By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Fort Hays State women’s basketball team cruised to a 28-point road win Thursday evening (Feb. 15), winning 75-47 at Lincoln. The Tigers move to 19-5 on the year and 13-5 in conference play, one win away from extending the longest active streak of 20-win season to 13, while the Blue Tigers dip to 6-17 overall and 2-15 in league action.
The Tigers trailed for all of 36 seconds when Lincoln scored the first basket of the night, but FHSU promptly took the lead for good by scoring the next 10 points. A Katie Wagner 3-pointer late in the period pushed the run to 21-4, giving the Tigers a 21-6 lead and handing Wagner 13 points in the first quarter.
The Blue Tigers scored the final four points of the first quarter, prompting a 13-3 LU run over the next six minutes of game action that allowed the home team to pull within five, 24-19. Emma Ruddle ended the run with a 3-pointer, kicking off a 12-0 FHSU run that ended the half and gave the Tigers a 36-19 lead at the break. The Tiger defense forced seven-straight LU misses over the final five minutes of the second quarter, adding two forced turnovers during that span.
The second half was more of the same, with FHSU knocking down at least half of its shots in both the third and fourth quarters and Lincoln answering with just 38.5 percent shooting after halftime (10-of-26). Olivia Hollenbeck scored six-straight for the Tigers midway through the frame before Kate Dilsaver scored the final five points of the frame, putting the visitors in front by 23 with 10 minutes to play, 52-29.
Clary Donica scored 10 points in the fourth quarter, helping Fort Hays State push the lead as high as 34 with less than three minutes to play before LU scored eight of the final 10 points to bring the final margin to 28.
Wagner led all scorers with 18 points, helping the Maize, Kan. junior move into fifth all-time at Fort Hays State, now with 1,566 career points. She added a game-high eight rebounds while poking away two steals. Hollenbeck added 15 points and was a menace on defense, totaling three blocks and two steals.
Dilsaver matched her season high in points with 13, rebounds with five and assists with three, while Donica scored in double figures (10 points) for the fourth time this season.
The Tigers hit a season-high 51.7 percent from the floor (30-of-58) while limiting Lincoln to a shooting percentage of 33.3 percent (17-of-51). FHSU dominated on the boards, grabbing 11 more rebounds than the Blue Tigers, 37-26. The Tigers scored a season-high 46 points in the paint, compared to 22 points in the paint for Lincoln.
Fort Hays State will play its final road game of the season Saturday (Feb. 17) at Central Missouri beginning at 1 p.m. before returning home for the last three games of the regular season.