Games 20 & 21:
Newman (2-17, 0-13 MIAA) @ Washburn (7-9, 5-5 MIAA)
Wednesday, January 26, 2022 | 5:30 p.m. | Topeka, Kan. (Lee Arena)
Audio:  Newman Jets Audio Network | Video:  MIAA Network | Live Stats:  WU Athletics
 
@ Emporia State (9-8, 4-7 MIAA)
Sunday, January 30, 2022 | 11:00 a.m. | Emporia, Kan. (White Auditorium)
Audio:  Newman Jets Audio Network | Video:  MIAA Network | Live Stats:  ESU Athletics
 
SOMEBODY GRAB THE K-TAG
Newman heads up I-35 to face two in-state rivals in conference play this week.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Northwest Missouri withstood a late Newman charge by ending the game on a 13-2 run to beat the Jets 54-42 in Wichita Saturday, January 22.  Both teams struggled to start the game as NU led 6-0 late in the first quarter after Northwest started the game 0-for-10 from the field while missing all six of their 3-pointers.  The Bearcats scored eight points late in the period to lead 8-6 after 10 minutes.  The Bearcats dominated the Jets 19-10 in the second to take a 27-16 lead to the break.  NU crept back into the game in the third and down 41-30 in the fourth scored 10-straight points to go down 41-40 with less than eight minutes to play in the game.  NU failed to take the lead on three-straight possessions and would score just two more points to end the game.  Carissa Beck, Lauryn Dubbert, and Laura Bello all scored 10 points to lead Newman.
Full Recap | Box Score
 
Earlier in the week, the Jets fell 70-37 to Missouri Western and 66-53 against Rogers State.
 
SCOUTING THE SQUADRON
Newman ended last year's pandemic-abbreviated season 4-18 while playing all 22 games within the MIAA.  The Jets return six players from a year ago, including two of their top three scorers from that team.  NU is suiting up one senior this season while welcoming six freshmen to the program.  They are joined by one redshirt freshman, Elise Kaiser, a Hesston product who missed last season with a preseason knee injury.  Rounding out the NU roster are five juniors and two sophomores.  Transferring to join the new coaching staff are former Circle High School Thunderbird Carissa Beck (Butler County), Russell High School product Tiffany Dortland (Barton County), Bishop Carroll Golden Eagle multi-sport star and Wichita native Britney Ho (Northeastern State), and former Goddard Lion Torri Vang (Cowley County).
 
TOP RETURNERS
Sydney Nilles returns at point guard to orchestrate the Jet offense after leading the Navy & Red with 64 assists last season as a freshman against just 58 turnovers.  She's also one of Newman's top returning defenders, logging the second-most steals for the Jets last year with 22 takeaways.  Nilles is NU's leading returning scorer after averaging 6.2 ppg last season.  Nilles is also the Navy & Red's leading returning rebounder after grabbing 2.5 rpg a season ago.  Makayla Hayes is the leading returning 3-point shooter off last year's squad after connecting 15 times on 63 attempts (24%) last season, though Nilles has the highest returning percentage after drilling 13 of 35 to shoot a team-high 37% from the arc last year.
 
BEHIND ENEMY LINES
Washburn enters the week in ninth place in the MIAA standings after winning both of their games last week.  Washburn overcame a slow start to finish 12-12 while going 11-11 in MIAA games in 2020-21.  Washburn lost three of four to start the year before winning three of their next four and a topsy-turvy didn't allow WU to get rolling last season, ending a streak of 19-straight winning seasons.  The last time Washburn didn't finish above .500 was in head coach Ron McHenry's first year on the bench in 2000-01 when the Lady Blues finished 13-14, going 7-11 in MIAA play.  Last year ended a stretch of four consecutive winning records in MIAA play as well.  The 12-win total was the lowest in McHenry's tenure on the bench in the capital city.  Washburn came into the season as the ninth winningest program in NCAA Division II women's basketball history with an all-time 957-449-1 (.681) and a 501-263 (.656) mark in conference games.  WU seeks its 17^th NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2013.
 
