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Washburn will be playing its 1200th game since starting the program in 1969-70. 92 of those games will have been against Emporia State (7.7%)
Washburn went 7-1 during January and had a season-high six-game winning streak that was snapped Saturday.
Emporia State started the year 17-0 but has gone 2-2 since then with two MIAA losses on the road.
This will be the latest the Turnpike Tussle played its first game of the season series since not starting until February 12 in 1977-78. ESU leads the series 47-44 and won 3 of 4 last year. Washburn won 3 of 4 the year before.
Washburn has been out-rebounded in three straight games.
Washburn's streak of 13 straight years finishing either 1st or 2nd in the MIAA standings is in jeopardy. ESU is tied for 1st in the MIAA with UCM at 10-2. Washburn is in a three-way tie for 4th at 8-4 with FHSU and MSSU.
Head coach
Ron McHenry earned his 350th career win and his 200th MIAA win in January.
Washburn is 5th in the nation averaging 1,526 fans a game, ESU is 4th, FHSU is 3rd & two NSIC schools are on top.
Washburn has three scorers in the top 30 in the MIAA (Buchman 3rd with 16.5; Lee 27th with 10.9; Duvall 29th with 10.5)
Buchman is 52 of 58 from the three throw line to lead the MIAA at .897, 11th in the nation. She has gone perfect seven times and has not missed more than two in a game. She made 32 straight at one point.
Brittney Lynch is second in the MIAA with 9.0 rebounds a game and she averages 9.7 points a game.
Taylor Ignoto averages 15.1 points a game and would be sixth in the MIAA in scoring but she has not played enough games to qualify for the league report.
WU has been left out of the last six USA Today Sports national polls after being ranked as high as 16th this year.
Ron McHenry is 355-76 (.824) in his 14th year at Washburn. He is the winningest DII coach among those with at least 10 years of experience and he's led Washburn to 12 straight NCAA tournaments.
Ichabods host Lady Hornets in season's first game of Turnpike Tussle
After playing each other four times in each of the last two years, the Ichabods and Emporia State will finally meet for the first time this year with a 5:30 p.m. game Wednesday at Schendel Court in Lee Arena. This is the first time the two rivals didn't meet in the season series until February since 1977-78.
Washburn is 13-6 overall and tied for fourth in the MIAA at 8-4 after a 69-62 loss Thursday at Fort Hays State. Emporia State is 19-2 and tied for first in the MIAA at 10-2.
This will be Washburn's 1,200th game since the program began in 1969-70 and 92 of those games (7.7%) have been against the Lady Hornets.
The game will be carried live on 106.9 FM KTPK. Links to video, live stats and audio are available at wusports.com/live.
Washburn lost three of four to the Lady Hornets last year including their final two games of the season in the MIAA semifinal and NCAA tournament first round. The Ichabods had the tables turned the previous season with three out of four wins including one that knocked ESU out of the MIAA tournament.
Casyn Buchman leads the Ichabods and is third in the MIAA scoring 16.2 points a game.
Brittney Lynch is second in the MIAA with 8.9 rebounds a game and
Taylor Ignoto is averaging 15.0 points a game through her first 10 contests. She sat out the first semester after transferring and would be seventh in the league in scoring but she hasn't played enough games to qualify.
McHenry gets 350th career win and 200th MIAA win in same week
Washburn head coach
Ron McHenry is 355-77 (.822) overall and 204-50 (.803) in MIAA games. He earned his 350th career win January 9 against Oklahoma Christian and he got his 200th MIAA win January 11 against Northwest Missouri.
McHenry started this year, his 14th season at Washburn, with the highest winning percentage among active NCAA II coaches with at least 10 years at four-year schools.
McHenry is a four-time MIAA coach of the year and he has eight MIAA regular season titles. He's been to 12 straight NCAA tournaments and he coached Washburn to an NCAA II national title in 2004-05. He started the year second all-time in NCAA II history among coaches with at least 10 years with an .828 winning percentage. Lloyd Clark holds the record with an .834 winning percentage at Delta State from 1984-2002.
Rare case of getting out-rebounded
The Ichabods have been out-rebounded in three straight games, a feat they had suffered only three other times in head coach
Ron McHenry's 14 years. Fort Hays State's +18 margin over Washburn on Saturday was the highest difference the Ichabods had suffered since also having an 18-rebound difference at FHSU in 2010-11.
Washburn has traditionally rebounded well under McHenry. They haven't been out-rebounded in more than seven games since his opening season in 2000-01 when teams out-rebounded Washburn nine times. McHenry's teams have posted positive rebounding margins every year and usually average +7.0 or more.
Washburn currently has a +6.9 rebounding margin, third best in the MIAA and 13th in the nation. The Ichabods had a +9.6 margin before this three-game stretch of getting out-rebounded. Opponents are out-rebounding Washburn at +7.7 in the last three games with Northeastern State and Nebraska-Kearney out-rebounding Washburn by just two and three, respectively, and FHSU getting a +18 advantage. Washburn has never been out-rebounded in more than three straight games under McHenry.
