After nine straight losses, Washburn University pulled the plug on Kansas University in women’s basketball. That was in 1975.

Now the Ichabods are back on the Jayhawks’ schedule, and the ‘Bods are no pushover.

“I really think they’ll be the best team we’ve played,” KU coach Bonnie Henrickson said. “They have to be one of the best teams in (NCAA) Division Two.”

Tipoff will be at 7:05 tonight in Allen Fieldhouse. The game will be telecast live on Sunflower Broadband Channel 6.

“Most people don’t realize how good Washburn is,” Henrickson said. “They beat UMKC by 30 points in an exhibition, and it was over there (Kansas City).”

Kansas struggled to a 47-36 victory over the Kangaroos last week in Allen Fieldhouse.

Ron McHenry, a McLouth native who logged a couple of games as a Kansas University men’s basketball walk-on during the 1981-82 season, is in his fifth year as women’s coach at Washburn.

“He has a really nice team,” Henrickson said. “They’re very, very good. He has tremendous athleticism and skilled kids.”

While Henrickson was at Virginia Tech, she knew about a pair of Washburn starters — guard Juwanna Rivers from Cleveland and forward Jennifer Harris from Morristown, N.J.

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“We were aware of those two from the East Coast,” Henrickson said. “I lost track of them, and I didn’t know they were at Washburn.”

Washburn’s best player is Carla Sintra, a 6-foot-1 center from Brazil who is averaging 16.0 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. Kansas counters with Crystal Kemp who boasts nearly the same averages (17.0 ppg; 7.3 rpg). A Topeka High product, Kemp will be playing against her hometown school for the first time.

“A couple of people have already called me from home, asking me if I’m ready,” Kemp said. “I am not taking it as an easier game or a harder game, it is just another game that we are going to have to work hard to win.”

Kansas has won three straight since bowing to UT-Arlington in its opener. The Jayhawks, whose shooting had been spotty, shot better than 50 percent in a 67-44 thumping of Denver U. Tuesday night in Allen Fieldhouse. But five DU freshmen logged more than 20 minutes in that one.

Meanwhile, the Ichabods are 3-0 and haven’t been tested while rolling to wins over Rockhurst (85-62), Southeastern Oklahoma (81-31) and Baker (69-34). So far Washburn’s only weakness has been three-point shooting. The ‘Bods have counted only nine of 52 shots from beyond the arc, a dismal 17 percent.

Tonight’s outing will be the last of seven straight KU home games — counting two exhibitions — to open the season. The Jayhawks will make their first road trip Sunday when they’ll face No. 18-ranked Minnesota in Minneapolis.

Notes: Washburn is ranked No. 9 in the WBCA Division Two coaches poll. … This is the first official KU-Washburn meeting since ’75, but Kansas tripped the Ichabods, 72-46, in an exhibition game in 2000. … Washburn’s Stacey Becker played for KU in 2002-2003 as a walk-on. … WU’s Dani McHenry, daughter of the coach, was a member of KU’s volleyball team in 2001.