Emporia State is in 10^th place on the MIAA leaderboard entering the week and has lost four-straight games.  Emporia State had a successful 2020-21 season culminating in a return to the NCAA Tournament after going 18-7 overall with a 17-5 mark in the MIAA.  The Lady Hornets were eliminated in the MIAA Tournament semifinals by Fort Hays State and fell in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to #8 Minnesota-Duluth 76-70 in overtime in a game hosted by Central Missouri in Warrensburg, Mo.  ESU is the winningest program in the MIAA since 1999-2000 with a record of 545-152 (.783) in games over that span while posting a 319-100 (.763) record in conference action in that time.  Emporia State has won at least 20 games 22 times out of the last 25 seasons.  ESU boasts the eighth winningest NCAA Division II women's basketball program ever with an all-time record of 965-416 (.699) coming into the season.  The Lady Hornets are seeking their 23^rd NCAA Tournament appearance which should be their 24^th, but ESU does not claim its 2020 NCAA bid as the Big Dance was cancelled by the NCAA due to the 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic.  Counting 2020, ESU has made the NCAA Tournament three straight years and has missed the Big Dance just three times (2002, 2011, 2018) since making their first-ever bid to March Madness in 1997.
 
THE SERIES
Emporia State leads the all-time series 20-3 and has won eight of the last 10 against the Jets.  ESU leads 9-3 in NU's NCAA Division II era.  All three of Newman's wins have come at Fugate Gymnasium.  The Jets are 1-4 against the Lady Hornets in MIAA play.
 
Washburn leads the all-time series 10-4 and has won 3 of 4 from the Jets.  The series is 5-3 Washburn in NU's DII era and Washburn leads 3-1 in MIAA play.
 
PREVIOUS MATCHUP
Washburn held Newman to just 15 second-half points to come from behind and beat the Jets 51-40 December 11, 2021.  The teams were tied at 15 after one quarter when the Jets held Washburn to just seven points in the second quarter taking a 25-22 lead into halftime.  Washburn dominated the third quarter outscoring the Navy & Red 17-6 and NU couldn't get any closer in the fourth.  Britney Ho led Newman with 12 points.
Full Recap | Box Score
 
Newman started the game on fire but couldn't sustain their offensive attack in a 71-57 loss to Emporia State December 8, 2021.  Newman started the game on a 9-0 run, but ESU stung back with a 12-4 run to end the first period and slash the NU lead to 13-12.  The Lady Hornets held the Jets to just eight points in the second quarter to take a 25-21 halftime lead.  Emporia State made the decisive run in the game with a 12-0 run early in the fourth as part of a 30-11 third quarter for the visitors that put the game out of reach for the Jets.  NU roared back with 25 fourth-quarter points, but the deficit was too big to overcome.  Britney Ho was Newman's leading scorer with 17 points.
Full Recap | Box Score
 
JOHNSON & JOHNSON
Newman begins a new era in 2021 as the Jets welcome Drew Johnson and Nicole Ohlde-Johnson to Wichita as the new leaders of Jets Women's Basketball.  The husband-and-wife team didn't have to travel far to Wichita, moving from just minutes up the road after spending four seasons at Bethel College where Drew was the head coach and Nicole was his associate head coach.  Drew Johnson compiled a 64-53 record in North Newton, while going 51-41 in Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference play.  Under their leadership, the Johnsons helped Bethel to its first ever 20-win season as the Threshers went 20-10 and hosted their first KCAC Tournament game inside Thresher Gym in 8 years.  In their final year at the helm, the Johnson led the Threshers to a 16-10 season while going 16-6 in the KCAC, delivering the program's first ever NAIA National Tournament appearance.
 
