FHSU Athletics
Fort Hays State Women's Basketball (0-0, 0-0 MIAA)
at 2023 NCAA Division II Central Region Showcase
St. Joseph, Mo. • Civic Arena
vs. Minot State (1-2, 0-0 NSIC)
Friday, November 10 • 2:45 p.m.
Radio: KJLS (103.3) CLICK HERE TO LISTEN
Video: The MIAA Network CLICK HERE TO WATCH ($)
vs. No. 2 Minnesota State (2-1, 0-0 NSIC)
Saturday, November 11 • 2:45 p.m.
Radio: KFIX (96.9) CLICK HERE TO LISTEN
Video: The MIAA Network CLICK HERE TO WATCH ($)
The Fort Hays State women's basketball team will open the 55th season in program history this weekend (Nov. 10-11) with a pair of regional matchups in St. Joseph, Mo. at the 2023 NCAA Division II Central Region Showcase. The Tigers will kick off the new year Friday against Minot State before battling second-ranked Minnesota State on Saturday afternoon. Both contests are slated to begin at 2:45 p.m. inside the St. Joseph Civic Arena.
The 2023-24 season will be the first under head coach Talia Kahrs, who was introduced as the seventh head coach in program history on April 13, 2023. No stranger to Tiger basketball, Kahrs has been a part of the program for each of the last 15 seasons, including three as a player, one as a student-assistant and 11 as an assistant coach. She helped the Tigers to 293 wins as an assistant coach, including 12-consecutive 20-win seasons, which is the longest active streak in Division II.
The Tigers return 12 letterwinners from last year's team that went 20-12 overall, including all five starters and two All-MIAA performers in Katie Wagner (first team) and Olivia Hollenbeck (third team). FHSU added a trio of true freshmen this year, all three of which were All-State selections in Kansas. Fort Hays State returns nearly all of its offensive efficiency from last season, with the Tigers bringing back players responsible for 96.2 percent of last year's points, 97.7 percent of last year's rebounds and 97.8 percent of last year's assists.
Fort Hays State is 36-18 all-time in season openers. The Tigers have dominated non-conference opponents of late, with FHSU winning 87 of the last 91 non-conference, regular season contests.
The Tigers were picked fourth in both MIAA preseason polls. FHSU has been no lower than fifth in the preseason conference rankings each of the last 12 years.
Wagner averages a double-double against Minnesota State, putting up 20 points, 13.5 rebounds and two assists per game in two career matchups.
Hollenbeck enters her fourth year with the Tigers with 998 points, needing just two points to become the 25th 1000-point scorer in program history.
Fort Hays State went 2-0 in its last trip to Civic Arena, with the Tigers knocking off Minnesota Duluth (59-51) and Concordia-St. Paul (67-54) in the 2019 Hillyard Tip-Off Classic.
This is the first-ever matchup between Fort Hays State and Minot State, while the Tigers are 2-2 all-time against Minnesota State. The Mavericks are 2-0 against FHSU in the regular season, while Fort Hays State has a pair of postseason victories against MSU in the NCAA DII Central Region Tournament. The Tigers are 49-18 all-time against current NSIC teams. After Friday's contest with the Beavers, FHSU will have played every Northern Sun program except Minnesota Crookston and U-Mary.
No. 15 Minnesota State handed No. 3 Fort Hays State a 65-63 home loss early last season (11/18/22) after Destinee Bursch poured in a high-arching shot over the top of two outreached defenders from just in front of the Maverick bench as time expired to secure the victory. Jessie Sallach had tied things up with a 15-foot jumper with 3.4 seconds left before the Mavericks clinched the win at the buzzer. Wagner paced the Tigers with 17 points and 11 rebounds, while Ellie Stearns hit 3-of-7 from behind the arc.
Minot State is off to a 1-2 start after a narrow loss against No. 3 Tampa, a win over Florida Tech and a loss against No. 8 Angelo State. The Beavers were picked to finish 15th in the Northern Sun after going 12-16 overall last season, including an 8-14 mark in NSIC contests. Emma Mogan was picked as an NSIC Preseason Player to Watch after averaging 6.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game a year ago. Sydney Gustavsson leads the teams in points through three games, averaging 13.7 per night.
Minnesota State was picked No. 2 in both the preseason WBCA Coaches Poll and the preseason D2CSC Media Poll after going 26-5 overall last season and winning the NSIC South at 19-3. The Mavericks are 2-1 so far this season, including wins over Florida Tech and Texas A&M-Kingsville and a five-point loss to No. 24 Texas Woman's University. MSU is averaging 76.7 points per game so far this year thanks to a 43.6 field goal percentage. Destinee Bursch leads the team with 15.7 points per game, with Natalie Bremer close behind with an average of 14.0 points per night.