The No. 5 ranked Lady Blues look to rebound from 2nd loss of season as they play host to Missouri Southern . . .
The No. 5 ranked Washburn Lady Blues (17-2, 8-2 MIAA) return home to face Missouri Southern for the second time in eight days on Thursday night in Lee Arena. The Lady Blues topped the Lions on Jan. 24 in Joplin 65-54. The Lions are 10-8 overall and 3-7 in the MIAA after falling at Truman 71-55 last time out. The then No. 3 ranked Lady Blues fell by two, 49-47 at No. 2 Missouri Western on Saturday. The loss snapped the Lady Blues’ 16-MIAA road game winning streak.

Lady Blues on radio . . .
Lady Blues games will be broadcast on KTPK 106.9 with former Washburn quarterback Mark Elliott calling all the action. The games will also be streamed live online at http://images.radcity.net/5089/1635475.asx.

The coaches . . .
Washburn head coach Ron McHenry has posted a 176-35 (.838) record overall and 91-25 (.782) record in the MIAA with four consecutive MIAA regular season championships and the 2005 NCAA National Championship. He was named the Lady Blues head coach prior to the 2000-01 season. He is third among active women's NCAA Division II coaches in winning percentage and has the 10th most wins in MIAA history. McHenry was named the MIAA’s Coach of the Year in 2005 and in 2006 and the Division II Bulletin National Coach of the Year in 2005. (complete bio on page 2 of notes.)
Missouri Southern head coach Maryann Mitts is in the 11th year of her collegiate head coaching career with a 177-123 (.695) record. She’s in her sixth year as head coach of the Lions, with whom she holds a 94-66 mark (.607). She is a combined 3-18 against the Washburn. She is 2-9 against the Lady Blues at Missouri Southern and 1-9 against the Lady Blues while at her alma mater Rockhurst. All three of her wins against Washburn have been away from Lee Arena.

Last time out for the Lady Blues . . .
Time runs out on Lady Blues
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. - Amanda Holmes led the Lady Blues with 17 points but after nine lead changes in the second half the second-ranked Missouri Western Griffons defeated No. 3 Washburn 49-47 in a sold out MWSU Fieldhouse. The loss in the Lady Blues’ third top-10 matchup of the year dropped them to 18-1 and 8-2 in the MIAA. The Griffons remained undefeated at 20-0 and stayed atop the conference at 10-0 with the regular season sweep.
Down by three with 13 seconds remaining, WU’s Cindy Keeley missed a 3-pointer. The Lady Blues got the rebound and Megan Sullivan was fouled. The clock kept ticking after the whistle and was stopped with under a second remaining. After it was sorted out one second was put on the clock.Sullivan missed her first free throw and made the second, putting WU down by two. The Lady Blues tried to foul on the inbound pass but time ticked away for good and the Griffons held on.
Ubelaker scored 12 points and Keeley led the Lady Blues with nine rebounds. Washburn shot 36 percent, their second lowest effort of the year, but managed to out-shoot MWSU (33 percent). The Lady Blues were 3-of-24 from 3-point range with an 0-for-9 effort in the second half.
The Lady Blues started the game with three straight turnovers and quickly fell behind by seven, 11-4 at 15:41. After settling down Washburn was able to pull close on a 7-0 run to end the half and Ubelaker’s lay-up at the buzzer gave the Lady Blues the lead for the first time.
Neither team came out on fire to start the game as Washburn was 11-for-29 from the field in the first half for 38 percent shooting while the Griffons shot 35 percent. The two teams combined to shoot 6-for-29 from 3-point range and just 1-of-6 from the free throw line as the Lady Blues missed all four of their foul shots. Washburn turned the ball over 14 times in the opening 20 minutes while MWSU gave it away 10 times. In the second half Washburn turned it over just four times.
The loss was the first on the road for the Lady Blues in 17 straight MIAA games. They had won 16 straight before this and their last loss on the road was 53-50 on January 22, 2005 at Missouri Southern.

Washburn/Missouri Southern series notes . . .
Washburn is 36-23 all-time against the Lions. Washburn has won the last four meetings, 10 of 12 and 14 of the last 17 meetings. All three losses have come in Joplin. Washburn has won 10 straight in Topeka. The Lady Blues are 7-4 in the last 11 games in Joplin.