The Johnsons bring with them a wealth of basketball experience both on and off the court.  Ohlde-Johnson, a Clay Center, Kan. native, played collegiately at Kansas State University where she was a two-time first-team All-American and departed as the school's all-time leading scorer, rebounder, and shot blocker.  Ohlde-Johnson was drafted in the first round of the 2004 WNBA draft and played seven years in the league and helped the Phoenix Mercury win the 2009 WNBA title.  After playing in Europe, Ohlde-Johnson founded the Nicole Ohlde Basketball Academy with Drew serving as a player trainer and coach for the club competing on the AAU circuit.
 
Prior to becoming the Bethel head coach, Drew Johnson previously served on the high school girls basketball coaching staff at Valley Center, Derby, and Clay Center High Schools in Kansas.  Johnson is a Wichita native and Friends University graduate.  Johnson was a two-year captain and four-year starter for the Falcons football program and earned All-KCAC honors as a punter.  As part of Ohlde Basketball Academy and Ohlde Elite, the Johnsons coached players that went on to play at all levels of basketball including the Big 12, Big East, Missouri Valley, MIAA, and KCAC.
 
REIGNING OVER THE SWARM & WORKING FOR WASHBURN
Toby Wynn is the seventh head coach in Emporia State women's basketball history and is in his fourth year in Emporia.  Wynn entered the year 64-23 at the helm for the Lady Hornets and his teams have earned an NCAA Tournament bid in each of his first three seasons.  Wynn joined the swarm after a successful 13-year stint at Seward County Community College in Liberal, Kan.  There he led the Saints to a 349-84 record and began the year 413-107 overall in 16 total seasons.  The Saints posted five 25-win seasons to close out his time as a junior college coach and the Coronavirus-shortened 2020-21 season is his only campaign in Emporia in which he did not lead the Lady Hornets to at least 20 wins.
 
Ron McHenry is in his 22^nd year on the bench for Washburn and is the winningest coach in school history.  McHenry entered the year with a career record of 476-164, all in the capital city with a 284-117 MIAA record.  Washburn reached 12 consecutive NCAA tournaments between 2002 and 2013 under his direction while winning eight regular season league crowns and seven MIAA Tournament titles.  McHenry got his start at Washburn as a player before joining the men's basketball staff as a graduate assistant to legendary head coach Bob Chipman.  After coaching as an assistant at Perry High School and with the Topeka Sizzlers of the Continental Basketball Association, McHenry returned to the Washburn campus to rejoin Chipman's staff and remained there for 11 seasons while also serving as the head coach of Ichabod men's golf for eight seasons.  McHenry has 14 20-win seasons and three 30-win seasons as Washburn's head coach.
 
TURNOVER TEETER TOTTER
Newman turned the ball over 31 times against Missouri Western, the most for a Newman team since committing 31 turnovers against Incarnate Word January 30, 2010.  The Jet record for turnovers in a game is 36 in a loss on the road at Emporia State November 19, 2008.  Newman turned it over just 13 times against Northwest Missouri in the very next game, the fewest turnovers the Jets have committed inside 'The Association' games this year and the second fewest for Newman in any game this season.  The Jets turned it over a season-low eight times in their victory over Manhattan Christian College.
 
PUTTING IN THE TIME
When Carissa Beck logged 40 minutes in Newman's loss to Northeastern State, she was the first Jet to log at least that many minutes since 2016.  That season, Shaunice Robinson and Bria DeGrate each played at least 40 minutes in a 63-58 defeat in overtime to Rogers State February 20, 2016 in Claremore.  Robinson played a whopping 44 minutes in the game while DeGrate registered 40 minutes.  Beck hasn't slowed down since then, registering 40 minutes against Rogers State and Northwest Missouri.  Over a four-game stretch from January 8 to January 18, Beck played all but four available minutes for the jets and has registered at least 30 minutes in 12-straight contests.  She has logged 34 minutes or more in 10 of those 12 games.
 
SHE'S ON FIRE!!!!
Carissa Beck hit all three of her 3-pointers in NU's loss to Northwest Missouri State.  It was the third-straight game she had knocked down at least three treys to match her career high.  Beck has now hit at least two triples in each of the last five games and six of her last seven.  Beck leads the Jets in 3-point percentage at 38.8%.
 
