KANSAS CITY, Mo. - No. 5 Fort Hays State women's basketball scored the final eight points in Thursday's quarterfinal of the 2022 MIAA Basketball Championship presented by Citizen's Bank & Trust, breaking a tie with Central Oklahoma before going on to win, 71-63. Jaden Hobbs hit a driving layup with just under a minute left to give the Tigers the lead before FHSU hit 6-of-6 at the line to lock down the win.
Fort Hays State, the No. 2 seed in the bracket, now advances to the semifinal round, scheduled for Saturday (March 5) at 2:15 p.m. The Tigers, now 26-3 on the year, will face off with the winner of tomorrow's quarterfinal between Nebraska-Kearney and Northwest Missouri State.
The Tigers got off to a bit of a slow start, hitting just 35.7 percent from the floor in the first quarter (5-of-14). Central Oklahoma connected on 7-of-12 shots over the first 10 minutes (58.3 percent), but the Tiger defense forced six turnovers to keep things close. Olivia Hollenbeck opened the game by scoring the first five points for the Tigers, including a coast-to-coast layup after a steal.
Central Oklahoma continued to cling to a small lead for the majority of the second quarter, with FHSU tying things up on three different occasions. Lauren West hit a jumper two minutes in to tie things up at 19, erasing a four-point deficit, before the teams traded buckets over the next five minutes. The Broncho lead oscillated between one and three points for much of the quarter before Whitney Randall tied things up with a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 1:17 to go before halftime. UCO responded with a bucket before Emma Ruddle turned a steal into a basket on the other end, sending the teams to the locker room knotted up at 32.
Fort Hays State scored the first five points out of the locker room, including a driving layup from Katie Wagner and a 3-pointer from Jaden Hobbs. The Tigers built the lead up to 11 over the first six minutes of the third with a 16-5 run thanks in part to their defense - FHSU held the Bronchos to just 1-of-8 shooting over that stretch. West ended the run with a 3-pointer of her own, putting the Tigers up 48-37 with 4:14 to play in the quarter.
Central Oklahoma turned things around over the final four minutes of the period, going on an 8-1 run to close within four, 49-45. The Bronchos then scored first in the final frame to make it a one score game.
A big triple from Ruddle pushed the Tiger lead to six with 7:49 to play before UCO scored seven in a row to take their first lead since the first half, 56-55. Hollenbeck hit a pair of free throws on the ensuing possession to retake the lead. A traditional 3-point play from Randall capped off a 7-0 run for the Tigers, pushing the lead back to six with 3:41 on the clock.
Central Oklahoma made one final push, ultimately tying things up with 77 seconds remaining on a layup through contact from Kelsey Johnson. The first team All-MIAA senior missed the ensuing free throw, allowing Hobbs to give the Tigers the lead with her go-ahead layup with 59 seconds to go. The Tiger defense forced three Broncho misses down the stretch while West, Hobbs and Cydney Bergmann all hit 2-of-2 from the line to secure the victory.
Randall led the Tigers with 17 points, with Hobbs adding 15 points. Eight different Tigers scored at least four points, with six totaling six or more. Johnson went out in style, totaling a 29-point, 13-rebound double-double in her final collegiate contest.
The Tigers hit 40.7 percent from the floor on the day (22-of-54) while burying 23-of-26 from the free-throw line (88.5 percent). After hitting a season-high 10 3-pointers in the opening round Wednesday, the Tigers limited UCO to just three triples on Thursday.