FHSU Athletics
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The ninth-ranked Fort Hays State women's basketball team passed its first postseason test with flying colors on Thursday, defeating Central Missouri 90-74 in the quarterfinal round of the 2025 MIAA Championship at Municipal Auditorium. Talexa Weeter propelled the squad with a career night, totaling 35 points and 11 rebounds, scoring the fourth-most points in a single game in tournament history.
It was the highest scoring game for the Tigers in tournament history and was the first time a team scored at least 90 points in the tournament since 2016. Weeter's point total is tied for ninth-most in a single game in school history and is just the second time a player has scored 35 or more this millennium (36 points, Crystal Harden vs UNK, 2004-05).
With the win the Tigers (26-3) will play in the semifinals for an eighth-consecutive season, the longest active streak in the conference. No one has been to the MIAA semifinals more than the Tigers since Fort Hays State joined the MIAA 19 years ago (FHSU and ESU, 12 each).
The No. 2 seeded Tigers will face off with either No. 3 Missouri Western or No. 6 Arkansas-Fort Smith beginning at 8:15 p.m. on Saturday.
Fort Hays State never trailed in the game after taking the lead 39 seconds into the contest when Brooke Loewe found Olivia Hollenbeck for a layup. The assist was the first of 12 for the Tiger point guard, her sixth double-digit assist performance this season.
The Tigers went on to hit two-thirds of their shot attempts in the frame, pouring in 10-of-15 from the floor to outscore the Jennies (17-15) by seven, 24-17. The only thing keeping the lead to single digits was five Tiger turnovers in the opening quarter.
After scoring four points over the first nine minutes of action, Weeter turned things around over the next nine by scoring 14-straight points for the Tigers. The sophomore hit five field goals during the run, including three shots from behind the arc.
The Tigers went into the locker room up by 17 after Megan Earney drilled an NBA-range 3-pointer just before the buzzer sounded, putting FHSU on top 44-27.Fort Hays State continued to shoot at a torrid pace in the third quarter, knocking down 10-of-14 in the stanza to push its lead to 66-47.
The Tigers led by as many as 23 early in the fourth quarter before the Jennies tried to crawl back, but FHSU was able to keep the lead at or above 13 points the rest of the way.
Weeter poured in 14-of-19 from the floor en route to her career high, including a perfect 3-for-3 day from behind the arc. She also added two steals, one block and one assist to her stat line.
Katie DeGarmo contributed 18 points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks, while Hollenbeck racked up 10 points, seven rebounds and two blocks.
Central Missouri had two players score more than 20 points, including Reese Schaaf with 28 and Lauren Frost with 21.Fort Hays State dominated on the boards, collecting 42 rebounds compared to 26 from the Jennies. The Tigers were able to turn 13 offensive rebounds into 16 second-chance points while scoring 22 points in transition. FHSU matched its season high with 41 points off the bench.
The Tigers finished the game shooting 57.8 percent from the floor (37-of-64), their best shooting day against a DII opponent this season and the 10th time they've hit at least 50 percent from the floor in a game on the year.
Fort Hays State has now ended Central Missouri's season each of the last two years. It was FHSU's fourth-straight win over the Jennies going back to last spring's 65-63 quarterfinal win, one shy of the longest Tiger winning streak in series history.
The Tigers improve to 18-12 all-time in the MIAA tournament, 12-4 in the quarterfinals, 4-5 against the Jennies, 4-0 as the No. 2 seed, 2-0 against the No. 7 seed and 12-3 when ranked and playing in the tournament.
The win is Fort Hays State's 26th victory this season, tied for fifth-most in team history.
DeGarmo increased her career totals in the tournament to 186 points and 98 rebounds in 12 games, ranking third in a career in each category in tournament history.