FHSU Athletics
#10 Fort Hays State (11-1, 5-1 MIAA)
vs. #11 Central Missouri (9-2, 3-2 MIAA)
Thursday, January 4 • 5:30 p.m.
Hays, Kan. • Gross Memorial Coliseum
Radio: KJLS (103.3) CLICK HERE TO LISTEN
Video: The MIAA Network CLICK HERE TO WATCH ($)
The 10th-ranked Fort Hays State women's basketball team heads back into conference play for the remainder of the season beginning Thursday when the 11th-ranked Central Missouri Jennies come to town. First tip in the 700th FHSU women's basketball game inside Gross Memorial Coliseum is slated for 5:30 p.m.
The Tigers are an impressive 560-139 at home over the last 50-plus seasons, good for a winning percentage north of 80 percent.
Both the Tigers (11-1, 5-1 MIAA) and Jennies (9-2, 3-2 MIAA) are coming off non-conference victories, with the Tigers defeating Bethany 75-41 and UCM slipping past Evangel, 66-54. Prior to that, UCM ended the pre-holiday schedule with back-to-back losses at home against conference opponents (PSU, MSSU), while the Tigers entered the break with consecutive road wins over league foes (NU, UCO).
After passing a pair of former Tigers on the all-time scoring list on Saturday, Olivia Hollenbeck (1,114 career points) now needs seven points to climb into the top 20 (Julie Kizzar, 1,121 points, 1987-91).
Katie Wagner has scored in double figures six times in seven career games against Central Missouri. She averages 14.6 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.4 assists against the Jennies, including one double-double in the most recent meeting (25 points, 10 rebounds, 3/4/23).
Jessie Sallach has also had several strong performances against UCM, scoring in double figures four times while adding a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to send last season's MIAA semifinals into overtime.
Brooke Loewe distributed a season-high six assists in Saturday's win over the Swedes, her third game this season with at least five assists. She now leads the team with an average of 3.1 assists per game, ninth-best in the MIAA.
The Tigers trail in the all-time series against UCM, 22-17. However, Fort Hays State is 10-3 at home against the Jennies, including wins in eight of the last nine games inside Gross Memorial Coliseum. UCM swept the season series last year, beating the Tigers three times by a total of 10 points. The three-game UCM winning streak is tied for its longest in the series, while FHSU holds the longest overall winning streak in series history at five games (2014-17).
Central Missouri is 9-2 this season and 3-2 in conference play, including a 7-0 record away from home (4-0 road, 3-0 neutral). Brooke Littrell leads the conference in scoring with 20.1 points per game, 11th-most in the country, while ranking third in the conference and 38th in DII with 9.3 rebounds per game. Her six double-doubles lead the MIAA and rank seventh in the nation. Allie Clevenger has the fifth-best assist/turnover ratio in the country at 4.00. The Jennies rank fifth in the conference with an average of 75.4 points per game while ranking eighth in scoring defense, allowing 61.7 points per night.