FHSU Athletics
Fort Hays State (22-6)
vs. Central Missouri (21-7)
Friday, March 8, 2024 • 2:15 p.m.
Kansas City, Mo. • Municipal Auditorium
Radio: KJLS (103.3) CLICK HERE TO LISTEN
Video: The MIAA Network CLICK HERE TO WATCH ($)
The Fort Hays State women's basketball team opens postseason play Friday afternoon in the quarterfinal round of the 2024 MIAA Women's Basketball Championship, presented by Southern Bank. The third-seeded Tigers will face off with No. 6 seed Central Missouri beginning at 2:15 p.m. inside historic Municipal Auditorium in downtown Kansas City, Mo.
The Tigers (22-6) finished the regular season tied for second place in the MIAA standings, but will play in the league tournament as the No. 3 seed after Northwest Missouri State came out on top in the tiebreaking procedures. FHSU finished one game in front of Central Missouri (21-7) in the conference standings, winning 16 league games compared to 15 from the Jennies.
Fort Hays State has made it a tradition of playing into the weekend during the MIAA Championship, with the Tigers reaching the semifinals in each of the last six seasons and 10 of the last 11 years. FHSU's active streak of six-straight semifinals is the longest active streak in the league, while the Tigers' 10 trips to semifinal Saturday over the last 11 years are three more than any other program during that span.
This is Fort Hays State's 15th trip to the MIAA Championship since joining the conference 18 years ago in 2006-07. The Tigers are 20-12 all-time in the tournament, including a 10-4 record in the quarterfinals, a 3-2 record as the No. 3 seed, a 2-0 record against the No. 6 seed, a 15-11 record inside Municipal Auditorium and a 2-5 record against Central Missouri.
The Tigers and Jennies seem to play in the postseason almost every season, with Friday's game serving as the 10th postseason meeting between the teams since 2012. Central Missouri has controlled the series in the postseason, winning seven of those nine meetings, including five of the seven in the MIAA Championship and both NCAA DII Central Regional matchups.
Central Missouri needed overtime to defeat the Tigers in last year's MIAA semifinals, 66-64, after Jessie Sallach buried a 3-pointer at the end of regulation.
FHSU reached 20 wins for a 13th-consecutive season this year, extending the longest active streak in DII to 13 (since 2011-12). It's tied for the seventh-longest across all NCAA Divisions. The next-best streak in DII is Drury (11), while the next-best streak in the MIAA is Nebraska-Kearney (four).
The Tigers wrapped up the regular season with back-to-back games that were decided in overtime, playing extra periods in consecutive games for the first time since 2011.Fort Hays State is ranked third in the latest NCAA DII Central Region rankings, released Wednesday. Five other MIAA programs are in the top 10. The Tigers have six wins against regionally ranked teams, while all six of FHSU's losses also came against regionally ranked opponents.
Katie Wagner was voted MIAA Player of the Year in 2023-24, becoming the third Tiger to earn the conference's top honor (Kate Lehman 2014-15, Tatyana Legette 2018-19). She was also named to the MIAA All-Defensive Team in addition to earning first team honors for a second year in a row. Wagner is the 11th first team All-MIAA selection for FHSU since joining the league in 2006-07. She is the third to do so multiple times (Lehman 2013-14-15, Jaden Hobbs 2021-22). She is the 10th Tiger to earn a spot on the MIAA All-Defensive Team and the first since Cydney Bergmann three years ago.
The Maize, Kan. native is the only player in the conference to rank in the top five in the league in three primary statistical categories (points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks), ranking third in the MIAA in scoring (16.9 ppg), fifth in rebounding (8.3 rpg) and second in steals (2.3 spg). She was one of two players in the MIAA to score at least 30 points multiple times this season.
Olivia Hollenbeck earned third team All-MIAA honors for a second time this year. She was also a third-team all-conference pick last season after earning honorable mention accolades each of her first two seasons. She is just the fourth player in program history to earn all-conference honors in four-straight seasons (Annette Wiles, Shauna Porter, Kate Lehman).
Hollenbeck ranked second on the team in the regular season with 12.3 points per game, 5.5 rebounds per game and 1.3 steals per game while leading the squad with 1.4 blocks per contest, fifth-most in the MIAA. She led the team in field-goal percentage, knocking down 52.4 percent from the floor on the year (130-248). Hollenbeck scored a career-best 30 points in a win over Newman in February, one of just five 30-point performances in an MIAA contest this season.
Wagner has scored in double figures in each of the last three games against Central Missouri, averaging 16.4 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.1 assists in nine career matchups. She's scored in double figures eight times, including two double-doubles. Brooke Loewe scored a career-high 17 points against UCM earlier this season in Hays.
Central Missouri leads the all-time series, 24-17. The Jennies are 7-2 against FHSU in games played at a neutral site. Central Missouri has won each of the last five games dating back to New Year's Eve 2022, tied for the longest winning streak for either team in series history (FHSU won five straight between 2014-17).Central Missouri is the No. 6 seed after finishing 21-7 overall and 15-7 in conference play, good for a tie for fifth with Pittsburg State. The Jennies had a pair of All-MIAA honorees, with Brooke Littrell garnering first team status for the third year in a row and Olivia Nelson earning second team accolades. Central Missouri ranks third in the league in scoring offense, putting up 74.9 points per game. Littrell leads the league in scoring, averaging 20.0 points per game, while ranking fourth by averaging 8.3 rebounds per game.