FHSU Athletics
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – In a game that came down to the wire…twice, No. 2 seeded Central Missouri escaped with a 66-64 win over No. 6 seed Fort Hays State in the MIAA Tournament Semifinals on Saturday night (Mar. 4). Jessie Sallach buried a 3-point shot just before the horn of regulation to force overtime, but had their chance of a repeat as tournament champs dashed when Ashley Tull happened to be in the right spot to gather a deflected ball for a buzzer-beating layup in the extra frame.
The Tigers jumped out to an early 9-3 lead about three minutes into the contest with help from a pair of jumpers and a three-pointer from Katie Wagner. Sydney Golladay nailed another three to put the Tigers ahead 14-7 at the end of the first.
After an Emma Ruddle layup to open the second quarter, the Tigers went into a drought going scoreless until midway through the period. In that time, UCM went on a 9-0 run to tie the game. The teams traded blows until a three by the Jennies put them ahead with a minute before the half. A pair of Wagner free throws would bring the Tigers within one but the Jennies dropped in a layup as time expired to take a 25-22 lead into the break.
UCM held on to its lead until Kate Dilsaver knocked in a three to put the Tigers ahead 31-29 midway through the third. A clutch three-pointer from Megan Earney and another pair of free throws from Wagner helped push the Tigers to a 40-37 lead entering the fourth quarter.
The Jennies went on a 7-0 run over a five-minute stretch to lead 53-46 with 1:40 remaining in regulation. The Tigers were able to chip away and get back within one late. After a pair of UCM free throws to make the margin three with ten seconds remaining, the Tigers had one final possession. Bottled up out front, Sydney Golladay was able to find Jessie Sallach who dribbled herself into a position to sink a rainbow from just beyond the top of the arc to send the game to overtime.
The Jennies struck first in extra time, but the Tigers took the lead on a jumper from Golladay and another three from Earney. The teams traded punches over the last two minutes and Wagner found Clary Donica for a critical layup with about 10 seconds to go tying the game, but UCM had the final possession and it had a stroke of luck when a deflected ball found the hands of the aforementioned Tull for the aforementioned game-winner with 0.2 seconds remaining.
Wagner finished with a team high 25 points, shooting 50 percent from the floor, 2-for-2 beyond the arc, and 7-of-9 from the charity stripe. Wagner also grabbed a team-best 10 rebounds to collect her 11th double double of the season. Earney finished 3-of-5 from three to finish with nine points.
Olivia Nelson led the Jennies with 20 points, followed by Tull with 14. Brooke Littrell and Cierra Smith both had 10.
The Tigers had the strongest strength of schedule in the Central Region of Division II. Unfortunately, they dropped seven contests by three points or less to teams ahead of them in the region rankings. That group included Augustana, Minnesota State, Nebraska-Kearney, Missouri Western, Missouri Southern, and Central Missouri twice.
The Tigers were ranked No. 10 in the latest Central Region rankings and a GAC team will take an automatic bid and leave a very deserving team among the top eight out of the NCAA Tournament. Unless the Tigers did enough to elevate into the top seven of the region rankings, it is likely that FHSU saw its season come to a close at 20-12 overall. The NCAA Selection Show will begin at 9:30 p.m. Sunday night on NCAA.com.