FHSU Athletics
GOLDEN, Colo. - The 12th-ranked Fort Hays State women's basketball team improved to 7-0 after holding on to defeat Colorado School of Mines on Saturday (Nov. 30), 59-46. The Tigers never trailed in the contest and led by as many as 17 after holding the Orediggers to a season-low shooting percentage of 26.6 percent (17-of-64).
The teams traded baskets early on before a 7-0 run helped the Tigers build a 16-7 lead. Olivia Hollenbeck opened the run with back-to-back buckets before Ellie Stearns buried a corner 3-pointer, prompting a Mines timeout.
Fort Hays State led 18-12 at the end of the first quarter before FHSU scored the first eight points to stretch the lead to 14, 26-12. Katie Wagner DeGarmo scored on the Tigers' first possession before Stearns knocked down two more triples. Both teams struggled to score over the final six minutes of the first half, with Mines outscoring FHSU 6-2 the rest of the way to close within 10 by the break, 28-18.
The Orediggers closed within seven early in the second half before a 10-point Tiger run pushed the lead to a game-high 17, 40-23. Talexa Weeter opened the scoring with a traditional 3-point play and then wrapped up the run with a 3-pointer from the top of the key.
Mines closed the gap to 11 by the end of the third stanza, 44-33, before another Stearns triple helped FHSU score the first five points of the fourth quarter to go back up 16. The home team tried to make a late rally, closing within nine with 70 seconds left before DeGarmo finished things off with a pair of baskets in the final minute.
DeGarmo led all scorers with 19 points, matching her season high, while also leading the team with eight rebounds and matching her career high with four blocks. Stearns netted a season-high 14 points thanks to four 3-pointers, the most triples made in a game by a Tiger this season. Weeter scored in double figures for the fifth game in a row, contributing 10 points, six rebounds and three blocks.
Fort Hays State hit 37.9 percent from the floor (22-of-58) and knocked down 6-of-19 from behind the arc (31.6 percent). The Tigers scored 15 points off 15 Mines turnovers and outscored the Orediggers in the paint, 30-24.
UP NEXT
The Tigers will return to Hays next weekend to open conference play when they host Central Missouri on Thursday (Dec. 5, 5:30 p.m.) and Washburn on Saturday (Dec. 7, 2 p.m.).