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Date: February 26, 2018
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: Topeka, Ks. 

Bolivar, Mo. - After earning the #10 seed, the Southwest Baptist University Bearcats (15-13, 7-12 MIAA) will travel to #7 seeded Washburn (19-9, 11-8 MIAA) Monday night for the opening round of the MIAA Basketball Tournament. The winner moves on to the quarterfinal round in Kansas City at historic Municipal Auditorium. 

 SCOUTING THE BEARCATS
The Bearcats hold a 15-13 (7-10 MIAA) record on the season. They are coming off two tough losses to Fort Hays State and Nebraska Kearney over the weekend. The Bearcats fell in overtime to Fort Hays 98-95 and then to Kearney the following night 81-75. Over their 28 games, the Bearcats boast the second highest points per game in the conference with 76.4 points per game and the highest free throw percentage in the conference of 83.2%. Megan Rosenbohm and Caylee Richardson make the Bearcats go. Rosenbohm is the 16th best scorer in the NCAA and the leading scorer in the MIAA with 19.7 points per game. She also collects 6.2 rebounds per game, 3.8 assists per game, a conference leading 2.9 steals per game, and makes 90.9% of her free throws. Caylee Richardson averages a near double double with 16.1 points per game and 8.7 rebounds per game on 55.4% shooting from the field and 85.4% at the line.

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SCOUTING THE ICHABODS
Washburn enters the matchup with a record of 19-9 (11-8 MIAA). The Ichabods come into the game following a win against Northeastern State by a final score of 72-62. Regan Phelan leads the way for the Ichabods averaging 15.0 points per game and 2.9 assists per game, while shooting 41% from the field and 35.1% from three. Alexis McAfee averages 11.9 points per game, while shooting 42.9% from the field and 38.3% from the three. Axelle Bernard is third leading scorer with 10.1 points per game and the Ichabods top rebounder with 8.2 a game. As a team, Washburn averages 68.9 points per game on 42.6% shooting from the field. They only let up 61.5 points per game.

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THE COACHES
SBU head coach Kelsey Keizer is in her fourth season on the Bearcat bench after leading SBU back to the MIAA Tournament in Kansas City for the first time in three years. Coach Keizer led the Bearcats to back-to-back winning seasons (16-14, 7-12 MIAA last year) in 2015-16 and 2016-17. A feat that had not been done since the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons. Coach Keizer holds a career coaching record of 58-57 and a 29-49 mark in the MIAA.

In his 18th year as Washburn's head coach is Ron McHenry, who is the fastest coach in Division II Women's basketball history to reach 400 wins. Collins has a career record of 425-129 and a 337-93 in MIAA. In McHenry's 18 years, he has lead Washburn to eight MIAA Tounrament Championships.

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ALL-TIME SERIES
Washburn has the commanding advantage in the all-time series against the Bearcats by a 39-15 margin. The two teams have already met twice this season with the Ichabods claiming both victories by 77-72 and 69-66 final scores. History is repeating itself in this matchup as both women's squads met in Topeka for the first round of the MIAA Tournament last season. Southwest Baptist won the game 68-56 to move on to Kansas City.

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BEARCATS LAST OUTING
(2/23/18) - Kearney, Neb. - The Bearcats suffered a loss to Nebraska-Kearney, 75-81 in their final regular season game. Southwest Baptist University finishes the season with an overall record of 15-13 (7-12 MIAA) and Nebraska-Kearney finishes 21-6 (13-6 MIAA).

Morgan Henderson scored 27 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, and dished 5 assists. Caylee Richardson also contributed with 20 points and 12 rebounds. From the field the Bearcats shot 43.8% (32-73) and 33.3% (7-21) from the three point line. 

Southwest Baptist University trailed by 14 points with 1:27 left in the first quarter, but cut the lead down to 10 by the end of the quarter. In the second quarter, SBU outscored Nebraska-Kearney 20-11. Henderson scored 11 in the second quarter shooting 5-7 from the field, 1-1 from three point range. The Bearcats were able to cut Nebraska-Kearney's lead to one going into halftime, ending the quarter with an 8-0 run in favor of SBU. The Lopers lead 36-35 at halftime. 

The Bearcats came out strong in the second half taking the lead with 8:18 left in the third quarter. SBU took their lead up to 11 with a score of 52-41 with 4:02 remaining in the third after a layup from Megan Rosenbohm. Ray'Shionne Smith, Sydney Bandy, and Laura Vierkant each made a 3 pointer, contributing to SBU's 24 point third quarter. UNK trailed SBU 54-59 going into the fourth quarter. The Bearcats had an 8 point lead, 71-63, with 5:34 left in the game. Bailey Rezabek nailed a 3 point field goal to give SBU a 75-73 lead with 1:38 remaining. The Lopers then scored 8 straight to finish the game, 6 of those being free throws, to finish the game 81-75. 

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ICHABODS LAST OUTING
(2/24/18) - Tahlequah, Okla. --- In a tale of two halfs, four double-figure scorers and a pair of career-highs helped the Washburn women's basketball team outlast Northeastern State in the regular-season finale on Saturday with a 72-62 decision. 

Leading by as much as a 27 points, the Washburn (19-9, 11-8 MIAA) offense operated as a well oiled machine during the opening 20 minutes as it blitzed the RiverHawks (10-16, 6-13 MIAA) early. The Ichabods conceded the opening points of the afternoon but retaliated by accounting for 19 of the next 21 points to assume a double-figure lead with a little over a minute remaining in the first period.  

The Washburn dominance carried into second period action where it converted 10 of 17 attempts from the field with four of seven from three-point range. While Alexis McAfee's 10 points led the charge during the first period, it was Taylor Blue who paced the scoring in the second, netting 15 of WU's 27 points during the 10 minute stanza.

A 5-0 spurt gave Washburn its largest lead of the game, 46-19,  just inside 90 seconds remaining in the half, before a late NSU flurry though trimmed the advantage to 48-25 as the teams headed back to the locker rooms.

Blue finished the half with 18 points, while McAfee had 17. Collectively, Washburn was 19 of 29 shooting with seven of 11 from behind the arc, and an efficient 3-for-3 from the charity stripe. Defensively, the Ichabods forced 13 turnovers with nine steals while holding the RiverHawks to nine of 21 shooting and four of 12 from deep.

In the second half, Washburn's offense sputtered as it shot four of 15 in the third and went five for eight in the fourth, though continued to be successful at the line where it converted six of seven.

After chipping away at the halftime margin throughout the third, Northeastern State eventually narrowed the WU advantage to single-digits as a result of a 15-0 run midway through the fourth to made it 58-51. Consecutive buckets from Washburn however did little to slowed the RiverHawk attack as they pulled within four with 1:33 remaining. The effort from NSU however fell short as Blue and McAfee sealed the victory, by accounting for the final six points. 

McAfee ended the day with a new career-high, 23 points as she made 6-of-11 field goals, was 3-for-5 from distance, and 8-for-8 from the line. Blue followed with 20 points as she went 8-for-10 and drained 4-of-5 three-pointers. Phelan notched her first career double-double with 11 points and 10 assists, also a career-high. Bernard chipped in with 10 points and eight rebounds

The Ichabods won the rebound battle, 31-21, and outscored NSU in the paint, 34-22, while registering 13 steals.

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