Lady Blues win NCAA record 50th straight game

March 10, 2006

Box Score | Season Stats

TOPEKA, Kan. -- The top-ranked Washburn Lady Blues won their 50th consecutive game to set an NCAA Division II record, and advanced to the semifinals of the South Central Regional Tournament with a 92-58 victory over St. Mary’s (Texas) Friday night (March 10) at Lee Arena.

The Lady Blues (31-0) will take on Central Missouri State (22-9) in the regional semifinals Saturday (March 11) at 7 p.m., CST. It is a rematch of the MIAA Postseason Tournament final, which WU won by a 75-71 count on March 5.

WU entered the contest tied with North Dakota State’s 49-game streak, set from the end of the 1993-94 season to the start of the 1995-96 campaign.

Senior guard Jennifer Harris, who was a unanimous choice to the Daktronics Division II All-South Central Region first team announced earlier in the day, became Washburn’s single-season scoring leader after scoring 28 points in 28 minutes of play. She also had eight rebounds, eight assists and four steals.

Harris now has 732 points this season (23.6 ppg), surpassing the 718 scored in 1989-90 by Brenda Shaffer-Dahl, and needing six more to set the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association record. Missouri Southern’s Melissa Grider scored 737 in 1995-96.

Junior forward Brooke Ubelaker added 16 points, while junior guard Jessica Aebi chipped in 14 points off the bench for the Lady Blues.

Sophomore center Flavia Azinheira led the Rattlers (17-13) with 12 points, while freshman guard Natalie Gamez added 11 points.

St. Mary’s made just one of their first 18 shots from the field (a three-pointer by senior forward Juliett Williams at the 12:39 mark), as Washburn ran out to 44-9 lead with 4:56 remaining in the half. The Lady Blues out-scored the Rattlers, 28-2, between the first and second field goals made by St. Mary’s in the game.

The Rattlers finished the half 4-of-7 from the floor, cutting the gap to 31 at the half to make the score 51-20.

Washburn was 8-of-16 from three-point range in the first half, with Aebi going 4-of-4 from the arc. The Lady Blues led by as many as 45 points in the second half, ending the game shooting 52.5 percent (31-of-59) from the floor -- 13-of-25 (52 percent) from long range. WU also had a 43-28 advantage on the boards.

St. Mary’s ended the game shooting 16-of-60 (26.7 percent) from the field, but made all 18 of its free throw attempts.