Tardy Turnpike Tussle
Wednesday's 92nd edition of the Turnpike Tussle will be the latest Washburn and Emporia State have started their season series since the 1977-78 year when they didn't meet until February 12. They also played twice in February that year, something they will do this year.
Washburn and ESU have played at least twice a year every season since 1995-96 and they have always played at least one of those games before January ended.
Ichabods' top-two finishing streak in jeopardy
The Ichabods have finished first or second in the MIAA every year since
Ron McHenry's second season in 2001-02. They are currently tied for fourth at 8-4 in the league and are two games out of Emporia State and Central Missouri's first-place tie with 10-2 records.
Washburn has finished first or tied for first eight times under McHenry and has finished second four times. The Ichabods finished seventh in 2000-01, McHenry's first year.
Ignoto earns starting spot after joining team after fall semester
Junior guard
Taylor Ignoto had to sit a full year at Washburn and she played her first games in mid December after the fall semester ended. After four games off the bench she earned her first start and Washburn went 6-0 in her first six games in the starting lineup. She's averaging 15.0 points a game and she's reached double figures in nine of her 11 games this year.
Ignoto would be seventh in the MIAA in scoring but she hasn't played enough games to qualify for the league or NCAA rankings.
Ignoto debuted with 14 points on December 19 against Lincoln. She then had a season-high 23 the next game at Lindenwood the next game. She earned her first start on January 9 against Oklahoma Christian and went 6 of 7 from 3-point range for 21 points.
Winning streak ends at six games
The Ichabods went undefeated during a five-game home stand and then went on the road last Thursday to extend their winning streak to six straight games, their longest of the season. That streak was snapped Saturday at Fort Hays State.
The Ichabods outscored their opponents by 13.7 points a game during the streak and had a +7 rebound margin. Scoring was balanced during the streak as four different players averaged between 10 and 14 points a game.
Washburn's defense held opponents to 57.8 points a game and 34 percent shooting during the streak. Overall, opponents are shooting 38 percent this year and scoring 66.1 a game.
Buchman third in scoring and near the top in several MIAA categories
Junior guard
Casyn Buchman is near the top in several MIAA statistic categories in the latest report. She's fourth in scoring with 16.2 points a game and first shooting .871 from the free throw line. She's fourth in assists with 3.8 a game and 17th with 6.6 rebounds a game. Overall, her name appears in nine of the 13 categories.
Buchman has led Washburn in scoring eight times and has reached double figures 14 times. She's scored at least 20 six different times.
Protecting the basketball usually equals a win for Ichabods (and most teams...)
Washburn was 9-0 this year when winning the turnover battle until Saturday's loss at Fort Hays State. Overall, the Ichabods average 13.3 turnovers a game while getting 13.9 a game from their opponent. The +0.63 margin is sixth best in the league and their turnover average is the 11th lowest in the nation. They are 9-1 when committing less turnovers than their opponent and 4-5 when committing less.
Tough Schedule
Washburn has three opponents this year ranked in the top 10 in last week's poll. This week's poll will be released Tuesday. Emporia State, a school Washburn will play twice in February, was third at 18-1 but went 1-1 last week. Nova Southeastern was fifth at 15-1 and Drury was seventh at 16-1. Those two schools beat Washburn earlier this year on their home courts in non-conference games.
Washburn drops out of national poll
The Ichabods dropped out of the USA Today Sports national poll after week four and they have been absent from the last six polls now. Washburn was ranked in 176 of the last 177 polls, dating back to week three of the 2002-03 season. The final poll of the 2010-11 season was the last time Washburn was not ranked before these last six polls.
Emporia State is the highest ranked MIAA team with a No. 2 ranking after a 17-0 start to the season. The Ichabods and Hornets won't play until February as they battle February 5 in Topeka and February 22 in Emporia. Central Missouri is eighth in the poll. The two teams played their only scheduled meeting January 6 in a UCM win. Previous non-conference opponent Nova Southeastern is third in the nation and Drury is ninth.
Quick history review
In Washburn's 44 years of basketball since 1969-70, the Ichabods are 836-362-1 (.698) in 1199 games. They have 13 MIAA regular season titles and nine tournament titles since joining the league in 1989-90. Thirty all-America awards have been won between 16 different players and Washburn has seven MIAA MVPs and 22 MIAA first-teamers.
The Ichabods won the 2004-05 NCAA II national title and set an NCAA II record with a 51-game winning streak stretching from 2004-05 into the 2005-06 season. Guard Jennifer Harris was the NCAA II player of the year in 2005-06 and was the No. 20 pick in the 2006 WNBA Draft.
Coming up next
The Ichabods will stay at home to play Nebraska-Kearney Saturday at 5 p.m. in Lee Arena. The two just played on January 30 in an 82-70 Washburn win. Washburn will have just one home game remaining on the schedule after that, February 19 against Fort Hays State.
