FHSU Athletics
No. 2 seed #9 Fort Hays State (26-3) vs.
No. 3 seed Missouri Western (20-8)
MIAA Tournament Semifinals
Saturday, March 8, 2025 • 8:15 p.m.
Kansas City, Mo. • Municipal Auditorium
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The ninth-ranked Fort Hays State women's basketball team will play in the semifinal round of the MIAA Championship presented by Southern Bank for an eighth-straight season on Saturday when the second-seeded Tigers take on No. 3 Missouri Western beginning at 8:15 p.m. inside historic Municipal Auditorium in downtown Kansas City, Mo.
The Tigers advanced to the MIAA semifinals for a 12th time since joining the league 19 years ago, tied with Emporia State for the most semifinal appearances during that span. FHSU's streak of eight-straight semifinal appearances is the longest active streak in the league and is the second-longest such streak since the Tigers joined the league in 2006-07.
This is Fort Hays State's 16th trip to the MIAA Championship, with the Tigers accumulating a record of 23-13 all-time in the tournament. FHSU is 6-5 in the semifinals, 4-0 as the No. 2 seed, 3-2 against the No. 3 seed, 2-0 against MWSU and 18-12 inside Municipal Auditorium.
A win Saturday would put the Tigers in the championship round for the second year in a row, the sixth time in the last eight seasons and the seventh time since joining the league 19 years ago. Only Emporia State (nine) has been in more title games than FHSU during that span.
Fort Hays State moved on to the semifinals after a 90-74 win over Central Missouri in the quarterfinals on Thursday, the most points scored by the Tigers in tournament history and the most points scored by any team in the MIAA tournament since 2016.
Talexa Weeter led the Tigers with a career-high 35 points, 11 rebounds and three 3-pointers. Her 35 points are the most scored by a Tiger in the MIAA tournament, fourth-most by any player in tournament history, the most points ever scored by a non-starter in the tournament, the ninth-most points scored by a Tiger in a single game in program history and the most scored by any FHSU player in over 20 years.
Two of Fort Hays State's three losses this season have come against the Griffons by a combined two points. The Griffons have won the last four overall in the series.
The Tigers led the conference with five All-MIAA selections, including Player of the Year Katie DeGarmo and Defensive Player of the Year Olivia Hollenbeck. The graduate student duo were both first team picks, while Kate Dilsaver, Brooke Loewe and Talexa Weeter were all honorable mention recipients. Hollenbeck and Dilsaver were also listed on the MIAA All-Defensive Team.
DeGarmo is the fifth player since 1980 to earn the conference's top honor in consecutive seasons and the first to do so since Washburn's Crystal Walker in 2001-02 and 2002-03. She is the third player in school history to earn first team honors three times, joining Annette Wiles and Kate Lehman. It is her fourth All-MIAA honor overall after also picking up second team status in 2021-22.
The Maize, Kan. native led the team with 16.6 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, ranking third in the league in each category. She was also third in assist/turnover ratio in the league (1.9) and ranked 12th in the conference with 1.6 steals per game. She is the program record holder with 1,199 career rebounds while ranking second with 2,198 points. DeGarmo is also fourth all-time in assists, fifth in steals and second in field goals at FHSU.
Hollenbeck is the first five-time all-conference performer in school history. This is her initial first team honor after garnering third team recognition each of the last two years and honorable mention status in her first two seasons at FHSU. She is the first Tiger to earn Defensive Player of the Year honors since Kate Lehman did it in three-straight seasons between 2013 and 2015.
The Lincoln, Neb. native ranked second in the conference with 2.3 steals per night while ranking third with 1.7 steals per game. She also ranked fifth in the league in scoring with 16.5 points per contest while posting the second-best field goal percentage in the league at 62.1 percent. Hollenbeck ranks fourth in school history with 1,864 points, second with 217 blocks and eighth with 200 steals in her career. She also ranks third in field goals and needs 30 rebounds to crack the top 10 list in that category at FHSU.
Dilsaver earned her first All-MIAA recognition after averaging 2.0 steals per game, third-most in the league. She ranked fourth on the team with an average of 9.1 points per game while pouring in 24 3-pointers, second-most on the squad. The senior rounded out her stat line with 4.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game, making her the only player on the team to average two or more in four of the five major stat categories (points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks).Loewe collected her first All-MIAA honor after leading the league with 192 assists this season, averaging 7.1 assists per game. The junior point guard ranks second in Division II in total assists while slotting third in average. She also ranked ninth in the league and third on the team with 1.7 steals per game while ranking fifth on the team with 7.2 points per contest. She broke the single season school record with her 192 assists and already ranks ninth in program history with 347 assists in just three seasons.
Weeter picked up her first All-MIAA award after averaging 13.1 points per game off the bench. She ranked 17th in the league in scoring, making her the only player to rank in the top 25 in the league in scoring that is not a starter for their team. She scored in double figures 20 times this year, including five games with 20 or more points. The sophomore also ranks second on the team with 5.8 rebounds and 0.9 blocks per night.
DeGarmo has totaled 168 points and 93 rebounds in 11 games in the MIAA Tournament, ranking fifth all-time in points and third in rebounds. She needs 45 points and 13 rebounds to tie the career record in each category. The graduate student averages 15.3 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.6 assists in league tournament contests, scoring in double figures eight times and scoring at least 20 points four times.
The winner of Saturday's semifinal will move on to the MIAA Championship game Sunday afternoon (March 9, 3:30 p.m.) to take on either top-seeded Pittsburg State or No. 5 seed Washburn. The loser will look ahead to the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Championship Selection Show which is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. Sunday live on NCAA.com.