FHSU Athletics
STORRS, Conn. - The 23rd-ranked Fort Hays State women's basketball team opened the 2024-25 season with an exhibition game against UConn Sunday afternoon, falling to the second-ranked Huskies 89-49.
The Tigers held their own in the first quarter, trailing just 15-11 after 10 minutes of play. Olivia Hollenbeck led the Tigers with six points in the opening frame, hitting 2-of-3 from the floor and adding a pair of free throws while blocking two shots and poking away a pair of steals.
The Huskies started to pull away in the second quarter, closing the first half on a 24-3 run to take a 42-17 lead into the locker room.
UConn pushed its lead to 35 early in the third quarter, but the Tigers closed the frame on an 11-2 run to narrow the gap to 26, 62-36. Megan Earney opened the run with a 3-pointer on a dish from Brooke Loewe before Loewe scored three points the traditional way on the next trip down the floor. Ellie Stearns later knocked down her second 3-pointer of the game before Talexa Weeter scored the final two points of the period with a pair of free throws.
The home team then opened the fourth quarter with a 23-2 run, knocking down 8-of-13 from the floor over the first seven minutes of the period while holding the Tigers to 1-of-9 shooting. Fort Hays State then scored nine of the final 11 points of the game, including two buckets from Sarah Lawless, one from Maddy Powell and a 3-pointer from Sasha Koenig.
Hollenbeck led the Tigers with nine points alongside four rebounds, three steals, three blocks and one assist. Ten other Tigers also found their way to the scoresheet, including seven points from Weeter, six for Stearns and five each from Loewe and Powell. Loewe collected a team-high seven rebounds, while Powell distributed a team-best three assists.
The Tigers knocked down seven 3-pointers on the day, with six different Tigers connecting from long range. FHSU finished the game shooting 29 percent from the floor (18-of-62) and 28 percent from behind the arc (7-of-25), while UConn hit 50 percent from the floor (37-of-74) and 37.1 percent from deep (13-of-35). The Huskies outrebounded FHSU 53-33 while the Tigers turned the ball over five more times, 17-12.Paige Bueckers led all scorers with 27 points on 12-of-14 shooting while adding nine rebounds.
UP NEXT
The Tigers will open the regular season next weekend (Nov. 8-9) at the Central Region Showcase in St. Joseph, Mo. FHSU will play Augustana on Friday and MSU Moorehead on Saturday, with both games beginning at 12:30 p.m.