For the sixth time in seven games, No. 5 Fort Hays State is gearing up for a rivalry matchup against a team ranked or receiving votes in the WBCA Top 25. FHSU welcomes Washburn to Gross Memorial Coliseum this Wednesday for a Senior Night contest at 5:30 p.m.
FHSU (22-2, 14-1 MIAA) is currently first in the conference standings by one game with four remaining on the year and is in search of its first-ever outright conference title at the NCAA Division II level. The Tigers are coming off their first lost in over two months, ending a 21-game win streak last Saturday at No. 10 Pittsburg State in a 65-59 loss. After the loss, the Tigers slipped three spots to No. 5 in the most recent release of the WBCA/USA Today Top 25, but held down No. 1 spot in two other national rankings: BennettRank and Massey Ratings.
Wednesday afternoon, prior to the WU contest, the first of four official NCAA Region Rankings are released as part of the run-up to the NCAA Central Regional, held March 13-15 at the top school in the region. FHSU is the only team in the region (comprised of teams from the MIAA, NSIC and GAC) with just two losses on the year.
Kate Lehman has reached double-digits in scoring for 22 straight games and leads the team with a double-double average of 20.2 points and 10.7 rebounds on average, adding 103 total blocks on the year as well. Beth Bohuslasky has raised her scoring average with double-digit performances in the previous three games and is now at 8.0 points per game to go with a team-high 90 assists on the year. Bohuslavsky is the Tigers’ fourth leading scorer this season, behind Lehman, Chelsea Mason (11.9 points per game) and Jill Faxon (9.3 points per game). On the boards, Keriann Shaw is averaging a career-high 6.7 rebounds per contest and is closing in on rebound No. 500 for her career with 486 currently.
WU (16-8, 8-8 MIAA) cruised past Northeastern State, 83-58, its last time out and fell to FHSU, 62-58, on Feb. 7 in Topeka. For the season, the Ichabods are led offensively by Taylor Ignoto, who leads the team with 14.5 points per game, and Casyn Buchman, scoring at 13.2 points per game. Additionally, Buchman leads the team with 43 made three-pointers on the year and a 3.3 assist per game average. On the boards, Jayna Smith’s 6.6 rebounds per game is a team-high, just ahead of Honor Duvall, who is grabbing 6.3 rebounds per game to go with 11.7 points on average.
Seniors Christine Russell, Jenna Ulrich, Keriann Shaw and Lehman will be honored pregame as part of the Senior Night celebration to close out the home portion of its regular season schedule. This season, FHSU is 15-0 at home and will look to close out the regular season undefeated in Hays.