KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Madison Mittie only scored six points but her two third quarter 3-pointers may have been the biggest shots of the day as the Fort Hays State women pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 69-53 win over Pittsburg State in the MIAA Tournament quarterfinals at Municipal Auditorium.
The Tigers (23-6) led most of the first half and were up 29-23 at halftime but the Gorillas (17-11) used a 15-6 run to start the third quarter to build a 38-35 lead with 5:49 to play in the quarter. Mittie hit a three in the right corner in front of the Tigers bench to tie the game at 38-38. She hit her second three a little over three minutes later to give the Tigers the lead for good at 46-43 and sparked a 28-10 run over the next nine minutes which put the game away.
Kacey Kennett made four of the Tigers eight 3-pointers and scored 19 points along with eight rebounds. Whitney Randall added 16 points and Belle Barbieri 14 along with nine boards and four assists. Jaden Hobbs played all 40 minutes and scored seven while dishing out six assists.
Pitt State was led by sophomore guard Kaylee DaMitz who scored 20.
The Tigers advance to Saturday’s semifinals where they play top-seed Central Missouri at noon. The Jennies beat Washburn 65-61 Thursday to advance. UCM is ranked No. 1 in this week’s Central Region poll. The game is a rematch of last year’s title game won by the Tigers.