FHSU Athletics
PITTSBURG, Kan. - After facing a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit, the sixth-ranked Fort Hays State women's basketball team rallied to defeat No. 25 Pittsburg State in overtime on Saturday at John Lance Arena, 74-71. A layup from Talexa Weeter with less than one second remaining set things to an extra period before the Tigers (24-3, 15-3 MIAA) led wire-to-wire in the extra period.
After recording the first Tiger triple-double in 4,076 days last Thursday, Brooke Loewe needed just nine days to duplicate that effort, totaling 12 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists in the come-from-behind win. The senior now has 280 assists on the year, breaking a 27-year-old MIAA record (271, Jennifer Perine, ESU, 1998-99).
The Tigers struggled to find the bottom of the net over the first three quarters, shooting just 30.9 percent from the floor over the first 30 minutes of action (17-of-55).
FHSU managed to lead 19-17 at the end of the first quarter thanks to eight points and a pair of 3-pointers from Ellie Stearns, but the Gorillas (18-8, 11-6 MIAA) held FHSU to just six points in the second quarter to take a 36-25 lead into the locker room.
The six second-quarter points are tied for the Tigers' fewest during the Talia Kahrs era, while Pittsburg State scored 15 in a row in the second frame to match the longest run by an FHSU opponent this season.
After trailing by as many as 15 in the first half, another Stearns triple helped the Tigers pull within eight early in the second half, 38-30. Pittsburg State soon pushed its lead back to 14 before Weeter took over, scoring 13 points in the frame to allow FHSU to pull back within 11 with 10 minutes to play, 52-41.
The Gorilla advantage grew to 13 on two occasions in the first minute of the fourth quarter before the Tigers started their rally. A Mikayla Pilley 3-pointer kickstarted a 12-2 Tiger run over the next six minutes, helping the visitors pull within two with 2:30 to play.
A traditional 3-point play from Weeter made it 60-58 with 2:27 on the clock before a long-range triple from the Goodland, Kan. junior made it a one-point game with 1:51 remaining.
FHSU got a stop but missed a potential go-ahead bucket in the final minute, allowing the Gorillas to push their lead to three with 30 ticks left. Weeter made it a one-point game with layup with 13.2 seconds on the clock before the Tigers forced a five-second call on the ensuing inbounds pass.
The Tigers drew up a good play to get a layup with three seconds remaining, but Stearns' effort was blocked before the Tigers fouled with 1.9 seconds to go. Pittsburg State missed its first free throw but made the second, allowing the black and gold to call timeout and advance the ball into the front court.
Kahrs drew up a perfect play, allowing Weeter to get an open look from close range that she buried with 0.6 left, tying the score at 65. The Gorillas were out of timeouts and were unable to advance the ball, missing a full-court heave to send things to overtime.
Fort Hays State never trailed in the extra period, scoring the first five points after an Olivia Mortensen layup and a Loewe 3-pointer. Pittsburg State pulled within one in the final minute, 72-71, but the Gorillas hit just 2-of-5 from the free-throw line in the extra period to come up just short.
Pittsburg State had the ball down two with 15 seconds to go in overtime, but Stearns slapped the ball out of a Gorillas hands before Pilley dove on the floor to collect the loose ball and call timeout with 5.8 seconds remaining. Loewe hit the first of two free throws to make it a three-point advantage with 3.3 seconds to go but missed the second, forcing the Gorillas to go the length of the court. Their half-court heave came up short, giving the Tigers the come-from-behind victory.
Weeder led all scorers with 34 points while adding a career-high 15 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season and the 11th of her career. It was the junior's 12th 30-point game of her career, two shy of the FHSU record for 30-point performances. Weeter has now scored 748 points this season, 49 shy of the MIAA record (797, Jennifer Harris, Washburn, 2005-06).
Stearns added 13 points and three steals after knocking down a trio of shots from behind the arc, giving the senior 137 long-range makes for her career to move to ninth on the all-time list at FHSU.
Mortensen tallied nine points and two steals, with Pilley adding six points off the bench.
The Tigers finished the game shooting 37.0 percent from the floor (30-of-81), their second-lowest shooting percentage in a game this season. Pittsburg State outrebounded the Tigers by 11, 53-42, including 15 offensive rebounds that turned into 19 second-chance points.
However, two days after allowing 24 points off turnovers, the Tigers allowed PSU just one point off 11 turnovers on Saturday.
With the win, the Tigers improve to 13-1 coming off a loss during the Kahrs era, losing back-to-back games only once over the last three years. FHSU is also 5-0 in overtime under Kahrs.
Still one-half game back of Central Missouri (21-5, 15-2 MIAA) in the league standings, the Tigers will wrap up the regular season next Thursday (Feb. 26) when they host rival Nebraska-Kearney beginning at 5:30 p.m. inside Gross Memorial Coliseum.