HAYS, Kan. - The fourth-ranked Fort Hays State women's basketball team will play for a regional championship for a third time after a gritty 59-55 win over St. Cloud State Saturday evening inside Gross Memorial Coliseum. With the win, the Tigers (30-3) move on to play Missouri Western in the regional championship game Monday evening at 7 p.m.
The Huskies (24-5) pushed Fort Hays State to the brink late in the game, but two 3-pointers from Lauren West in the final 43 seconds helped the Tigers hang on to the win.
Fort Hays State led by as many as 10 midway through the third quarter, but a 17-8 run by the visitors from the end of the third quarter through the first nine minutes of the fourth quarter gave SCSU a one-point lead. The Huskies went in front with 59 seconds left after a 3-pointer from Tori Wortz, but West immediately answered with a 3-pointer of her own to put the Tigers back up by two, 54-52.
Jaden Hobbs then picked up her third steal of the game, giving possession back to the Tigers up two with 37 seconds to go. The ball found its way to West again at the top of the key, where the sophomore had plenty of space to fire up another 3-pointer that spun in with 15 seconds to go, erupting the crowd of 2,765.
Wortz hit another 3-pointer on the other end with 12 seconds to go, but Fort Hays State was able to get the ball in to Katie Wagner who then knocked down a pair of free throws to all but ice the game. SCSU took one final shot in the waning seconds that missed, giving the Tigers the four-point win.
The teams went back-and-forth all afternoon, with the lead changing hands six times. St. Cloud State led by as many as four early on before the Tigers scored seven in a row to lead by two after 10 minutes, 14-12. Each side scored 14 points in the second quarter, giving FHSU a 28-26 advantage at the break.
Fort Hays State had a slight edge in shooting percentage, 38.2 percent (21-of-55) to 37.0 percent (20-of-54). The Tigers and Huskies missed a combined three free throws, with FHSU hitting 12-of-14 (85.7 percent) and SCSU hitting 8-of-9 (88.9 percent).
Olivia Hollenbeck scored a team-high 13 points thanks to a 5-for-5 effort at the free-throw line alongside six rebounds. Wagner added 12 points and tied Hollenbeck with a team-high six rebounds while also leading the Tigers with four assists and six steals. Cydney Bergmann added eight points and four rebounds off the bench.
This is the fourth time in program history that the Tigers have reached 30 wins in a season. The current 11-game winning streak is the seventh-longest in team history.
Missouri Western earned its spot in the regional title game with a 72-59 win over Nebraska-Kearney. Fort Hays State beat the Griffons twice in the regular season, including a 13-point win on the road (74-61, 1/15/22) and an overtime victory at home on Senior Night (78-69, 3/23/22). The winner of Monday's regional championship will then move on to Birmingham, Ala. for the NCAA DII Elite Eight beginning March 21.