In its lone exhibition before tipping off the 2014-15 regular season campaign, Fort Hays State University Women’s Basketball fell, 73-52, to Kansas on Sunday afternoon in Lawrence.
The Tigers hung close with KU for a majority of the first half, trailing by five (26-21) with 7:38 to play. From there, however, the Jayhawks closed the half on a 17-1 run that put the game out of reach. FHSU did match KU in scoring for the second half, with each team tallying 30 points.
FHSU hit just 26.8 percent of its field goals on the afternoon, but showed bright spots as Kate Lehman, Jill Faxon and Chelsea Mason all hit double-digits in scoring.
Lehman’s 17 points paced the Tigers, as Faxon had 12 points and Mason added 10 points. Lehman was 6-of-11 from the field on the night and hit 5-of-10 free throw opportunities, pulling down six rebounds. Faxon and Mason led the team in field goal attempts, with 19 and 17, respectively.
The team leader on the boards was Paige Lunsford, who grabbed seven total rebounds, four of them coming on the offensive glass. Lunsford’s 30 minutes played led the team as well.
Keriann Shaw provided a spark defensively, leading the team with five steals, while Beth Bohuslavsky added seven assists and seven points in the contest.
Kansas, which reach the second round of the Big 12 Tournament last season, was Chelsea Gardner’s double-double (23 points, 10 rebounds). Natalie Knight added 11 points as the second-leading scorer.
Fort Hays State heads to St. Paul, Minn., in two weeks for its regular season opener on Nov. 14. The Tigers will play a two-day event at Concordia-St. Paul on Nov. 14-15, taking on Bemidji State and the Golden Bears.