The No. 6 Lady Blues to honor six seniors following game with
Central Missouri . . .
The No. 6 ranked Washburn Lady Blues (23-3, 14-3 MIAA) return to Lee Arena for the final time this season as they play host to Central Missouri (14-12, 7-10 MIAA). It will be the final game at home for Megan Sullivan, Brooke Ubelaker, Cindy Keeley, Holly Henrichs, Jessica Aebi and Nikki Holmes. The four-year senior class of Sullivan, Ubelaker, Keeley and Henrichs have gone 116-11 with three MIAA regular season championships, a national championship their sophomore season and two MIAA postseason tournament championships. The Lady Blues are coming off a 68-48 win over Fort Hays State last time out and the Jennies fell to Southwest Baptist 77-52 in Warrensburg on Wednesday.
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 182-36 (.838) record overall and 97-26 (.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.)
UCM head coach Dave Slifer is 60-29 in his third season in Warrensburg. He is 443-127 (.785) in his 18th overall season. He is 16-17 against WU overall going 16-8 at MWSU and 0-9 at UCM losing the last 14 meetings in the against Washburn.

Last time out for the Lady Blues . . .
Lady Blues rebound from loss to top Fort Hays State on the road
HAYS, Kan. - The No. 6 Lady Blues had three players reach double figures and Amanda Holmes had her eighth double-double of the year as Washburn defeated Fort Hays State 68-48 Wednesday night. Washburn improved to 23-3 and 14-3 in the MIAA and will play its last home game of the year Saturday at 5:30 p.m. against Central Missouri. Seniors Jessica Aebi, Holly Henrichs, Nikki Holmes, Cindy Keeley, Megan Sullivan and Brooke Ubelaker will be honored after the game.
Holmes led the Lady Blues with 15 points and 11 rebounds and Keeley and Aebi also reached double figures in scoring. Ubelaker had 10 rebounds.
After a slow start for both teams the Lady Blues took an 11-point lead, 18-7 at 12:11. The Lady Tigers then cut it to six twice before Washburn went on an 11-0 run late in the half. Jessica Mainz and Sullivan each scored four points during the run. Washburn went into the locker room up 34-21 after shooting 42 percent and holding FHSU to 21 percent shooting. Aebi set a career high with four blocks, all in the opening 20 minutes.
In the second half the Lady Blues kept the lead in the high teens and went up by a game-high 21, 53-32 with 11:18 remaining when Aebi hit a 3-pointer. The Lady Tigers had a chance to get within 10 as they had the ball down 13 with 3:14 left. The Tigers turned the ball over on that possesion and then Keeley hit a 3 and WU ended on a 7-0 run to win by 20.
Washburn shot 36 percent in the second half and ended the game with a 39 percent effort. FHSU shot 23 percent on the game. The Lady Blues edged the Lady Tigers 43-42 on rebounds and won the turnover battle 10-16.

Washburn/Central Missouri series notes . . .
Saturday’s meeting is the 38th in the series. Washburn is 25-12 all-time against the Jennies after winning all four meetings last season with both regular season games and the two postseason meetings from the MIAA and NCAA South Central Regional Tournament semifinals. Overall, the Lady Blues have won 12 straight over the Jennies. The Lady Blues have won the last five in Warrensburg and the last seven in Topeka. The Jennies last win in Topeka was on Feb. 16, 2000 in a 66-50 win.

Last Meeting with the Jennies . . .
(Dec. 30, 2006) WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- The No. 5 ranked Washburn Lady Blues shook off a dreadful start and rolled to a 66-44 win over Central Missouri for the program’s 650th win.
Washburn (10-1, 1-1 MIAA) led by three at the break at 29-26, but pushed the lead to ten starting the second half on a 7-0 run to push the lead to 10 as the Jennies would not get any closer than eight at 40-32 as Washburn would go on another 20-4 run to put the game away. In the first half, the Lady Blues led at 3-2 on a Cindy Keeley 3-pointer, but the Jennies responded with a 10-0 run holding the Lady Blues without a point for 6:30 in the first half as they were 1 of 12 from the field, but still only trailed at 12-5. Brooke Ubelaker broke the scoring drought with the first of her two first half 3-pointers.
After the scoreless stretch for the Lady Blues, Washburn finished the half on 10 of 16 from the field. Corkey Stiger scored 10 in the first half including six straight in a 1:34 timespan in the half. Ubelaker led the Lady Blues with 9 of her 17 in the second half hitting 7 of 8 shots from the field and 3 of 4 from 3-point range. Stiger finished with 13 points. Keeley scored nine points with six in the second half and led the Lady Blues with a game-high eight rebounds. Meagan Fromm led the Jennies with 11 points and Lindsey Maple scored 10.
Washburn shot a blistering 58 percent from the field in the second half finishing with a 48 average for the game. The Lady Blues shot 39 percent in the first half.
Washburn led the Jennies to 29 percent shooting for the game limiting the Jennies to 14 of 48 from the field and dominated on the boards 42 to 28.

