The No. 4 Lady Blues begin three-game road trip at Northwest Missouri . . .
The No. 4 ranked Washburn Lady Blues (21-2, 11-2 MIAA) will begin the final stretch of the regular season with three straight road games as they travel to take on the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats (15-8, 8-6 MIAA). The Lady Blues topped Truman 94-63 last time out on Saturday while the Bearcats pulled out a 65-62 win in Pittsburg over the Gorillas on Saturday.

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 180-35 (.838) record overall and 95-25 (.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.)
Northwest Missouri head coach Gene Steinmeyer is in his eight season at Northwest Missouri State, posting a 110-109 record. He is 470-250 overall in 23 seasons overall.
Steinmeyer came to Northwest from Doane College in Crete, Neb., where he notched a 369-132 record. He took Doane to eight conference championships, three district titles and made three consecutive NAIA Final Four appearances.
Steinmeyer holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Nebraska-Kearney. He earned his master’s degree from Nebraska-Lincoln in 1988.

Last time out for the Lady Blues . . .
No. 4 Lady Blues top Truman in Lee Arena for the 20th straight time
TOPEKA, Kan. -- The No. 4 Washburn Lady Blues won their 20th straight game against the Truman Bulldogs in Lee Arena as they scored a season-high 94 points in a 94-63 win. With the win, Washburn improves to 21-2 and 12-2 in the MIAA while the Bulldogs fell to 8-15 and 3-11.
The Lady Blues shot 49 percent in the first half hitting 16 of 33 shots as both Brooke Ubelaker and Cindy Keeley paced Washburn with 10 points each. Keeley was one rebound shy of securing a double double with five of her nine rebounds coming on the offensive end. Washburn pushed their lead to as many as 15 in the first half taking a 47-34 lead into the break at halftime.
In the second half, Washburn upped their shooting to 54 percent in the half connecting on 19 of 35 shots from the field and Jessica Aebi was a perfect 4 of 4 including nailing both 3-point attempts scoring 12 second half points.
Washburn held the Bulldogs without a field goal for the final 4:22 of the half and 33 percent shooting from the field.
Ubelaker and Corkey Stiger led six Lady Blues in double figure scoring with 19 each. Stiger was 8 of 13 from the field and scored 13 in the first half. Keeley recorded her second double double of the season and her career with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Also scoring 12 was Aebi. Amanda Holmes and Nikki Holmes each has 11 points. The 11 points for Nikki Holmes was a Washburn high.
Washburn outran the Bulldogs outscoring them 20-0 in fast break points while dominating the boards 43 to 28.
Truman had four starters in double figures led by Julia Montebello’s 17 points.

Washburn/Northwest Missouri series notes . . .
Wednesday’s meeting is the 44th in the series. Washburn is 36-7 all-time against the Bearcats and have won the last six meetings. The Lady Blues have won 22 straight games over the Bearcats in Topeka. The last win for the Bearcats in Topeka was in a 79-65 win on Nov. 30, 1985. The last win for the Bearcats in the series came in a 76-68 win over Washburn in the MIAA Tournament semifinals on March 6, 2004. In Maryville, the Lady Blues have won four of the last five games in Bearcat Arena last falling 67-59 on Jan. 14, 2004.

Last Meeting with the Bearcats . . .
(Jan. 6, 2007) TOPEKA, Kan. – The No. 3 ranked Washburn Lady Blues breezed to a 71-57 win over Northwest Missouri in Lee Arena on Saturday night. With the win, Washburn improves to 12-1 overall and 3-1 in the MIAA while the Bearcats fall to 9-4 and 2-2 in conference play. The win for the Lady Blues was the 22nd straight over the Bearcats in Lee Arena.
The Lady Blues trailed at 2-0, but it was all Washburn as they jumped out to a 34-20 halftime lead holding the Bearcats to 4 of 24 shooting in the first half. Northwest kept themselves in the game via 11 of 14 shooting from the free throw line in the opening period. In the second half, the Lady Blues increased their lead to as many as 27 as they went on for the win.
Brooke Ubelaker led the Lady Blues with 18 points, with eight straight in the second half. Corkey Stiger scored 14 and Amanda Holmes recorded her sixth double double of the season and her second straight with 10 points and a career-high 13 rebounds.
Meghan Brue led the Bearcats with 16 points. Ashley Baker scored 11.
The Lady Blues outrebounded the Bearcats 45 to 36, but hit only 7 of 12 free throws compared to 20 of 29 for Northwest.

