PITTSBURG -- The second trip through the conference sends Pittsburg State to Topeka and Emporia to take on Washburn at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday and Emporia State at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. The Lady Hornets are one of the four teams to have beaten the Gorillas the first time.

Scouting Washburn
Washburn is sixth in the MIAA standings with a league record and a 12-8 overall record. The Ichabods have lost four of their last six games, including a 64-65 loss at Southwest Baptist on Saturday after a 59-54 win over Central Missouri in Warrensburg.
    Alyxis Bowens leads the ichabods with 11.3 ppg and 23 blocked shots. She is the only player averaging double figures. Erica Lane and Felisha Gibbs are just under double figures with 9.7 and 9.3 ppg, respectively. Gibbs leads the team with 6.6 rebounds per game, while Lane is the top free throw shooter, hitting 85 percent of her charity shots. Julie Ravn leads the team with 36 threes made.
    Washburn shoots .405 (456-1125) from the field, .314 (113-360) behind the arc, and .714 (217-304) from the foul line. The team also averages 62.1 ppg, 40.6 rpg, 13.5 apg.

Scouting Emporia State
No. 16 Emporia State is 16-4 overall and 10-4 in the MIAA. The Lady Hornets have gone 2-2 in their last four games after a six game win streak dating back to the first meeting between them and the Gorillas.
    Four Hornets are scoring in double figures this season: Kelly Moten (16.2 ppg), Sandra Ngoie (13.0 ppg, 6.6 rpg) \Kelsey Barnwell (10.7 ppg) and Addie Lackey (10.0). In addition, Kathryn Flott is just under double figures with 9.7 ppg. Each of the team's top four scorers have made at least 25 threes on the season, led by Ngoie with 42 threes made. Flott leads the team with 8.8 rpg. Moten averages 4.7 assists per game, while also leading the team with 22 blocked shots and 32 steals.
    As a team, Emporia State is shooting .4437 from the field, .355 from long range, and .728 from the foul line. The team also averages 77.9 points, 43.3 rebounds, 14.7 assists, and 6.3 steals per game.

Scouting Pittsburg State
The Gorillas are 17-4 overall and 11-4 in MIAA play and have won each of their last six games, including an upset over No. 6 Missouri Western last Wednesday and a 15-point come from behind swimng over Northwest Missouri on Saturday. Pitt State is currently tihrd in the MIAA standings behind Missouri Western and Fort Hays State, who have both secure spots in the MIAA Tournament.
    PItt State averages 75.4 points per game, while allowing opponents 64.2 ppg. The Gorillas shoot .433 from the floor overall and .348 from long range, hitting 7.3 threes per game. The team pulls down 36.3 rebounds per game, 2.4 more per game than their opponents. The team commits only 11.7 turnovers per game and has a 1.2 assists to turnover ratio.
    Mikaela Burgess continues to lead the Gorillas with 17.4 ppg. She is the team's top three-point shooter, having made 59-of-150 threes on the season for a .393 three-point shooting percentage. She hits three threes a game. She also leads the team in steals with 25. Cathy Brugman is the team's second leading scorer with 14.1 ppg a. She was named MIAA Player of the Week after averaging 21 points per game on the road against Lindenwood and Lincoln. Gafford adds 13.1 ppg to the PSU cause and is the team's leading rebounder with 5.9 rpg. She also leads the team with 38 blocks on the season. She was named this week's MIAA Player of the Week after scoring 20.0 points per game against Missouri Western and Northwest Missouri.
    Hadyn Herlocker leads the team with 91 assists for 4.6 assists per game. She has only turned the ball over 24 times on the season. Her 3.79 assists/turnover ratio is tops in the league. She scores 7.0 ppg. Herlocker makes almost 38.5 percent of her shots from three-point range. Paige Lungwitz adds 5.7 ppg. Shelby Lopez and Paige Imhoff come off the bench to each contribute 4.8 and 4.3 ppg, respectively.
    There is quite a difference in the team's play between wins and losses. In its wins, the Gorillas score 77.1 points. They commit only 10.9 turnovers per game in wins and outrebound opponents by 5.5 rpg. In losses, the Gorillas score only 67.5 ppg, are outrebounded by 4.2 and commit 16.0 turnovers per game. There is not a significant shooting percentage between wins and losses, proving that turnovers and rebounding are important keys for the Gorillas this season.

