HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State tried mightily to fight off a second-half comeback by Missouri Western in the NCAA Central Regional Final Monday in Hays, but the Griffons dashed their hopes of a trip to the Elite Eight on a basket with eight seconds remaining. The Tigers had one last try to win the game, but had to settle for a runner that fell off the mark as the clock expired.
It was the third time since 2015 the Tigers had advanced to the regional final only to lose on their home court.
The Tigers looked in good position to make their first-ever NCAA Elite Eight appearance when they were up 21 points with 2:04 to go before halftime. However, the Griffons were able to sneak back to a manageable deficit with a 6-0 run to end the quarter, making the halftime margin 15 at 38-23.
Missouri Western made the first bucket of the second half to extend their late first half run to 8-0 overall before a Katie Wagner free throw and a bucket by Olivia Hollenbeck push the lead to 16. It reached 16 once more on a Jaden Hobbs jumper with 5:48 to go in the third, but the Griffons kept chipping away and their 7-0 run at the end of the quarter had them back within four at 49-45.
The screws really started to tighten when the Griffons got the lead down to two points at the 7:50 and 5:33 marks of the fourth quarter and then Jaelyn Haggard hit a jump shot that bounced several times on the rim before falling through to tie the score at 60-60 with 3:43 remaining. Haggard struck again moments later by drawing a foul on the shot, and then received two more free throws on an untimely technical foul on Lauren West. Haggard buried all four foul shots, putting the Griffons up 64-60 with three minutes to play.
Whitney Randall got the Tigers back within two with a pair of free throws and then Wagner stepped up in the clutch with a driving layup to tie the game with 1:27 to play. But, with ice water in her veins, Haggard buried a 3-point field goal about 10 seconds later from several feet beyond the arc to put the Griffons back up by three. Wagner got two of the points back with a pair of free throws, but the Tigers then had to foul on the other end. Missouri Western made just one of two attempts, leaving the door open for the Tigers.
The Tigers crashed right through that door moments later when Hobbs found Wagner with a play over the top and Wagner was fouled as she made a layup to tie the game. She then buried the and-one attempt to give the Tigers the lead back.
After a timeout to advance the ball, Missouri Western got the ball into Brionna Budgetts, who drove the baseline and scored at the rim with eight seconds to go. That ultimately would win the game for MWSU as the Tigers had to scramble after an in-bounds play did not go as planned, and a running jumper from Kate Dilsaver was a bit long as the clock ran out on the Tigers and another amazing season.
Wagner led the Tiger effort with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Olivia Hollenbeck was the other Tiger to reach double figures in scoring with 14 points. Hobbs finished with nine and Randall had seven.
Haggard was the x-factor for the Griffons in the second half, scoring all but two of her game-high 19 points after halftime. Corbyn Cunningham did the majority of her 17-point damage in the second quarter when she had 10.
The Tigers were MIAA Regular Season and Tournament champions this year, finishing at 30-4 overall. It was the fourth time the program has won at least 30 games in a season and third time within the last eight seasons under head coach Tony Hobson. However, the cruel fate of all three of the 30+ win teams under Hobson (2014-15, 2018-19, and 2021-22) was all three fell in the Central Regional Final at Gross Memorial Coliseum.
Missouri Western, which finished fifth in a very deep MIAA conference this year, moves on to the Elite Eight in Birmingham, Alabama with an overall record of 24-9. The Griffons are one of four teams in the MIAA to post 24+ wins overall this season, which also includes regional participants Missouri Southern and Nebraska-Kearney.
This result closed out the careers of two of the best-ever to put on the Black and Gold, high school teammates Whitney Randall and Jaden Hobbs from Alva, Okla. Randall finished her career with 1,396 points and 515 rebounds. She ranks ninth on the all-time scoring list at FHSU. Hobbs finished her collegiate career with 1,390 points and 550 assists, the final three years being at FHSU where she was the first player in program history with at least 1,000 points and 400 assists. She had 1,082 points and 431 assists as a Tiger and had 308 points and 119 assists in her early career at Oklahoma State University. And after four years on the court for the Tigers, Concordia senior Cydney Bergmann finished with 498 points and 317 rebounds.