The No. 5 ranked Lady Blues look to continue winning way over the Gorillas Saturday night . . .
The No. 5 ranked Washburn Lady Blues (18-2, 9-2 MIAA) hit the road to Pittsburg, Kan., to take on the Gorillas Saturday night at 5:30 p.m. in John Lance Arena. The Lady Blues are coming off an 81-50 win over Missouri Southern on Thursday night and the Gorillas fell in overtime to Fort Hays State on the road 81-70 to the Tigers.

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 177-35 (.838) record overall and 92-25 (.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.)
Pittsburg State head coach Steve High is in his 18th season at the helm of the Gorillas program. High (Northern Iowa, ‘74) has compiled a 294-195 (.603) record as head coach at Pitt State, including two MIAA regular season titles (‘92, ‘96) and five NCAA Tournament appearances (’92-93, ‘95, ’97-98). He is the all-time winningest MIAA coach with 294 wins. High is 13-20 all-time against Washburn.

Last time out for the Lady Blues . . .
Lady Blues top Lions for 11th straight time in Lee Arena
TOPEKA, Kan. – The No. 5 ranked Washburn Lady Blues topped Missouri Southern for the second time in eight days as they topped the Lions 80-51 in Lee Arena. With the win, Washburn improves to 18-2 and 9-2 in the MIAA while Missouri Southern falls to 10-9 and 3-8 in conference dropping their seventh straight game.
Washburn opened the game on a 17-2 run and never looked back as they hit 7 of 14 first half 3-pointers pushing their lead to as many as 20 points in the first half. Brooke Ubelaker and Cindy Keeley were each 3 of 4 from behind the arch in the opening period scoring 11 points apiece as Washburn took a 44 to 20 lead into the break.
In the second half, stretched their lead to 26 early, but had their margin cut to 12 and the Lions would go on a 15-2 run cutting the lead to 51-39, but the Lady Blues returned with a 15-5 run of their own returning the lead to 23 points leading to the 81-50 win.
Keeley tied a career-high with 19 points on 7 of 11 shooting and a 5 of 7 mark from behind the 3-point line. She led four Lady Blues in double figures with Corkey Stiger scoring 18 off the bench. Ubelaker finished with 16 including her 199th 3-pointer of her career. Jessica Aebi scored 11 points.
Jessica Mainz had an all-around game with 6 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists and five steals.
Dana-Mae Robbs led the Lions with 9 points.
The Lady Blues were 26 of 57 from the field (.456) while holding the Lions to 19 of 43 from the field (.442). Washburn, after going 4 of 13 from the free throw line against Missouri Western in their second loss of the season finished 18 of 20 including a 15 of 16 mark in the first half. The Lions were 8 of 13 from the charity stripe.
With the win, Washburn improves their series lead over the Lions to 37-23, including their 11th straight win over the Lions in Topeka.

Washburn/Pittsburg State series notes . . .
Saturday’s meeting is the 65th in the series. Washburn is 40-24 all-time against the Gorillas. Washburn has won the last 12 meetings in the series and the last six in Topeka. The Lady Blues have also won the last five in Pittsburg. The Lady Blues own a neutral court win over the Gorillas in the MIAA Tournament in Kansas City in the quarterfinals of the 2004 tourney winning 71-58. The last Gorillas win in the series came in Topeka on Feb. 10, 2001 in Lee Arena by a score of 69-57. Pitt State is 11-22 all-time in Topeka and 6-16 all-time in Lee Arena.

Last Meeting with the Gorillas . . .
(Jan. 20, 2007) The No. 2 Washburn Lady Blues won their 11th straight game in a row and their 12th straight over Pittsburg State in an 84-55 win over the Gorillas. With the win the Lady Blues improved to 16-1 and 7-1 in the MIAA while the Gorillas fell to 7-9 and 2-6 in conference play. The Lady Blues will be in action on Wednesday, Jan. 24 at 5:30 p.m. in Joplin, Mo.
The Lady Blues held the Gorillas to 38 percent shooting in the first half while Washburn was 15 of 33 from the field for a 46 percent average as they took a 36-27 lead into the locker room at the break. Washburn led by as many as 14 in the first half.
In the second half, Washburn had their lead cut to seven at 43-36, but following a pair of jumpers by Amanda Holmes and Corkey Stiger and a 3-pointer by Brooke Ubelaker, Washburn pushed their lead to 12 and never looked back in the 29-point win.
Washburn was led by Ubelaker who scored a game-high 21 points on 7 of 13 shooting. Stiger scored 13 with Cindy Keeley scoring 11 and Jessica Aebi put in 10.
Candice Gilbert led the Gorillas with 15 points adding a double double with 10 rebounds.
Washburn shot 50 percent for the game hitting 17 of 31 shots in the second half while holding the Gorillas to 30 percent in the second half and 33 percent for the game (18 of 54).