MADE IN THE MIDWEST
The Jets didn't have to acquire any frequent-flyer miles to arrive on campus.  All 15 Jets hail from the Central Time Zone and represent just three different states.  Nine Jets stayed home in Kansas to play for NU, four made the trip north from Texas, and two came west from Missouri.
 
BRINGING THEIR 'A' GAME

• Junior transfer Tiffany Dortland is seventh in the league in 3-pointers attempted and eighth in overall field goals attempted.
• Junior shooting guard Carissa Beck is seventh in the league in minutes played, eighth in 3-pointers attempted, and 10^th in 3-pointers made per game (1.7).
• The Navy & Red start the week fifth in the MIAA in free throw percentage (74.2%).

 
NU STATS N' STREAKS

• Coming into this week, NU ranked 14^th in the league in scoring offense in MIAA games at 47.8 ppg.  Newman is eighth in scoring defense allowing 66.8 ppg in conference play.
• The Jets look to end their 13-game losing streak and a 15-game losing slide in conference play with a victory this week.  The 13-game losing streak is the longest in program history, passing last season's nine-game losing slide.
• Beloit, Kan., freshman Lauryn Dubbert dished out a career-high five assists against Northwest Missouri.
• Junior transfer guard Carissa Beck hit a career-best three 3-pointers for the fifth time in the Jets' defeat to Northwest Missouri.  Beck has played 40 minutes in two of Newman's last three games.
• Former Goddard Lion Torri Vang grabbed a career-best seven rebounds and matched a personal best with two assists against Northwest Missouri while logging a career high 27 minutes.  Vang topped 20 minutes in two of Newman's three games last week and made her first career start against the Bearcats.
• Freshman center Laura Bello set a new career high mark with two blocks against Northwest Missouri.
• The Navy & Red's 31 turnovers against Missouri Western were the most since the Jets gave it away 31 times against Incarnate Word on January 30, 2010.  The NCAA-era record for turnovers in a game by the Jets is 36 set in a loss at Emporia State November 19, 2008.
• Newman freshman Alicia Mills scored a career-high five points in NU's loss to the Griffons.
• Dubbert scored a career-high 15 points and a career-best two 3-pointers in NU's loss to Rogers State.  Beck also tallied a new personal best of 13 points in the same game.
• Former Derby Panther Sydney Nilles set a new career high with eight rebounds at Central Missouri.
• Senior guard Makayla Hayes doubled her rebounding career high by controlling 12 boards in NU's loss at Lincoln.  Her previous best of six also came at Jason Gym in Jefferson City last season.  She also matched a career high of two steals for the second time in the same game.
• Former Bishop Carroll Golden Eagle Britney Ho matched a career high of two steals @ Lincoln.
• Against Northeastern State, Dubbert matched a career high with two steals.
• NU's 27 turnovers at Central Oklahoma were the most since the Jets turned it over 27 times against St. Mary's in Heartland Conference action February 23, 2017.  In the same game, Bronchos center Kelsey Johnson scored 30 points, the first opponent to score at least that many against the Jets since Kenzi Lamer torched NU for 32 points on 10 of 14 shooting from outside the arc in a 68-66 win for Northwestern Oklahoma State over the Jets in Wichita November 16, 2019.
• The 46-point defeat for the Jets in their 90-44 loss at #5 Fort Hays State was the Jets' biggest defeat in NU's NCAA Division II era.  It was Newman's first loss of at least 40 points since falling 87-42 at #5 Lubbock Christian January 7, 2016.
• Nilles matched a career-high of three steals for the fourth time in NU's loss to Washburn in Wichita.
• Ho scored a career-high 17 points on 8 of 12 shooting in the Jets' home defeat to Emporia State.
• Nilles tallied a career-high eight assists in NU's loss to the Lady Hornets in Wichita.
• Beck nabbed a personal best six rebounds in the Jet's defeat to ESU at Fugate Gymnasium.
