No. 3 Lady Blues lead from start to finish in win over No. 4 Emporia State
Release date - Jan. 3, 2007

Box Score | Season Stats

TOPEKA, Kan. – The No. 3 Washburn Lady Blues led from start to finish improving to 11-1 and 2-1 in the MIAA with a 69-62 win over No. 4 ranked Emporia State in a battle of top-five teams Wednesday night in Lee Arena.
Washburn never trailed in the game as they raced out to a 40-29 halftime lead on 45 percent shooting hitting 14 of 31 from the field. The Lady Hornets trailed by four at the 4:22 mark of the first half at 28-24, but Washburn went on a 12-5 run the remainder of the period to take the 11-point lead into the break.
In the second half, the Lady Blues were held without a field goal for the first 6:56 of the period as senior All-American Brooke Ubelaker ended the scoring drought with a 3-pointer. Up until that point, Washburn was 0-of-7 from the field. Emporia State had cut the lead to three at 42-39 on a 3-pointer by Michelle Stueve with 14:29 left in the game.
Washburn pushed their lead back to eight at 51-42 on a pair of free throws by senior Nikki Holmes, but a mini run by the Lady Hornets over the next 2:42 trimmed the Washburn lead back to three at 51-48.
Following a pair of senior Cindy Keeley free throws and a lay-up by Amanda Holmes, the lead was increased to 55-48. The teams traded baskets and following a three-point play by Amanda Holmes, Washburn was up by eight at 60-52 with 3:15 left. Amanda Holmes pushed the lead to nine after two more free throws as Emporia State would get no closer than six the rest of the way as Washburn hit 5-of-6 charity tosses to end the game.
Amanda Holmes led the Lady Blues with career-tying-highs of 16 points and 12 rebounds. It was her fifth double-double of the season for the Lady Blues. Ubelaker scored 12 points and senior Jessica Aebi scored 10.
Freshman Cassondra Boston scored 19 points as the only Lady Hornet in double figures. She scored 14 in the first half on 6-of-7 shooting from the field.
Washburn finished shooting 33 percent from the field hitting 20-of-59 attempts. The Lady Blues were 6-of-28 in the second half.

Notes:
• The 33.9 percent shooting from the field for the Lady Blues was the lowest since they shot .324 (22-of-68) vs Missouri Southern (02/04/06) in a 66-64 overtime win in Topeka.
• The 23 free throws made tied a season high (Lynn, 11/25/06) – as did the 28 attempts.
• Washburn improved to 89-10 in Lee Arena under head coach Ron McHenry.
• Washburn topped Emporia State for the 12th time in the last 16 games.
• Washburn won their fourth straight regular season game over Emporia State.
• Head coach Ron McHenry improved to 17-7 all-time against ranked teams when both the Lady Blues and their opponents are ranked in the top 25.
• Wednesday’s game was the 12th straight time both teams have been nationally ranked and it was the ninth time in the last ten meetings they have both been in the top ten.