The No. 4 Lady Blues set to entertain bulldogs in second to last home game of the season . . .
The No. 4 ranked Washburn Lady Blues (20-2, 11-2 MIAA) will play host to the Truman Bulldogs (8-14, 3-10 MIAA) on Saturday afternoon in Lee Arena. The Lady Blues secured their sixth straight 20-win season in their 76-56 win at Southwest Baptist on Tuesday. The Bulldogs lost to Northwest Missouri at home on Wednesday 80-70 for their fourth straight loss. The Bulldogs have lost their last 19 games in Topeka winning only their first game in Topeka played in Whiting Fieldhouse on Nov. 30, 1979.

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 179-35 (.838) record overall and 94-25 (.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.)
Truman head coach John Sloop is in his seventh year behind the helm of the women’s basketball program at Truman. Sloop has a 71-113 career record as a head coach, and is a graduate of Maryville (Mo.) University. Sloop worked for legendary coach Charlie Spoonhour at both Missouri State and Saint Louis University. He moved to Truman as an assistant coach for the men’s program in 1995 and was part of the Final Four team in 1998-99.
Last time out for the Lady Blues . . .
Lady Blues reach 20 wins for 6th straight season under McHenry
BOLIVAR, Mo. - The No. 4 Lady Blues had two players score 20 points on their way to a 76-56 win at Southwest Baptist Tuesday night. Washburn improved to 20-2 and 11-2 in the MIAA while the Lady Bearcats fell to 12-10 and 4-9 in the conference. WU will return home to host Truman Saturday afternoon at 1:30.
The Lady Blues 19-point halftime lead was threathened as the Lady Bearcats scored the first six points of the second half to get within 13. SBU then cut it to 13 again at 45-32. Washburn quickly slowed SBU with a 13-0 run with Corkey Stiger scoring eight of those points and at one point late in the half scoring 13 of Washburn’s 15 points. She had 17 second half points and ended the night with 24, one off her season-high set Saturday at Pittsburg State. She was 10-of-16 from the field with three 3-pointers.
Brooke Ubelaker was the other Lady Blue to reach 20 points as she finished 8-of-12 from the field. Ubelaker scored 14 first half points off 5-of-7 shooting on her way to her 94th game scoring in double figures.
The Lady Blues led 40-21 at halftime after shooting 44 percent from the field and 5-of-8 from 3-point range. The Lady Bearcats committed 11 turnovers and shot 33 percent in the first half. In the second half SBU shot 48 percent but the Lady Blues shot 54 percent the final 20 minutes as they cruised to their 14th straight win over Southwest Baptist.
Megan Sullivan and Cindy Keeley led the Lady Blues with eight rebounds each and Sullivan had a career-high five assists. Washburn won the rebound battle 39-32 and survived the turnover battle, 15-12 after turning it over eight times in the second half. Livia Brito led the Lady Bearcats with 15 points.

Washburn/Truman series notes . . .
The Lady Blues lead the all-time series with Truman 31-8. The Lady Blues have won the last nine in the series. The Bulldogs’ last win in the series was during the 2002-03 season by a score of 76-71 in Kirksville. The Lady Blues have won the last 19 games in Topeka as the Bulldogs won in their first trip to Topeka during the 1979-80 season, but have lost every game since then. The teams have met twice in the MIAA Tournament with the Lady Blues winning 77-48 in the quarterfinals in Kansas City on March 6, 2003 and again in the quarterfinals last season on March 2, 2006 in a 63-36 win in Kansas City.

Last Meeting with the Bulldogs . . .
(Jan. 13, 2007) KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - The Lady Blues missed their first 10 shots but Brooke Ubelaker hit five 3-pointers in the first half to help the Lady Blues overcome a 16-2 deficit as they won 83-58 at Truman. With 17 points Ubelaker moved into fifth all-time at Washburn with 1,566 points. Corkey Stiger recorded eight steals setting a school record.
The Lady Blues had just two points the first half of the opening period on a pair of free throws from Amanda Holmes. She scored Washburn’s first four points from the line and Corkey Stiger added another two from the stripe. Ubelaker broke Washburn’s drought from the field when she hit a 3 at 9:59 and then another on WU’s next possession made it an 18-9 game, TSU.
The Lady Blues took their first lead, 21-20 at 6:42 when Stiger made a lay-up. Truman regained the lead and built it to five but Washburn closed the half on a 13-2 run to take a 36-30 lead into the locker room.
The Lady Blues shot 40 percent in the first half after starting out 0-for-10. In the second half they shot 62 percent and ended the game hitting 52 percent of their shots. They built the lead to 20 at the 10:32 mark of the second half and then closed out the game with a lay-up from Jessica Mainz to give them a 25-point victory.
Holmes led Washburn with 19 points off 5-of-10 shooting and a 9-of-12 effort from the free throw line. She added 12 rebounds for her seventh double-double of the year and eighth of her career. Stiger had 16 points and to go along with the eight steals. She joined Mainz with four assists to lead the team.

