 at the charity stripe again to level the score at 77. ESU got its final possession started with 33 seconds remaining and Jobe hit the go-ahead jumper with three seconds left and Washburn's half court heave was off line as the buzzer sounded.
The Ichabods finished the game shooting just under 50 percent, making 29-of-59 from the floor, while the Lady Hornets had a 46.8 field goal percentage (29-of-62). Emporia State finished with the advantage from behind the arc, going 11-of-32, and Washburn made just 1-of-6. At the free throw line, the Ichabods successfully made 18 of their 23 attempts and the Lady Hornets went 10-for-12. WU outrebounded ESU, 37-27, and scored 22 points off 14 Lady Hornet turnovers.
Hunter Bentley played all 40 minutes and led the Ichabods with nine rebounds, 20 points, and three steals. Oliver also scored 20 points to set a new career-high. Nuria Barrientos was 8-for-14 from the field for a season-best 18 points.
All seven Lady Hornets who played scored at least three points, led by Ehlaina Hartman's 21 points.
ABOUT THE PITTSBURG STATE GORILLAS
>> In 2020-21, PSU finished with a record of 14-9 and its season came to a close in the MIAA Tournament quarterfinal against eventual-champions Nebraska-Kearney.
>> The Gorills are fifth in the MIAA in scoring with 73.1 ppg and lead the conference with a 46.2 field goal percentage.
>> Tristan Gegg leads the Gorillas and is fifth in the MIAA in scoring with 17.6 ppg. She also leads the league in three-pointers as she averages 2.3 per game.
>> Gegg landed on this season's all-MIAA second team.
>> Also contributing double-figures is Jayme Jackson with 10.8 ppg.
>> Karenna Gerber has played in all 28 games and leads the team with 5.6 rpg to go with 7.0 ppg and is tied for the team-lead in blocks with 29.
HEAD COACH AMANDA DAVIED
>> Amanda Davied is in her fourth season as the head coach of the Gorillas and holds a record of 68-41.
>> Prior to earning the head coaching position, Davied served as an assistant coach for her alma mater Pittsburg State for 14 seasons.
>> She began her coaching career as a graduate assistant for PSU after being a three-time all-MIAA awardwinner for the Gorillas as a student-athlete.
>> She is 3-2 against Washburn.
SERIES WITH PITTSBURG STATE
>> Washburn holds a 54-36 series advantage over Pittsburg State.
>> These two teams have faced each other three times in neutral site games and Washburn has won all three.
>> Coach McHenry is 26-13 against Pittsburg State.
LAST MEETING WITH PITTSBURG STATE
Pittsburg State 69, Washburn 56 -- Jan. 15, 2022
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.
WASHBURN COACHES
>> McHenry is in his 22nd season at Washburn and holds an overall record of 487-178 (294-128 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.
>> Herber has filled in as the head coach for three total games this season and holds a record of 2-1.
>> 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 970-460-1 (.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
>> An Ichabod win on Wednesday would advance them to the MIAA quarterfinal game on Thursday at noon against No. 1 seed Missouri Southern.
