FHSU Athletics
MANKATO, Minn. - The 14th-ranked Fort Hays State women's basketball team came up short in the 2026 NCAA Division II Central Region semifinals Saturday, falling to No. 22 Concordia-St. Paul 59-53.
The Tigers end the season with a record of 25-6, tied for the seventh-most wins in program history, while the Golden Bears improved to 26-6 after their 18th-straight victory. FHSU has now won 20 or more games in 15-straight seasons, the longest active streak in Division II and fifth-longest across all NCAA Divisions.
Fort Hays State trailed by as many as 15 early in the second half before storming back to take the lead with seven minutes to go. But the NSIC tournament champions buckled down over the final seven minutes, limiting the Tigers to just one field goal down the stretch while hitting 7-of-12 from the floor to secure the win.
The Tigers hit 29.3 percent from the floor (17-of-58), their first time shooting below 30 percent in a game since 2022 (27.6, 16-of-58, vs. Southern Nazarene, 11/6/22).
Both teams struggled out of the gate, combining to hit just nine field goals in the first 10 minutes. FHSU led by as many as three early before the Golden Bears took a 14-9 lead into the second quarter.
The Tigers pulled within one possession on four separate occasions in the second stanza but were unable to claw in front, with CSP leading 31-22 at the break. The Golden Bears scored 12 in a row spanning halftime to push the lead as high as 15 before Talexa Weeter stopped the bleeding with a 3-pointer. The junior proceeded to score seven in a row to trim the deficit to eight before an Ellie Stearns 3-pointer just before the end of the third quarter pulled FHSU within five, 41-36.
That basket kicked off a 10-0 Tiger run, with a Brooke Loewe 3-pointer giving the Tigers a 43-41 lead with 7:10 remaining. The Golden Bears answered with a traditional 3-point play to retake the lead, but a pair of free throws from Weeter with 2:02 to play again tied the score at 50.
Concordia-St. Paul closed the game by hitting their final three field goals in addition to shooting 3-for-4 from the free-throw line over the final 106 seconds to seal the win. Another Loewe 3-pointer helped FHSU pull within three with 13 seconds to go, but the Tigers were unable to steal the inbounds pass to gain a chance to tie the score.
Weeter led all scorers with 23 points while grabbing 10 rebounds for her 10th double-double of the season and the 13th of her career. She finishes the season scoring in double figures in all 31 games while scoring 20-plus in 26 games, scoring 30-plus 12 times and scoring 40 or more twice.
Loewe added 16 points thanks to a trio of 3-pointers while adding seven rebounds, four assists and two steals. Mortensen scored seven points and grabbed 11 rebounds, reaching double figures in rebounds for the third game in a row.
Stearns hit one 3-pointer in the game, giving her 142 long-range makes for her career to tie for sixth all-time at FHSU.
The Tigers outrebounded the Golden Bears by three, 41-38, but were doubled up in points in the paint, 32-16. FHSU held a significant advantage in second-chance points, totaling 17 points off 11 offensive rebounds while limiting CSP to just three second-chance points.
Weeter finishes the season with 852 points, setting the MIAA record and ranking 13th in a single season in Division II history. She led Division II and ranked second across all divisions of NCAA women's basketball with an average of 27.5 points per game, breaking the MIAA and FHSU school record for season scoring average.
Loewe finishes the season with 310 assists, second-most in Division II history while shattering a 27-year-old MIAA record. She is the sixth player in DII history and the 25th in the history of NCAA women's basketball to reach 300 assists in a season. She finishes the season averaging 10.0 assists per game, breaking the conference record and becoming just the fourth DII athlete to do so across an entire season. The Huxley, Iowa native is the only NCAA basketball player, male or female across all divisions, to average in double figures in assists this season. The senior finishes her career with 698 assists, fourth-most among active NCAA women's basketball players across all divisions.