Last Meeting with the Lions. . .
(Jan. 24, 2007) JOPLIN, Mo. - The No. 3 ranked Washburn Lady Blues won their 12th straight game with a 65-54 win over Missouri Southern. The win was the Lady Blues’ 16th straight MIAA road win.
Washburn led from start to finish in the game jumping out to a 16-4 lead 8:53 into the game on a lay up by Cindy Keeley. The Lady Blues had their advantage cut to eight at 26-18 as the Lions’ Danielle DeVader hit a 3- pointer. After back-to-back 3-pointers by Brooke Ubelaker, Washburn stretched their lead to 17 at 39-22 and took a 39-28 lead into the break.
In the second half, the Lions cut the lead to 5 at 49-44 after starting the half on a 16-10 run as Washburn was 4 of 13 from the field. Missouri Southern was aided in the run by Dana-Mae Robbs, who scored 12 straight points for the Lions.
The Lady Blues finished the game by outscoring the Lions 16 to 10 taking the 11-point win.
Washburn was led by Amanda Holmes who scored 13 points and recorded a team-high nine rebounds. Corkey Stiger had 12 points and Ubelaker scored 10.
Robbs led the Lions with 18 points.
Washburn shot 54 percent in the first half hitting 14 of 26 shots, but cooled to 32 percent in the second half after hitting only 9 of 28 from the field.
The Lions were 10 of 20 in the first half and 10 of 31 in the second half for a 39 percent clip for the game.
Washburn was outrebounded for only the third time this season as the Lions held a 37 to 28 advantage on the boards.

About the Missouri Southern Lions . . .
Missouri Southern enters the game with an overall record of 10-8, 3-7 in the MIAA. The Lions have dropped their last six games with their last win coming on Jan. 6 in a 79-61 win over Central Missouri in Joplin.
Missouri Southern finished the 2005-06 season with an overall record of 16-12 and tied for fourth in the MIAA with an 8-8 record. The Lions return three letterwinners to this year’s team including just one starter. Dana-Mae Robbs leads the team in scoring with 14.6 points per game. Robbs is also the Lions leader in rebounds per game with 7.6. Robin Kantin is second for the Lions in scoring averaging 12.6 points per game. The team leader in assists per game is Karina Kuczynski with 4.6.

Last time out for Missouri Southern. . .
(Jan. 27) Kirksville, Mo. - The Truman Bulldogs used a strong offensive performance in the first half and followed it up with a great defensive effort in the second and handed the Missouri Southern Lions their sixth straight defeat, 71-55 Saturday afternoon (Jan. 27) in Kirksville, Mo.
The six-game skid is the first in Lions’ head coach Maryann Mitts’ five plus seasons at Southern.
Truman maintained the lead throughout and gradually pulled away in building an 11-point lead with a 17-8 run and led 35-24 with 3:15 left in the opening half. The run featured five points each from Candace McGee and Katie Fowler.
The Lions (10-8, 3-7 MIAA) were able to close the deficit down to six as Danielle DeVader (Holton, Kan.) scored eight in the final three minutes of the half and capped it off by hitting a jumper with six seconds left to pull the Lions to within 41-35 at the half.
After a slow start offensively, the Bulldogs went into the locker room hitting 10 of their last 11 shots of the first half and hit 15-of-29 (51.7 percent ) overall in the opening stanza.
Southern shot 42.9 percent (12-of-28) in the opening half, but only 2-of-8 from three-point range, both made by DeVader.
The Lions came out in the second half and twice were able to come within four points, the last being at the 15:50 mark when a jumper from Tynesha Pierce (Houston, Texas) made the score 45-41 in favor of Truman.
But the Bulldogs ripped off a 9-0 run that gave them their largest advantage of the game at 54-41 with 10:44 remaining.
After an India Wood (Decatur, Ala.) jumper pulled the Lions within 11, Truman responded as a McGee three-pointer capped a 7-0 Truman spurt that gave the Bulldogs a 61-43 advantage with 8:34 left in the contest.
The Lions failed to come closer than 13 from that point.
Dana-Mae Robbs led the Lions in scoring for the third straight contest after returning from a broken hand by scoring 14. Pierce scored nine and pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds. DeVader wound up with 12 points and five boards.
Fowler hit 7-of-10 shots from the field to lead the Bulldogs with 16, while McGee tallied 14. Truman’s leading scorer and rebounder Georgia Mueller finished with 12 points and a team-leading nine rebounds.
The Lions cooled off to a 31.0 percent (9-of-29) shooting clip in the second half and shot 36.8 percent (21-of-57) overall.
After the hot-shooting first half, Truman dropped to 35.7 percent (10-of-28) in the second stanza and 43.9 percent (25-of-57) for the game.
The rebounds were even at 37-37, with the Lions leading the way on the offensive glass 14-11, while the Bulldogs had a 26-23 edge in defensive rebounds.
The loss puts the Lions and Bulldogs in a tie for the eighth and final spot in the MIAA Postseason Tournament with identical 3-7 conference records.
Next up the Lions will remain on the road and will play two games in three days, beginning with a 5:30 p.m. Thursday (Feb. 1) contest at No. 2-ranked Washburn. After that, Southern will play Saturday (Feb. 3) at Fort Hays State in Hays, Kan at 1 p.m.

