Emporia State (18-5, 17-5 MIAA) at
#5 Fort Hays State (21-2, 20-2 MIAA)
MIAA Championship Tournament, presented by Citizens Bank & Trust
Semifinals
Saturday, March 6, 2021 • 2 p.m.
Hays, Kan. • Gross Memorial Coliseum
Radio: KJLS (103.3-FM)
LISTEN LIVE
As the top overall seed and thus the top team remaining in the tournament, the fifth-ranked Fort Hays State women's basketball team will host the remainder of the 2021 MIAA Championship Tournament, presented by Citizens Bank & Trust this weekend (March 6-7) in Hays. The final push for another MIAA title begins Saturday at 2 p.m. with a semifinal matchup against fourth-seeded Emporia State.
Third-seeded Nebraska-Kearney and seventh-seeded Washburn will face off in the other semifinal at approximately 4 p.m. Saturday, with the winners to play for the MIAA Tournament title on Sunday beginning at 2 p.m.
Upper level general admission tickets will go on sale to the general public Friday morning at 8 a.m. Tickets can be purchased online via the following link, over the phone at (785) 628-4050 or in person in the athletics office.
FHSU students will get in free when they present a valid Tiger Card to the ticket booth at gate 2.
Fans wishing to watch from home can do so on The MIAA Network. MIAA Championship passes are available for $25 and will be valid for all games in both the men's and women's tournaments. Fans that purchased season-long access to the network will automatically have access to all tournament games. $10 single day access passes are also available for purchase. Live audio and live stats will also be available online.
Winners of their last 16 games, the fourth-longest winning streak in program history and the fourth-longest active streak in Division II, the Tigers are looking to avenge one of their two losses this season. Fort Hays State fell by just one point to then-No. 11 Emporia State earlier this season in Hays, 62-61 (1/2/21).
This is just the third time in tournament history that all three semifinal and championship games are being hosted by the same school (1983 @ UCM, 1991 @ UCM). This is the first time an MIAA Tournament champion will be crowned in a venue other than Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo. since 2002 when Missouri Western hosted the event in St. Joseph, Mo. The last 18 tournaments have concluded in Kansas City.
Fort Hays State is playing in its 12th MIAA tournament this year. The Tigers have advanced to the semifinals eight times over the last nine seasons, more than any other team during that stretch. FHSU is 15-10 all-time in the tournament, including a 5-0 record in tournament games played in Hays. The Tigers are 1-3 against Emporia State, 3-4 in the semifinal round, 6-1 when playing as the No. 1 seed, 3-1 when playing the No. 4 seed and 7-2 when playing as a ranked team. Head coach Tony Hobson's 15 wins in the tournament are fifth-most all-time by a coach.
The Tigers are 10-1 in home conference tournament games during the DII era including a 5-1 mark in RMAC Shootout quarterfinals held in Hays between 1995 and 2006.
Fort Hays State advanced to the semifinals after a dominant 71-44 win over Missouri Southern in the quarterfinals Wednesday. It was the eighth time the Tigers have held an opponent under 50 points this season, tied with Washburn for the most amongst MIAA schools.
Saturday is Hobson's 200th home game at FHSU. The Tigers are 173-26 (.869) inside the Coliseum under Hobson, including an astounding 66-4 (.943) mark in non-conference games.
The Lady Hornets (74.1 ppg) and the Tigers (72.5 ppg) are the top two scoring offenses in the MIAA.
With 6.1 assists per game and a 3FG% of 46.2, Jaden Hobbs is on pace to eclipse the program records of 5.4 ast/gm (Maisha Prewitt, 1998-99) and 44.4 (Audra Bindford, 2009-10).
Olivia Hollenbeck led the Tigers with 20 points in Wednesday's semifinal, the third time the freshman has led FHSU in scoring this season. The honorable mention All-MIAA selection is averaging 12.2 points per game over the last 10 contests.
Whitney Randall again scored in double figures on Wednesday, doing so for a team-best 21st time this season. The first team All-MIAA selection leads the team with an average of 16.0 points per night.
Katie Wagner recorded her first double-double as a Tiger earlier this season against Emporia State, tallying 11 points and 11 rebounds alongside five assists.
Emporia State leads the all-time series, 52-35, while Fort Hays State holds a slim 21-20 lead in games played in Hays. The Tigers have won seven of the last nine meetings in Hays dating back to January 2014. The series is deadlocked 9-9 since the start of the 2013-14 season. FHSU is 9-19 against the Lady Hornets under Hobson, including a 7-6 mark at home. Hobson has coached against ESU more than any other school in his 13-year tenure at FHSU. The Tigers are 1-3 against the Lady Hornets in the MIAA Tournament, including a 57-54 win in the most recent postseason meeting (2018 quarterfinals, 3/1/18 in KC).
Fort Hays State's nine wins over the Lady Hornets since the start of the 2013-14 season are the most by any school during that span. FHSU is responsible for 17 percent of ESU's 52 losses over that span.
Emporia State rallied from 13 points down to win its MIAA quarterfinal matchup against Central Oklahoma, 82-80. It was the third time over the last four games the Lady Hornets have stormed back from a double-digit deficit to win. ESU is 18-5 on the year after finishing fourth in the MIAA standings at 17-5. They are seventh in the latest NCAA DII Central Region rankings.
The Lady Hornets average 74.1 points per contest, tops in the MIAA and good for 38th in the country. They've attempted 663 3-pointers this season and made 232, ranked first and second in Division II, respectively. ESU averages 10.1 3-pointers made per game, sixth-most in the country. They do a good job keeping opponents off the free-throw line, committing just 13.0 fouls per game, sixth-fewest in DII.
Tre'Zure Jobe was the MIAA Player of the Year as well as earning first team All-MIAA honors and a spot on the All-Defensive team. She leads the MIAA and ranks 16th nationally with 20.3 points per game. Fredricka Sheats was a third-team All-MIAA selection while Karsen Schultz and Ehlaina Hartman both earned honorable mention status.