About the Truman bulldogs . . .
The Bulldogs are 8-14 overall and 3-10 in the MIAA after falling to Northwest Missouri on Wednesday 80-70. The Bulldogs have lost their last four games.
Sophomore Georgia Mueller leads the Bulldogs in scoring with a 17.1 ppg average. She is also leads her team in rebounding with a 8.6 per game average. Candace McGee is the only other Bulldog averaging in double figures with 11.5 points per game.

Last time out for Truman . . .
(Feb. 7) Feb. 7, 2007 – Sophomore forward Georgia Mueller scored 25 points, including 17 in the second half, but it wasn’t enough as the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats drained ten three-pointers in an 80-70 win over the Bulldogs Wednesday night in Pershing Arena.
The Bulldogs started out well, jumping ahead 27-21 at the 5:18 mark of the first half on a basket by junior guard Carmen McGee, but Northwest rattled off a 17-2 run to end the half and head into the locker room with a 38-29 lead. Three Bearcats scored eight points apiece to lead the green and white in the opening frame.
Northwest expanded their lead to 17 points on a three-pointer by Lauren Williams with just under seven minutes to play in the game, but the ’Dogs, led by Mueller and junior guard Julia Montebello, chipped away and cut the deficit to seven with 50 seconds remaining. However, six straight made free throws in the final minute sealed the Bulldogs’ fate as Northwest went on to sweep the season series with the ’Dogs.
Two players scored at will throughout the night – Williams for Northwest (26 points) and Mueller for Truman (25 points) – but it was Williams’ supporting cast that stepped up more, as Mandi Schumacher added 17 points and six rebounds, while Meghan Brue scored 15 points. Montebello was the only other Bulldog in double-figures with 17.
Truman shot 51.9% for the contest, but Northwest was nearly as solid with a 47.5% clip. The Bearcats drained ten three-pointers and hit 88% of their free throws (14-of-16). Truman, meanwhile, hit just 29% of it’s long-range bombs (5-of-17) and struggled from the charity stripe, hitting just 61% of its free throws (11-of-18).

Lady Blues notes . . .
#3 – Cindy Keeley – Averaging 9.4 points and 5.4 rebounds per game in MIAA play
#4 – Amanda Holmes – Averaging 8.1 rebounds per game in MIAA play
#10 – Jessica Aebi – 42 3-pointers is 17th all time
#11 – Renata Germano – 12 of 17 from free throw line in the last 5 minutes of games this season
#13 – Jessica Mainz – 12 assists and one turnovers in last three games
#15 – Nikki Holmes – At least 1 field goal in last 10 of last 12 games
#20 – Holly Henrichs – 4 of 4 from free throw line this season
#21 – Corkey Stiger – Averaging 22.3 points in last three games (28 of 45 from the field - 62%)
#23 – Stephanie Wittman – Played at PSU after missing MSSU game with hip injury
#24 – Karla Tailele – Will redshirt this season with continuing knee problems
#25 – Megan Sullivan – 5 assists vs Southwest Baptist was a career high
#32 – Brooke Ubelaker – Has had 80 games with at least 5 rbs ... averaging 5.5 for 123-game career
#33 – Hope Gregory – Will redshirt this season straining previous injury

Lady Blues tip-ins. . .
‰Senior Brooke Ubelaker has started all 123 games of her Washburn career and she has scored in double figures in 94 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 123 games at Washburn career and is 12th on the all-time 3-pointers made chart with 62 for her career.
‰The Lady Blues bench has outscored their opponents bench this season 622-316.
‰The Lady Blues have not allowed an opponent to shoot above 50 percent in a game in a streak of 61 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 241 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 219-79 (.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 14th on the all-time steals chart with 131.

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 660-318 (.675 in 978 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 . . .
(Feb. 6, 2007): The Washburn Lady Blues fell jumped from No. 5 in the USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Coaches Poll to No. 3 that was released today. The Lady Blues have been ranked in 72 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 home game against 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.Truman