About the Central Missouri . . .
Central Missouri is 14-12 this season and 7-10 in the MIAA after falling to Southwest Baptist at home 75-52 last time out. The Jennies have lost their last three games.
Junior Lindsey Maple leads UCM in scoring with 13.7 points per game. Also averaging in double figures is Kim Battle with 11.3 points. Ashley Millham and Meagan Fromm each average 11.2 ppg. Battle also leads UCM on the glass with 7.0 rebounds per game.

Last time out for Central Missouri . . .
(Feb. 21) The University of Central Missouri Jennies basketball team lost its final home game of the season to Southwest Baptist, 75-52 on Wednesday night at the Multipurpose Building. The loss snapped the Jennies five-game home winning streak and dropped them into a fifth place tie with SBU.
The Bearcats (15-11, 7-10 MIAA) raced out to an early 13-6 lead not quite eight minutes into the game behind seven points from Livia Brito and Erika Souza. The Jennies (14-12, 7-10 MIAA) battled back with an 8-0 run of their own to take their last lead of the night at 14-13. From there it was all SBU as it heated up in the final eight minutes to head into the locker room up 31-21 at the break. Southwest Baptist was 13-of-36 (36 percent) from the floor, hitting 8-of-16 in the final eight minutes of the half. Central Missouri struggled to put the ball in the basket knocking down only 31 percent (8-of-26) in the opening period.
The Bearcats picked up right where they left off in the second stanza by knocking down eight of their first nine shots to extend their lead to 53-39 with more than 12 minutes remaining. The Jennies could get no closer the rest of the night as SBU missed only seven shots in the second frame (68 percent). The turnover bug bit UCM again as it threw it away 24 times in the game, leading to 22 Bearcat points.
Kim Battle and Meagan Schoenfeld were the only Jennies in double figures with 15 and 10 respectively. Rachel Graves led three Bearcats in double digits with 17. Brito and Amber Wheeler added 15 apiece.

Lady Blues notes . . .
#3 – Cindy Keeley – 8 of 16 from 3-point land in last two games
#4 – Amanda Holmes – Recorded 9th double double at WU against FHSU
#10 – Jessica Aebi – 15 of 29 from field (6-12 3pts) in last three games
#11 – Renata Germano – 12 of 17 from free throw line in the last 5 minutes of games this season
#13 – Jessica Mainz – 2 to 1 assist to turnover ratio in last four games
#15 – Nikki Holmes – Hit 7 of last 13 field goals in last three games
#20 – Holly Henrichs – Played in her 74th game of career vs FHSU
#21 – Corkey Stiger – Averaging 13.4 ppg in MIAA play
#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 – Went over 600-point mark against FHSU
#32 – Brooke Ubelaker – Has scored 935 points in 69 MIAA games in her career
#33 – Hope Gregory – Will redshirt this season straining previous injury

Lady Blues tip-ins. . .
?Senior Brooke Ubelaker has started all 127 games of her Washburn career and she has scored in double figures in 97 games. Her start against Emporia State broke the school record for starts with her 126 snapping Brenda Shaffer-Dahl’s record of 125. The MIAA record is 129 set by ESU’s Emily Bloss (1997-2001).
?Senior Cindy Keeley has played in 127 games at Washburn career and is 12th on the all-time 3-pointers made chart with 71 for her career.
?The Lady Blues bench has outscored their opponents bench this season 712-377.
?The Lady Blues have not allowed an opponent to shoot above 50 percent in a game in a streak of 65 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 244 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 222-80 (.731) all-time in MIAA play.
?Washburn is 95-10 in games in Lee Arena under head coach Ron McHenry.
?Cindy Keeley moved into 19th in career blocks with 40. She also moved into a tie for 13th on the all-time steals chart with 138.
?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 116-11 overall record.
?Brooke Ubelaker’s 74 3-pointers made this season broke her record of 71 set last season.
?Against Emporia State, the Lady Blues suffered their first loss in 88 games when leading with 5 minutes remaining. Their last defeat when leading at the 5 minute mark was on Jan. 22, 2005 in a 53-50 overtime loss at Missouri Southern.
?The Lady Blues held Fort Hays State to 12 field goals on Wednesday night in their 68-48 win. That total is the fewest field goals scored on the Lady Blues since Lincoln scored 10 on 12/16/06.
?Jessica Aebi had a career-high four blocks against the Lady Tigers on Wednesday.
?The Lady Blues are 6-0 in senior days under head coach Ron McHenry.
?Under head coach Ron McHenry, the Lady Blues are 19-10 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 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 663-319 (.678 in 982 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. 20, 2007): The Washburn Lady Blues fell from No. 3 in the USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Coaches Poll to No. 6 that was released today. The Lady Blues have been ranked in 74 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 . . .
It’s on to the MIAA Tournament in Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium. With a win over the Jennies, the Lady Blues will be the two seed and play on Friday night at 6 p.m., as the No. 2 seed. With a loss and an Emporia State win over Southwest Baptist, the Lady Blues will play at 8:15 p.m. as the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament.