FHSU Athletics
#7 Fort Hays State (8-0, 1-0 MIAA)
vs. Washburn (4-5, 0-1 MIAA)
Saturday, December 7, 2024 • 2 p.m.
Hays, Kan. • Gross Memorial Coliseum
Radio: KJLS (103.3) CLICK HERE TO LISTEN
Video: MIAA Network: CLICK HERE TO WATCH ($)
Game Sponsor: Vyve Broadband
National Anthem: O'Laughlin Elementary
Promotions: FHSU Faculty/Staff Appreciation - All FHSU faculty and staff can receive two free GA tickets
Student-Athlete Advisory Committee 50-50 raffle
The seventh-ranked Fort Hays State women's basketball team wraps up the first conference weekend of the season on Saturday when the Tigers host MIAA rival Washburn beginning at 2 p.m. inside Gross Memorial Coliseum.
Fort Hays State is now 8-0 on the season, making this the fourth-best start in program history. The Tigers started the 2012-13 season and the 2015-16 campaign with 10-straight wins before setting the program record with 15-consecutive victories to begin the 2018-19 season. Fort Hays State is one of 14 remaining undefeated teams in Division II.
The Tigers now have 990 wins in the program's 52-year history, putting the team within 10 victories of reaching the 1,000-win plateau.
Olivia Hollenbeck notched her seventh career double-double in Thursday's blowout win over Central Missouri, totaling 13 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. She is the fourth different Tiger to record a double-double this season, joining Brooke Loewe, Katie DeGarmo and Telexa Weeter.
Ellie Stearns knocked down four 3-pointers in the win Thursday, doing so for a second-consecutive game. She leads the team with 11 makes from behind the arc this season.
The Tigers rank in the top 10 in the country in numerous statistical categories, including fourth in defensive rebounds per game (33.0), sixth in field goal percentage defense (30.8 percent), ninth in fouls per game (13.0) and ninth in assist/turnover ratio (1.28).Loewe leads the conference and ranks sixth in DII with 50 assists on the year, while her average of 6.3 assists per night is the best in the league and 10th in the country.
Hollenbeck continues to lead the team with 17.1 points per game, fourth-best in the MIAA. The Lincoln, Neb. graduate student is knocking down 67.1 percent of her shots this season, third-best in Division II.Weeter led the team in scoring for a second time this season on Thursday, totaling 21 points to score in double figures for a sixth-consecutive game.
The Ichabods lead the all-time series, 47-40, while the series is level at 21-21 in games played in Hays. Fort Hays State has won eight-straight overall dating back to February 2018, its longest winning streak in series history. Washburn's last win over the Tigers came in December of 2017. Fort Hays State has won 13 of the last 14 meetings over the last 10-plus seasons. The Tigers have also won eight in a row at home against the Ichabods, with WU's last road win coming in 2013. Fort Hays State is 1-0 overall and 1-0 at home against the Ichabods during the Talia Kahrs era.
The Tigers used a big second half to defeat Washburn by 25 last season (1/25/24), 70-45. FHSU outscored the Ichabods 40-17 in the second half while holding WU to its lowest scoring output of the season. FHSU scored 15-straight in the third quarter, its longest run of the season, while holding Washburn to just three points in that frame, the fewest allowed in any quarter last year. DeGarmo led the team with 16 points and 11 rebounds, good for her seventh double-double of the season.
DeGarmo has scored in double figures in all four of her games against the Ichabods, including one double-double. She averages 13.5 points and 7.3 rebounds when playing Washburn. Hollenbeck has scored in double figures twice against WU, averaging 9.8 points and 4.3 rebounds in four career matchups.
Washburn is 4-5 this season and 0-1 in conference play after dropping a narrow 66-61 contest in the MIAA opener Thursday at Nebraska-Kearney. Before that game the Ichabods had won four in a row after dropping their first four games of the year. The Ichabods lead the league and rank 23rd nationally with a field goal percentage of 46.0 while they rank 259th out of 290 DII teams with a field goal percentage defense of 43.7 percent. Payton Sterk (18.0 ppg) and Yiibari Nwidadah (17.4 ppg) rank T-second and fourth, respectively, in the MIAA in scoring.
Looking ahead, Fort Hays State will return to action in two weeks when the Tigers travel a mere 3,636 miles to play Truman State and Quincy in the Big Island Holiday Classic in Hilo, Hawaii December 19-20.