Lady Blues notes . . .
#3- Cindy Keeley- Ranks in top 20 all-time in assists, steals, blocks, games played, 3-pointers
#4- Amanda Holmes- Needs 10 rebounds to reach 300 for career
#10- Jessica Aebi- Four field goals will equal last seasons’ total of 57
#11- Renata Germano- 12 of 17 from free throw line in the last 5 minutes of games this season
#13- Jessica Mainz- Recorded career-high 7 rebounds against Missouri Western
#15- Nikki Holmes- At least 1 field goal in last 8 of last 9 games
#20- Holly Henrichs- 4 of 4 from free throw line this season
#21- Corkey Stiger- Has a 2 to 1 assist to turnover ratio this season (60 to 30)
#23- Stephanie Wittman- Hit 1st 3-pointer of the season against Pitt State
#24- Karla Tailele- Will redshirt this season with continuing knee problems
#25- Megan Sullivan- 40 career blocked shots 18th in school history
#32- Brooke Ubelaker- Needs 4 3-pointers for 200 for her career
#33- Hope Gregory- Will redshirt this season straining previous injury

Lady Blues tip-ins. . .
?The Lady Blues had their 16-game MIAA road winning streak snapped at Missouri Western on Saturday. Their last loss away from Lee Arena was Jan. 22, 2005 loss at Missouri Southern in a 53-50 setback.
?Senior Brooke Ubelaker has started all 120 games of her Washburn career and she has scored in double figures in 91 games … against Central Missouri, she became the sixth Lady Blue to record at least 1,500 points and 600 rebounds.
?Senior Cindy Keeley has played in 120 games at Washburn career and is 14th on the all-time 3-pointers made chart with 55 for her career.
?The Lady Blues bench has outscored their opponents bench this season 536-258.
?The Lady Blues have not allowed an opponent to shoot above 50 percent in a game in a streak of 58 contests - Angelo State was the last time to hit 50 percent of their shots in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Springfield when they connected on 26 of 52 shots on March 12, 2005.
?The Lady Blues have not allowed an opponent to score 100 points in 238 straight games. The last foe to reach the century mark was on Jan. 27, 1999 when ESU scored 106 points in a 40-point win.
?The Lady Blues are 216-79 (.731) all-time in MIAA play.
?Washburn is 93-10 in games in Lee Arena under head coach Ron McHenry.
?The Lady Blues fell to 5-1 as the No. 3 team in the nation when they are playing another ranked team under McHenry.
?Washburn fell to 0-4 when playing the No. 2 under McHenry.
?McHenry fell to 17-8 as Washburn’s head coach when both the Lady Blues and their opponents are ranked in the top 25.
?Cindy Keeley moved into a tie for 19th in career blocks with 37. She also moved into a tie for 15th on the all-time steals chart with 128.
?Under head coach Ron McHenry, the Lady Blues are 18-10 following a loss ... Washburn was 5-7 in McHenry’s first season after a loss on the bench, but have gone 7-0 in the last two seasons after suffering a setback and 13-3 in the last five seasons.
?The 47 points scored in the loss at Missouri Western was the lowest Lady Blues output since scoring 46 points on Nov. 24, 2001 in a 46-45 win over No. 17 Nebraska-Kearney. The win snapped the Lopers’ 87-game home court winning streak which is the longest in NCAA D2 history.

Lady Blues in Lee Arena . . .
In their 23rd season in Lee Arena, the Lady Blues are 285-55 (.836) overall at home. The longest winning streak was 44 games from Dec. 1, 1990 to March 20, 1993.
The Lady Blues were 15-0 in Lee Arena last season, out scoring opponents by a 78.2-49.9 average. The Lady Blues were 13-1 in Lee Arena in 2003-04, 16-1 in 2002-03 and 15-1 in 2001-02. The Lady Blues have won 30 straight regular season non-conference games in Lee Arena. The last defeat by a non-conference team in the regular season was to Missouri-St. Louis in a 59-51 setback on Dec. 30, 2000.
Washburn is 93-10 (.901) in home games under Ron McHenry.

Lady Blues history . . .
Washburn is 657-318 (.675 in 975 games) in its 38th season of intercollegiate action. Entering this season, the Lady Blues were 24th in Division II winning percentage and 18th in Division II wins.

Lady Blues in the national poll . . .
(Jan. 30, 2007): The Washburn Lady Blues fell from No. 3 in the USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Coaches Poll to No. 5 that was released today. The Lady Blues have been ranked in 71 straight weeks of the national poll dating back to the 2002-03 season. The Lady Blues have been ranked in the top 25 after being ranked in each poll the last four seasons, plus the last 15 of the 2002-03 season entering the poll on Dec. 11, 2002. Washburn spent the entire 2005-06 season as the No. 1 ranked team in the land before falling in the NCAA South Central Regional finals to Emporia State.

up next . . .
Following Thursday’s game with the Lions, the Lady Blues will have road contests at Pittsburg State on Feb. 3 and Southwest Baptist on Feb. 6 before returning home to face Truman on Feb. 10. Following three straight road games at Northwest Missouri on Feb. 14, Emporia State on Feb. 17 and Fort Hays State on Feb. 21, the Lady Blues will wrap up the regular season on Feb. 24 in Topeka against Central Missouri.