FHSU Athletics
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The sixth-seeded Fort Hays State women's basketball team battled past No. 3 seed Missouri Western in the quarterfinals of the 2023 MIAA Basketball Championships presented by Southern Bank Friday evening (March 3), winning 71-62.
With the win, the Tigers (20-11) advance to Semifinal Saturday for the 10th time in the last 11 seasons, where FHSU will take on 10th-ranked and second seed Central Missouri beginning at 8:15 p.m.
Both teams came out of the gates at a high level, with the Tigers leading 20-19 after 10 minutes of action. Katie Wagner scored 10 of her team-high 23 points in the opening frame, while Connie Clarke tallied 13 points in the first frame alone.
The Tigers kept things rolling on offense in the second quarter while ratcheting up the pressure on defense. FHSU limited the Griffons (24-7) to a pair of field goals in the second stanza while forcing six turnovers.
FHSU took advantage on the other end of the floor, knocking down 50 percent from the floor to race in front by 16 at halftime, 42-26.
The Tigers scored the final 10 points of the first half, holding the Griffons scoreless for the final three-plus minutes of action before heading into the locker room. Wagner opened the run with a traditional 3-point play before Kate Dilsaver dropped in a stick-back layup through contact. Olivia Hollenbeck added another second-chance bucket late in the quarter before Dilsaver buried a 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer sounded to put the Tigers up by 16.
Fort Hays State pushed the lead to 20 early in the second half on a 3-pointer from Sydney Golladay before the Griffons closed the third on a 12-2 run to close within 10, 56-46.
Dilsaver, Emma Ruddle and Megan Earney all poured in 3-pointers in the final frame, helping the Tigers keep MWSU at bay. The Griffons managed to trim the deficit to single digits with 97 seconds to play, but the Tigers had done enough over the first 38 minutes of action to seal the win.
The win gave FHSU 20 wins in a season for the 12th-consecutive year, the longest active streak in NCAA Division II. Fort Hays State had just eight 20-win seasons over the first 42 years of the program before the current streak began in 2011-12.
The win was also head coach Tony Hobson's 20th victory in the MIAA tournament, tying him for third-most in tournament history.
Hollenbeck and Dilsaver added 12 points each for the Tigers, with Jessie Sallach scoring eight and Ruddle adding six. Wagner also led the team with nine rebounds, while Golladay distributed a game-high six assists.
The Tigers knocked down 43.1 percent from the floor (25-of-58) while limiting the Griffons to a 39.7 percent effort (23-of-58). FHSU had a four-rebound margin, 41-37, with the Tigers scoring 11 points off eight offensive rebounds.