HAYS, Kan. - Fourth-ranked Fort Hays State women's basketball scored the final six points to come from behind and defeat Minnesota State in the quarterfinal round of the 2022 NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Central Regional Friday inside Gross Memorial Coliseum, 66-61. The Tigers (29-3) will now play in the DII regional semifinals for the fifth time in program history Saturday at 7:30 p.m. against St. Cloud State who defeated Missouri Southern 69-67 in overtime.
The top-seeded Tigers led for more than 33 minutes in the contest, but found itself down by one to the No. 8 seed with less than a minute to play. The Mavericks (21-7) used an 18-6 run over the first six minutes of the fourth quarter to storm in front after trailing by as many as 14. The visitors shot just 31.5 percent from the floor for the game, but hit 7-of-12 (58.3 percent) during that run to take a 61-60 lead with 3:52 to play.
The Tigers ratcheted things up on defense down the stretch, however, forcing seven consecutive missed shots and two turnovers to give themselves a chance to retake the lead. After two turnovers of their own, the Tigers regained the lead with 53 seconds to go when Cydney Bergmann laid in a basket following an offensive rebound. Katie Wagner pushed the lead to three with 15 seconds to go with a breakaway layup, beating the persistent Maverick press and erupting the 2,725 Tiger fans in attendance.
The Mavericks had a layup rattle out with five seconds left before Wagner hit two free throws to seal the win.
Fort Hays State trailed by as many as four early on before leading by three at the end of the first quarter, 15-12. The Tigers started to pull away in the second quarter, outscoring the Mavericks 21-11 to lead 36-23 at the break.
The aggressive MSU defense forced 28 Tiger turnovers thanks to 16 steals, the most during the Hobson era. Fort Hays State forced 20 turnovers defensively, including 12 steals of its own.
Fort Hays State hit 39.7 percent from the floor (25-of-63) and dominated on the boards, outrebounding the Mavericks 58-35. The Tigers scored 11 second-chance points off 17 offensive rebounds.
Wagner led the Tigers with 23 points, three off her career high, while matching her personal-best with 16 rebounds for her 10th career double-double. Jaden Hobbs scored 11 points and grabbed a career-best nine rebounds while also leading the team with four assists.
Kate Dilsaver added four assists off the bench. Whitney Randall contributed eight points and nine rebounds while matching Jessie Sallach with a team-high two blocks.
Two other MIAA programs won the first pair of quarterfinals, with No. 6 Nebraska-Kearney holding off No. 3 Minnesota Duluth, 77-70, and No. 7 Missouri Western racing past No. 2 Southwestern Oklahoma State, 111-77. Those conference rivals will play in the first regional semifinal on Saturday beginning at 5 p.m.