• Junior guard Amoni White set back-to-back season highs after scoring eight points at Pittsburg State and then erupting for 15 points against Missouri Southern.  In that same game against Southern, White matched a season-high with four assists.
• Junior guard Tiffany Dortland matched her career-high of nine rebounds at Missouri Southern.
• The 68-point victory for the Jets in their 91-23 blowout over Manhattan Christian updated several superlatives for the Jets.  The 68-point margin is the second-biggest win for the Navy & Red behind only NU's 69-point win over the Central College of the Bible in an 87-18 triumph November 14, 2016.  It was the first time the Jets had a win of at least 50 points since beating Randall by 57 in an 80-23 win December 14, 2019.  It was the first time NU scored at least 90 points game since NU had defeated Randall 96-37 January 7, 2019.  The also Jets forced 25 Thunder turnovers in the game, the first time the Jets had turned over a team at least 25 times since forcing 26 turnovers in a win against Lincoln January 4, 2020.
• Redshirt freshman Elise Kaiser scored a career-high 15 points in NU's victory over Manhattan Christian.  It was her first career double-figure scoring game.
• Junior guard Amoni White nabbed a career-high seven steals in NU's win over MCC.  It was the first time the Jets had a player tally at least five steals since Abbey George grabbed five steals in NU's senior day win against Arkansas-Fort Smith March 2, 2019.  The mark was one shy of the NU single-game record of eight in the Division II era set by Kesha Buckner January 8, 2015 when NU defeated Lubbock Christian in Heartland Conference play.
• Vang set a new career high with 4 points in NU's victory against MCC.
• Bello collected her first career double-double by grabbing a career high 11 rebounds to go along with 10 points in a Jet victory over Cottey College.
• Dortland matched a career high with five assists in NU's Cottey College victory.  She also registered a personal best of two blocks against the Comets.
• Bello erupted for a career-high 19 points in just 11 minutes in the Jets' loss to Cameron.
• Dubbert grabbed a personal-best eight rebounds against Mary.
• Dortland set a program record for most points in a Newman Jets debut when she scored 27 in the season-opener against Wayne State College.  The record was previously held by Satoria Bell, who tallied 22 points in her NU debut on November 11, 2011 in a 65-58 win against Emporia State.  It was also the second-most points scored in a home or season-opening game behind only Alexandra Ciabattoni's 30-point outburst to open the 2013-14 campaign in a 66-64 victory against Rockhurst on November 9, 2013.  Ciabattoni went on to receive First Team All-Heartland Conference honors and was named the 2014 Heartland Conference Player of the Year.
• The Jets are vying for their first winning season since 2018-19 when head coach Darin Spence led the Navy & Red to a 21-10 record while finishing second in the Heartland Conference.
• NU also seeks its first 10-win season since 2019-20 when NU finished 11-17 while going 6-13 in its first year in the MIAA.
• Newman looks to return to the postseason for the first time since 2019 when NU ended a six-game postseason losing streak with two wins in the Heartland Conference Tournament.  The Jets lost in the championship game to #25 Lubbock Christian.  The top-seeded Lady Chaparrals went on to win the 2019 NCAA Division II National Championship.

 
YOU'RE NEXT!
The Jets return home and likely will host two Top 25 foes next week in Nebraska-Kearney and Fort Hays State.
 
MIAA PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Week 1:  Katie Wagner – Fort Hays State
Week 2:  Kelsey Johnson – Central Oklahoma
Week 3:  Kelsey Johnson (2) – Central Oklahoma (2)
Week 4:  Shiloh McCool – Nebraska-Kearney
Week 5:  Shiloh McCool (2) – Nebraska-Kearney (2)
Week 6:  Nija Collier – Central Missouri
Week 7:  Tre'Zure Jobe – Emporia State
Week 8:  Kelsey Johnson (3) – Central Oklahoma (3)
Week 9:  Lacy Stokes – Missouri Southern
Week 10:  Maleeah Langstaff – Northeastern State