No. 1/2 Fort Hays State (6-0, 1-0 MIAA) at
RV/No. 18 Emporia State (5-2, 0-1 MIAA)
Saturday, December 4, 2021 • 1:30 p.m.
Emporia, Kan. • White Auditorium
Radio: KJLS (103.3-FM)
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The No. 1 Fort Hays State women's basketball team continues a run of rivalry games Saturday (Dec. 4) when the Tigers (6-0, 1-0 MIAA) take on Emporia State (5-2, 0-1 MIAA). First tip from White Auditorium in Emporia, Kan. is set for 1:30 p.m.
After defeating Washburn on the road by 22 on Wednesday and battling Emporia State on Saturday, the Tigers will return to Gross Memorial Coliseum to host No. 21 Nebraska-Kearney next Saturday (Dec. 11). The Tigers have played, and defeated, the Lopers (97 meetings, 58-39), Lady Hornets (88 meetings, 36-52) and Ichabods (85 meetings, 38-47) more than any other team in program history.
While the women are one of just 23 undefeated teams remaining in Division II, Fort Hays State is one of just seven DII schools without a loss on the hardwood between both men's and women's teams this season. Others include Indiana (Pa.), Lock Haven, Miles, Minnesota State-Mankato, Pace and Texas A&M-Commerce.
The Tigers' current winning streak of six games is tied for the seventh-longest streak to open a season in program history. It's the 10th time the Tigers have opened a season with at least six consecutive wins.
Jaden Hobbs has played in four games against the Lady Hornets and has performed well each time, scoring in double figures four times while averaging 14.5 points and 8.0 assists per night. Katie Wagner (12.0 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 4.0 apg in two games) and Olivia Hollenbeck (10.0 points, 4.5 rebounds in two games) also average in double figures when playing ESU.
Hollenbeck leads the conference and ranks sixth in the country with a field-goal percentage of 65.3 percent. Wagner's three double-doubles are 21st-most in the nation. She ranks 18th nationally in rebounding (11.7 rpg), 42nd in scoring (18.8 ppg) and 12th in defensive rebounds per game (8.8 drpg).
Emporia State leads the all-time series, 52-36, including a 28-11 lead in games played in Emporia. Fort Hays State won the most recent meeting and holds a one-game winning streak in the series. The Tigers also hold a slim 10-9 lead in the series since the start of the 2013-14 season. FHSU is 10-19 against the Lady Hornets under Hobson, including a 1-10 mark on the road. Emporia State has won the last four meetings in Emporia, with the last Tiger win inside White Auditorium coming in January 2015 (1/28/15).
The Tigers have defeated Emporia State 10 times since the start of the 2013-14 season. No other school has defeated the Lady Hornets more than seven times during that span (UCM 7, PSU 5, WU 5, UCO 4 UNK 4, NSU 3, MWSU 3). The Lady Hornets have lost 55 games in that span, with FHSU accounting for 18 percent of those losses.
The Lady Hornets came into the weekend receiving votes in the coaches poll and ranked 18th in the media poll before falling by just one point to Nebraska-Kearney on Thursday, 59-58. Both of ESU's losses have come at home this season. A loss Saturday would give the Lady Hornets three home losses this season, matching their high mark for defeats inside White Auditorium in a single season since the turn of the century (10-3 in 2018-19, 11-3 in 2001-02). Tre'Zure Jobe leads the conference in scoring, averaging 22.4 points per night. The Lady Hornets average 82.9 points per game, tops in the league and eighth-most in DII. Karsen Schultz grabs a team-best 6.4 rebounds per game, while ESU as a team is being out-rebounded by an average of 3.4 boards per game.
Since the 1979-80 season (when dates of games are known), the Tigers are 5-3 on December 4, with the most recent result a 62-53 win over Nebraska-Kearney in 2018.
FHSU Athletics