FHSU Athletics
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Fort Hays State struggled hitting shots early and tried to battle out of a 13-point deficit heading into the fourth quarter, but a late comeback rally came up short as Pittsburg State claimed the MIAA Tournament title on Sunday with a 63-53 victory. FHSU is now 24-7 overall, while PSU also moved to 24-7 overall.
The Tigers were ranked No. 3 in the Central Region rankings the last two weeks. The NCAA selection show will be at 9:30 p.m. on Sunday night on NCAA.com.
Katie Wagner hit the opening bucket of the game, a corner 3-point field goal to give the Tigers the early lead, but then the offense went cold for a while, going through a 2-of-13 spell from the field the rest of the first quarter. That allowed the Gorillas to build a 15-7 advantage by the end of the first quarter.
Despite the early offensive struggles, the Tigers made some progress in the second quarter by holding the Gorillas to just one field goal in the frame. Down 10, the Tigers started to chip away and got the lead back to four before the Gorillas took a five-point advantage to halftime of 26-21. The Tigers had only three players score in the first half, led by Wagner with 10. Sydney Golladay had six and Olivia Hollenbeck had five.
The Tigers cut the lead to three a pair of times early in the third quarter before Grace Pyle hit one of her big 3-point shots in the game to hold off a Tiger charge. That triggered a 10-0 run by the Gorillas over about a span of four minutes that pushed the lead up to 13. That was the margin heading into the fourth quarter with Pitt State up 42-29.
Fort Hays State put on a frantic full-court press effort in the final three minutes of the game and had Pittsburg State rattled in trying to bring the ball up the floor. Down 10, Wagner hit a pair of free throws to cut the margin to eight, then a turnover set up a Golladay 3-point field goal to cut the margin to five. The teams traded two points each, but then Hollenbeck created a steal near midcourt and Katie Wagner raced ahead for what looked to be a chance for an and-one opportunity as a foul was called as she made the fast-break bucket. However, a charging foul was called and it wiped off the basket as FHSU was possibly on the verge of cutting the lead to two with about 1:20 to play. Pyle then hit a dagger 3-pointer to make the lead eight and put the game away for the Gorillas.
Ultimately, a tough shooting day was too much for the Tigers to overcome. They shot just 31.7 percent from the field. Pittsburg State hit 42.2 percent of its field goal attempts and made two more 3-point field goals (6 for PSU to 4 for FHSU). The free-throw line is where the Gorillas won the game, hitting 19 compared to 11 for FHSU. The Gorillas had eight more attempts at the line than the Tigers.
Katie Wagner finished with a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds to earn the tournament's Most Outstanding Player award. Olivia Hollenbeck was also on the all-tournament team, finishing with nine points and nine rebounds. Golladay joined Wagner in double figures scoring with 15 points for the game.
Macie Mays led the Gorillas with 17 points and went 8-of-8 at the free-throw line. Pyle was 6-of-6 at the stripe and hit three 3-point field goals to finish with 15 points. Karenna Gerber had 10 points.
Fort Hays State now looks for an at-large selection for the Central Region of the NCAA Tournament next week. Site host and matchups will be announced during the NCAA selection show on Sunday night at 9:30 p.m. on NCAA.com.