WICHITA, Kan. - Emma Ruddle scored a career-high 21 points and tied a career-high with six rebounds and Katie Wagner scored her 1,000th point and the Fort Hays State women's basketball team held off a pesky Newman team 84-77 Thursday at Fugate Gymnasium.
The started at a frantic pace with the Jets hitting their first six shots, three of them from beyond the arc and the Tigers (17-7, 12-34 MIAA) knocking in seven of their first nine including three 3-pointers.
After the Tigers built a five-point second quarter lead, the Jets answered with nine-straight only to see FHSU score the final five points for a 39-38 halftime lead.
Wagner's jumper with 12 seconds remaining pushed her to 1,000 points in her career at FHSU, the 24th player in program history to accomplish the feat in a Tiger jersey.
The Tigers scored the first eight points of the third qaurter to push their lead to nine on back-to-back 3-pointers from Katie Wagner and Emma Ruddle and a Megan Earney layup but the Jets answered with with a 11-0 run to go three. A 3-point field goal pushed the Jets' lead to four with 1:25 to go in the quarter, but the Tigers got the game tied again before the Jets moved out in front 60-59 heading to the fourth.
A 6-0 run early in the final stanza put the Tigers up five only to see Newman score five-straight to tie the game 67-67 with six and a half minutes to play. FHSU then held the Jets scoreless for about five and a half minutes, going on an 11-0 run. Jessie Sallach triggered the keyu push with a jumper from the left wing, then Golladay hit a tough fade away from near the same location. Ruddle pushed the lead to seven with a 3-point field goal from the top of the key and then added a pair of free throws to get the margin to nine. Brooke Loewe finished the run with a pair of free throws with around 45 seconds to play.
The Tigers hit six free throws the rest of the way to finish with 25 makes as a team, a new season high. The Tigers shot 89.8 percent as a team at the charity stripe, missing only three free tosses in the game.
Ruddle finished 6-of-11 from the field with three 3-point field goals, while shooting a perfect 6-of-6 at the free-throw line for her career high of 21 points. She also tied her career high of six rebounds and set a new career high in assists with eight. She added two steals and two blocks for her tremendous all-around effort.
Wagner finished with 16 points for the Tigers, moving her career points total to 1,009. She also pulled down a team-high seven rebounds in the game. Hollenbeck and Golladay each finished with 14 points. Sallach was the top scorer off the bench for FHSU with eight. The Tigers finished at 47.3 percent from the field as a team and hit seven 3-point field goals in the game.
Carissa Beck would eventually lead the Newman scoring effort with 17 points and she was a perfect 7-of-7 at the free-throw line. Jordan Hecket also reached double figures with 13 to go with Ho's 16. Newman drained 12 3-point field goals in the game, shooting 40 percent beyond the arc and 47.5 percent from the field overall.
The Tigers return to action on Saturday at Central Oklahoma. Tipoff is set for 1:30 p.m. in Edmond.