HAYS, Kan. - Gross Memorial Coliseum will be the site of a rare occurrence in college basketball during Thanksgiving week when the Kansas State women's team travels to Hays for an exhibition game with Fort Hays State. The contest will be played on Wednesday, November 25 at 1 p.m.
Ticket information for the exhibition will be announced in the near future. FHSU will continue to follow the reduced capacity threshold it put in place for home games this season (more info here).
The exhibition will take place after the first two games of the regular season for FHSU. It marks the first game in Hays between FHSU and K-State since February 16, 1976, when both schools were members of the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW). Eventually the programs became members of the NCAA and NAIA in 1981-82, with K-State going to NCAA Division I and Fort Hays State moving to the NAIA. Fort Hays State made the transition to membership with NCAA Division II in 1991-92.
This will mark the seventh exhibition between the programs going back to 2009. All of the previous exhibitions have been at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan. The programs have met the last three seasons with K-State taking all of those contests, though the last two meetings were interesting late. Two seasons ago, Fort Hays State had a chance to tie or take the lead in the final seconds, but a blocked shot secured a 48-46 win for K-State. Last season, Fort Hays State trimmed a K-State lead down to three points early in the fourth quarter before K-State ended the game on a 24-9 run.
The Mittie family provides an intriguing connection in this recent exhibition history with the Wildcats. Fort Hays State senior guard Madison Mittie is the daughter of K-State head coach Jeff Mittie. This year, K-State will get the opportunity to play on Madison's home court, something not often seen in today's NCAA structure with a Division I program traveling to a Division II site. However, Gross Memorial Coliseum is a great basketball venue, voted one of the best in NCAA Division II, which will present a great atmosphere for this unique event.
Keep an eye on fhsuathletics.com in the coming days for further information on this contest.
FHSU Athletics