About the Pittsburg State Gorillas . . .
Pittsburg State enters the game with an overall record of 9-10, 4-7 in the MIAA. In their last game on Wednesday, the Gorillas fell in overtime to Fort Hays State on the road 81-70. The Gorillas have only won one road conference game this season, a 68-65 victory at Northwest Missouri State back on January 13th.
Candice Gilbert leads the team in scoring averaging 13.2 points per game, but she is averaging 17.2 ppg in conference play. Gilbert is also the team leader in rebounds per game with 6.5. Anna Nimz leads the team in assists per game with 2.9. Nimz is also averaging double figuring scoring with 11.3 ppg and Janielle Klein is averaging 11.1 ppg.

Last time out for Pittsburg State . . .
(Jan. 31) HAYS, Kan. -- Fort Hays State University pulled away midway through overtime to claim an 81-70 victory over Pittsburg State University Wednesday at Gross Memorial Coliseum.
Candice Gilbert scored a layup with 20 seconds remaining in regulation to force the extra session.
The Tigers (11-8, 3-8 MIAA) missed their first 12 3-point field goals, but Katie Rausch hit a pivotal trey in the extra session to help doom the Gorillas (9-10, 4-7 MIAA).
Gilbert scored a game-high 18 points for Pitt State, while Anna Nimz and Nikki Pierce added 12 apiece.
Ashlee Gustin had 18 points and 11 rebounds, while Sheena Kuntzsch added 17 points and 11 rebounds for FHS. Rausch also finished with 17 points and nine rebounds as the Tigers owned a 58-33 rebounding advantage, including a 28-10 margin on the offensive glass.

Lady Blues notes . . .
#3 – Cindy Keeley – Needs 1 steal to move into top 15 on all-time chart
#4 – Amanda Holmes – Needs three rebounds for 300 for career
#10 – Jessica Aebi – Moved into top 17 on all-time 3-pointer chart (41)
#11 – Renata Germano – 12 of 17 from free throw line in the last 5 minutes of games this season
#13 – Jessica Mainz – Averaging 5.0 pts, 5.25 assts, 4.75 rebs, 2.5 steals per game in last four
#15 – Nikki Holmes – At least 1 field goal in last 9 of last 10 games
#20 – Holly Henrichs – 4 of 4 from free throw line this season
#21 – Corkey Stiger – 18 pts against MSSU, highest since scoring 20 vs Benedictine on 12/12/06
#23 – Stephanie Wittman – Missed MSSU game with hip injury
#24 – Karla Tailele – Will redshirt this season with continuing knee problems
#25 – Megan Sullivan – 26 minutes played against MSSU was a season-high
#32 – Brooke Ubelaker – Needs one 3-pointer for 200 for her career, most in school history
#33 – Hope Gregory – Will redshirt this season straining previous injury

Lady Blues tip-ins. . .
?Senior Brooke Ubelaker has started all 121 games of her Washburn career and she has scored in double figures in 92 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 121 games at Washburn career and is 13th on the all-time 3-pointers made chart with 60 for her career.
?The Lady Blues bench has outscored their opponents bench this season 562-275.
?The Lady Blues have not allowed an opponent to shoot above 50 percent in a game in a streak of 59 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 239 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 217-79 (.731) all-time in MIAA play.
?Washburn is 94-10 in games in Lee Arena under head coach Ron McHenry.
?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 18-11 following a loss ... Washburn was 5-7 in McHenry’s first season after a loss on the bench, but have gone 8-0 in the last two seasons after suffering a setback and 14-3 in the last five seasons.

Lady Blues in Lee Arena . . .
In their 23rd season in Lee Arena, the Lady Blues are 286-55 (.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 94-10 (.901) in home games under Ron McHenry.

Lady Blues history . . .
Washburn is 658-318 (.675 in 976 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 a pair of road games at Pittsburg State on Feb. 3 and Southwest Baptist on Feb. 6, the Lady Blues will return home home to face Truman on Feb. 10. The Lady Blues will then go on their longest road trip of the season as they will have 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 and celebrate senior day for six Washburn players: Brooke Ubelaker, Cindy Keeley, Megan Sullivan, Jessica Aebi and Nikki Holmes.