FHSU to host semis, championship this weekend
HAYS -- The No. 5 Fort Hays State women's basketball team left little doubt in Wednesday's MIAA quarterfinal matchup against Missouri Southern, leading wire-to-wire in a 71-44 victory (March 3).
As the top overall seed, Fort Hays State will now host the semifinal and championship rounds of the 2021 MIAA Championship Tournament, presented by Citizens Bank and Trust on Saturday and Sunday (March 6-7).
Whitney Randall got the Tigers started with a 3-pointer from the top of the key just 46 seconds into the game before adding a fast break layup on the next possession, pushing the senior over the 1,000-point plateau. Randall is the 22nd Tiger to eclipse 1,000 points and the seventh to do so under head coach Tony Hobson. FHSU has had a player reach 1,000 career points in each of the last three seasons.
The Alva, Okla. senior added another bucket on the next trip down the floor, scoring seven points in less than two minutes. Missouri Southern would struggle to match that total throughout the first quarter, with the Tigers holding the Lions to just seven points over the first 10 minutes, tied for FHSU's fewest points allowed in a quarter this season.
The Tigers limited Missouri Southern to just two field goals while forcing seven turnovers in the opening quarter. After Randall got things started for the Tigers, Olivia Hollenbeck took over for the rest of the quarter, scoring 11 points and grabbing four boards before the end of the first period.
Fort Hays State continued to play stingy defense in the second quarter, forcing a total of 15 turnovers and holding the Lions to a shooting percentage of 20 percent (5-of-25) before halftime. The Tigers took full advantage of those miscues, scoring 18 points off turnovers in the first half alone. Madison Mittie helped the Tigers stretch the lead to 37-17 at the break with a pair of 3-pointers in the second quarter.
It was the fifth time this season the Tigers have held their opponents to 20 or fewer points before halftime.
Hollenbeck and Randall both scored five more points in the third quarter, with Katie Wagner adding five more to stretch the advantage to 24 points, 57-33.
Six different players scored for the Tigers in the fourth quarter, including Hollenbeck, Randall, Mittie, Wagner, Lauryn Reither and Allison McFarren. The Tigers led by as many as 29 after a pair of McFarren free throws in the final minute before two MSSU free throws made the final score 71-44.
Hollenbeck led the team with a career-high 20 points after hitting 7-of-13 from the floor and 6-of-8 from the charity stripe. The honorable mention All-MIAA selection added five rebounds, two steals and three blocks in the win.
Randall finished with 16 points, six rebounds, one assist and one steal. Mittie matched Randall with a team-high six rebounds alongside 10 points and four assists, matching her career high.
Wagner tallied 11 points, four rebounds, one assist and one steal. Jaden Hobbs distributed seven assists and poked away four steals while adding three points and one block.
Fort Hays State finished the game with 28 points off 22 Lion turnovers, its second highest output of points off turnovers this season (29 at UCO, 12/15/20). The Tigers hit 43.1 percent from the floor (25-of-58) and 72.7 percent from the line (16-of-22) while holding the Lions to just 28.3 percent shooting (15-of-53). It's the fifth time the Tigers have held an opponent below 30 percent shooting this season.
The Tigers will now host fourth-seeded Emporia State in the semifinals of the MIAA Tournament on Saturday (March 6) at 2 p.m. Nebraska-Kearney, the No. 3 seed, will then face off with seventh-seeded Washburn at approximately 4 p.m.
The winners of those semifinal matchups will then play for the 2021 MIAA Tournament Championship on Sunday (March 7) at 2 p.m. inside Gross Memorial Coliseum.
Tickets for Saturday will go on sale to season ticket holders at 8 a.m. Thursday morning, with tickets becoming available to the general public at 8 a.m. Friday.
Notables
-FHSU has now reached the semifinals of the MIAA Championship Tournament eight of the last nine seasons, more than any other school during that stretch.
-The Tigers are 4-0 in MIAA Championship games played in Hays
-FHSU is 6-1 as the top-ranked team in the MIAA Championship
-The Tigers are 4-0 all-time against MSSU in the MIAA Championship
-This will be the first time since 2002 that the MIAA Tournament Champion is crowned somewhere other than Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo.