FHSU Athletics
HAYS, Kan. - The Fort Hays State women's basketball team wrapped up the regular season with another overtime victory Friday evening (March 1), completing the season sweep of Nebraska-Kearney with a 74-64 win. The Lopers (18-10, 12-10 MIAA) hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to send things into overtime, but the Tigers (22-6, 16-6 MIAA) outscored the visitors 13-3 in the extra period to earn their second-consecutive overtime win.
It was the first time the Tigers played back-to-back overtime games since January 2011 (1/22 64-60 win at Lincoln, 1/26 75-70 win at Nebraska-Omaha).
The Tigers conclude the regular season with 16 conference wins, enough for FHSU to finish in either a tie for second or a tie for third in the league standings pending results from Saturday. Official seeds for the MIAA Championship Tournament, presented by Southern Bank, will be released Saturday evening after the conclusion of all regular season action.
The Tigers struggled offensively in the first half, hitting just 25.6 from the floor over the first 20 minutes (10-of-39). Thankfully for the fans in black and gold, the Tiger defense took the reins to keep the home team in the game. Fort Hays State forced 11 turnovers in the first half while blocking one shot, limiting the Lopers to a 30-26 lead at halftime. Katie Wagner did the bulk of the work for the Tigers offensively in the first half, scoring 14 points including a pair of 3-pointers.
Fort Hays State figured things out after intermission, hitting nearly 55 percent from the floor over the rest of the contest (17-of-31). The Tiger defense continued to dominate, finishing the game with 11 steals and forcing 22 Loper turnovers. FHSU held its rival to just one field goal over the first eight minutes of the second half, giving the Tigers the opportunity to take control.
Emma Ruddle drilled a 3-pointer midway through the third to pull the Tigers within one, 32-31, before Wagner put the team on top with a jumper one minute later. Jessie Sallach then added back-to-back buckets to push the lead to six, 38-32. Sallach later hit a 3-pointer to push the lead to seven at the end of the third quarter, 43-36.
Nebraska-Kearney scored six-straight points early in the fourth quarter before Sallach responded with another 3-pointer to push the lead back to four, 48-44. UNK answered with another 3-pointer of its own, again trimming the lead to one. The teams traded buckets for the remainder of the contest, with FHSU never leading by more than six but never falling behind as the Tigers always had an answer.
A traditional 3-point play from Wagner and back-to-back buckets from Olivia Hollenbeck helped the Tigers push their lead back to six, 57-51, with three minutes to play. The Lopers followed with consecutive buckets, including a 3-pointer from Meg Burns to close within one.
Hollenbeck hit another layup with 25 seconds to go to put the Tigers back up three, 59-56, before UNK scored a quick two with 12 seconds remaining. Sydney Golladay was then fouled and calmly hit both free throws with six seconds to go, pushing the lead back to three. Burns then threw up a heave from the top of the arc with a hand in her face as time was expiring that managed to find the bottom of the net, leveling the score at 61 after 40 minutes of action.
Both teams missed on their first attempt in overtime before Golladay drilled a 3-pointer to give the Tigers the lead. FHSU got another stop before Hollenbeck scored again in the paint, stretching the lead to five. The Lopers followed with another Burns 3-pointer, but Wagner answered right back with a jumper of her own. The Maize, Kan. native then hit a pair of free throws, pushing the lead to six with two minutes to play, 70-64.
The Tiger defense finished strong, forcing the Lopers to miss their final five shots while forcing a pair of turnovers over the final two minutes of the overtime period. The Tigers were a perfect 9-for-9 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter and overtime to seal the win.
Fort Hays State scored 21 points off the 22 UNK turnovers, while the Lopers managed just 10 points off eight Tiger turnovers. The Tigers shot a combined 38.6 percent from the floor for the game (27-of-70) while UNK hit 40.3 percent (27-of-67). The Lopers took care of business on the boards as they have all season, outrebounding the Tigers 50-35.
Wagner led all scorers with 26 points, adding six rebounds, three assists and one steal. Hollenbeck scored 18 points and added two steals and one block on defense. Golladay distributed eight assists for the second game in a row, adding seven points and one steal. Sallach contributed 12 points, 10 of which came after halftime, while Brooke Loewe distributed five assists and poked away a career-high four steals.