FHSU Athletics
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Fort Hays State fell in the MIAA Women's Basketball Tournament Championship Game on Sunday at Municipal Auditorium. Pittsburg State raced out of the gate to a 9-0 lead and the Tigers struggled to find their rhythm early, ultimately leading to an 81-73 victory for the Gorillas. FHSU is now 27-4 overall, while PSU moved to 29-3 overall. Both teams will await their NCAA Tournament future tonight during the selection show at 9:30 p.m. on NCAA.com.
Fort Hays State fell down 22-10 after one quarter and the lead grew as large as 22 in the first half for the Gorillas. Eventually PSU took a 16-point lead (43-27) to the locker room. The Gorillas shot nearly 50 percent in the first half, while FHSU struggled to just 33.3 percent.
The Tigers lost two more points of ground in the third quarter and went into the fourth down 18. The Gorillas held a 24-point lead with 8:49 to play, but the Tigers found a lot of success late and trimmed the final score all the way back down to an eight-point margin. FHSU had the lead down to six with six seconds to play.
Katie DeGarmo, the MIAA Player of the Year, moved into the all-time lead for scoring and rebounds at the MIAA Tournament. She had a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds. She finished with 227 points and 117 rebounds in her MIAA Tournament career.
Olivia Hollenbeck and Talexa Weeter tied for high-point honors for the Tigers, each with 17. Hollenbeck was just one rebound shy of a double-double with nine. Brooke Loewe also was close to a double-double with 15 points and nine assists. Weeter and DeGarmo were named to the all-tournament team for their success over three contests.
Grace Pyle led the Gorillas with 23 points, while Karenna Gerber added 19. All Gorillas that played in the game scored.