About the Northwest Missouri Bearcats . . .
The Bearcats are 15-8 overall and 8-6 in the MIAA after topping Pittsburg State 65-62 on the road. Meghan Brue leads the Bearcats in scoring with a 12.5 points per game average. She is scoring 13.4 ppg in MIAA and play and has 6.1 rebounds per game. Also averaging in double figures for the Bearcats is Mandi Schumacher with 12.2 ppg and 7.3 rpg. Kelli Nelson (10.6 ppg) rounds out the Bearcats scoring in double figures. The Bearcats are averaging 71.6 points per game while allowing 66.3 ppg. They have also attempted 115 more free throw attempts than their opponents connection on 377 of 500 attempts for a .754 average. More than one-third of their field goal attempts this season have been 3-point attempts as they have hit 158 of 499 3-pointers (.317) and they are 556 of 1478 (.376) from the field overall.

Last time out for Northwest Missouri . . .
(Feb. 10) PITTSBURG, Kan. – The Northwest Missouri State women’s basketball team gained a 65-62 victory over Pittsburg State in John Lance Arena. Northwest overcame 22 turnovers, the second-highest of the season, but did hit 7-of-18 from 3-point land to aid the win.
The third consecutive victory gives Northwest a 15-8 overall (8-6 MIAA) and drops Pittsburg State to 9-13 overall (4-10 MIAA).
Northwest and Pittsburg State were tied seven times in the first half, the last time being at 17-17. The Bearcats broke that tie on a Meghan Brue lay-up with 9:24 left. The basket ignited a 15-6 run to close out the half and gave Northwest a 32-23 halftime advantage. PSU was held without a 3-point field goal in the first half.
The Gorillas overcame a 10-point second half deficit and led by as many as five, 52-47, with 6:30 remaining in the ball game. A 3-pointer by sophomore guard Jessica Burton tied the score at 56 with 3:35 to play and Northwest took the lead just 30 seconds later on another 3-pointer from senior guard Katie O’Grady.
Senior guard Anna Nimz missed a 3-pointer as time expired that would have put the game into overtime.
The Bearcats had four players in double-digits led by junior forward Lauren Williams, who had 13 points on 4-of-9 shooting. Junior center Mandi Schumacher contributed 12 points and senior guard Katie O’Grady chipped in 11, including 3-of-5 from beyond the arc.
Junior forward Candice Gilbert led all scorers with 16 points and was aided by 12 points from junior center Tracy Patry. Junior forward Janelle Klein had 10 points and three blocks in the loss.

Lady Blues notes . . .
#3 – Cindy Keeley – Had 2nd double double of the season against Truman (12 pts and 12 rbs)
#4 – Amanda Holmes – 31 blocks this season rank #12 on single-season chart
#10 – Jessica Aebi – 2nd on the team averaging 28.9 minutes per game
#11 – Renata Germano – 12 of 17 from free throw line in the last 5 minutes of games this season
#13 – Jessica Mainz – 15 assists and one turnovers in last four games
#15 – Nikki Holmes – Tied season high with 11 points against Truman
#20 – Holly Henrichs – Played in her 73rd game of career vs Truman
#21 – Corkey Stiger – Averaging 21.5 points in last four games (36 of 58 from the field - 62%)
#23 – Stephanie Wittman – 5 of 13 rebounds this season have been offensive
#24 – Karla Tailele – Will redshirt this season with continuing knee problems
#25 – Megan Sullivan – Has scored 575 points in 109 career game at Washburn
#32 – Brooke Ubelaker – Start against NWMSU will be 125th tying WU career record
#33 – Hope Gregory – Will redshirt this season straining previous injury

Lady Blues tip-ins. . .
?Senior Brooke Ubelaker has started all 124 games of her Washburn career and she has scored in double figures in 95 games. Her start against Northwest Missouri with tie the school record for starts with her 125 tying Brenda Shaffer-Dahl. The MIAA record is 129 set by ESU’s Emily Bloss (1997-2001).
?Senior Cindy Keeley has played in 124 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 660-325.
?The Lady Blues have not allowed an opponent to shoot above 50 percent in a game in a streak of 62 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 242 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 220-79 (.731) all-time in MIAA play.
?Washburn is 95-10 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.
?The Lady Blues have six seniors who will be honored on Feb. 24 after the Central Missouri game. Four of them, including Holly Henrichs, Cindy Keeley, Megan Sullivan and Brooke Ubelaker have been with the program for four years and have accumulated a 114-10 overall record.
?Brooke Ubelaker’s 64 3-pointers made this season is the second most in school history behind the 71 she hit last season.
?Cindy Keeley’s 31 3-pointers made is tied for 22nd on the single-season 3-pointer chart and her 50 steals are tied for 27th.
?Corkey Stiger’s 32 3-pointers made is tied for 18th on the single-season 3-pointer chart and her 53 steals is tied for 23rd.

Lady Blues in Lee Arena . . .
In their 23rd season in Lee Arena, the Lady Blues are 287-55 (.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 in the 2004-05 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 95-10 (.901) in home games under Ron McHenry.

Lady Blues history . . .
Washburn is 661-318 (.675 in 979 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 jumped from No. 5 in the USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Coaches Poll to No. 4 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 . . .
The Lady Blues will continue their longest road trip of the season as they will have road games at 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.