PSU vs. Washburn
Washburn has a decisive 50-28 lead in the all-time series against the Gorillas. Pitt State broke a 16-game losing streak to the Lady Blues with a 94-87 win on Jan. 21, 2009. The Gorillas added another win in the 2009-10, with a 58-57 overtime win in Pittsburg on Jan. 13. Washburn had won seven consecutive games over the Gorillas, with all but one being by double figures, until a 62-49 Gorilla win in PIttsburg to end the 2014 regular season. The Gorillas won both meetings last season and the first this season to take their winning streak to four games.         Prior to the 2009 win Pitt State had not won a game against Washburn since a 69-57 win on Feb. 10, 2001 in Topeka.         
    Washburn leads the series 21-16 in Pittsburg, 26-12 in Topeka and 2-0 at neutral sites. The longest streak of wins in the series is Washburn's 16-game streak from Feb. 23, 2002 to Jan. 14, 2009. Pitt State longest win streak was eight games from Jan. 8, 1997 to Jan. 15, 2000.
    The biggest margin of victory in the series was 65 points in a Washburn 101-36 win in the very first meeting on Jan .18, 1975. Pitt State's biggest win was 20 points on Jan. 28, 1978 in a 72-52 victory in Topeka.

PSU vs. Emporia State
The series between Pitt State and Emporia State has been a very lopsided one, with Emporia leading the series 53-26. Emporia State won all four meetings between the two teams last season, as the two teams not only faced off twice in regular season play, but also once in the MIAA Tournament, and once in the NCAA-II Regional Semifinals Prior to last season, Pitt State had won eight of 10 meetings, including a win in the NCAA South Central Regional final in 2012.            Emporia State won five in a row before the Gorillas took a 71-66 victory in PIttsburg on Feb. 17, 2010.
        Prior the Gorillas seven-game win streak from Feb. 17, 2010 to Feb. 20, 2013, Pitt State had not won back to back games in the series since winning three straight from Feb. 8, 1995 to Jan. 18, 1997. Emporia also won 13 of the first 14 meetings between the two teams. The longest streak of wins in the series was nine games by ESU from Jan. 5, 1998 to Feb. 21, 2001. Pitt State's longest streak of wins was the seven game streak from Feb. 17, 2010 to Feb. 20, 2013.
        Scores in the series have also been very lopsided toward ESU, though nine of the last 10 games have been decided by less than 10 points., including both of last year's regular season games The Hornets have won 17 games by 20 or more points, while Pitt State has only won one game by that margin, a 35-point win in Pittsburg on Jan. 7, 2002. The largest win in the series was an 85-point Emporia win on Dec. 11, 1975.

Gorillas in the MIAA
Pitt State is third in the MIAA Standings just behind Missouri Western and Fort Hays State and half a game ahead of Emporia State.
    The Gorillas are third in the MIAA in scoring offense and fourth in scoring margin. The team's .433 field goal percentage is fourth. It makes 7.4 threes per game, which ranks third. Pitt State is second in free throw percentage with .766. The Gorillas have the second-best assist/turnover ratio in the league with a 1.20. They have the third-best turnover margin, only turning the ball over 11.7 times a game, while forcing opponents into 15.0 turnovers a game. The team is second in blocked shots with 4.00 blocks per game.
    Several individuals rank high in the league in several statistical categories as well. Burgess is 4th with 17.4 ppg, while Brugman ranks 11th and Gafford, 14th. Gafford ranks 12th for rebounds with her 5.9 rpg. Brugman is 18th. Burgess is 12th for field goal percentage (.411). She is also fourth in three-point field goal percentage (.393) and first in threes per game (3.1). Brugmanleads the league with her .892 free throw percentage. Burgess is third at .859. Gafford ranks 14th. Hadyn Herlocker is second in the MIAA with 4.6 assists per game. She leads the MIAA with her 3.8 assist/turnover ratio. Gafford's 38 blocks on the season are tops in the league.

She's Having a Block Party
Senior Kylie Gafford has been a significant presence down low for the Gorillas in her first three seasons. Her number of blocks has increased each season and with her team-leading 38 blocks on the season Gafford has 174 blocks for her career. She has passed Lauren Brown for second place and is 14 from surpassing the record of 187 set by Larissa Richards from 2008-2012.

Burgess for THREE!
Sophomore Mikaela Burgess leads the Gorillas with 59 threes on the season, an average of over three threes made per game. Last season she was second on the team with 52 threes made, so she has already passed her freshman season total with seven regular season games to go. She shoots .379 (111-293) from three for her career and only needs to make 12 more to rank in the top five for career threes made. She only needs to make one more to tank in the top five for single season threes made.

Taking Care of the Rock
Junior point guard Hadyn Herlocker may not have seen a ton of court time prior to earning her starting spot this season, but the minutes she has played has made a significant impact, as she has done a superb job of taking care of the ball. Last season she dished out 65 assists with only 30 turnovers for a 2.2 assist/turnover ratio. With an even better performance this season, she is just over that for her career with 178 assists and only 71 turnovers for a 2.51 assist/turnover ratio. She has had five games this season with no turnovers and 13 with four or more assists. This season she is at 3.79 with 91 assists and only 24 turnovers, a statistic which leads Division II.