Fifth-ranked Fort Hays State claimed at least a share of the Fifth-ranked Fort Hays State claimed at least a share of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association Regular Season Championship with an 81-71 win over Nebraska-Kearney in Kearney on Saturday night. The Tigers, ranked No. 1 in the Central Region, moved to 24-2 overall and 16-1 in the MIAA.
The Tigers grabbed a claim of their first regular season conference title in 20 years, the last coming in 1994-95 when they shared the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular season crown. FHSU now seeks its first-ever outright conference championship in its NCAA Division II history, which began in 1991-92, next week at Central Oklahoma and Northeastern State.
FHSU also reached a new high for wins in its NCAA Division II history, now with 24, passing the mark of 23 set by the 1994-95 team.
The FHSU offense struggled early in the game, but defense kept UNK from building a big lead early. Tied 16-16 at the 12:22 mark, neither team scored until the 7:28 mark when Nikola Kacperska put in a pair of free-throws to break the drought and give FHSU a two-point lead. Down one with 6:15 to play in the first half, FHSU closed the period on a 23-9 run to take a 13-point lead, 43-30. Chelsea Mason had the hot hand in the first half with 13 points, hitting three 3-point field goals, while Kate Lehman had 12.
Fort Hays State’s double figure lead dwindled down to four points by the second media break of the second half at 9:51. UNK outscored the Tigers 25-16 in the first 10 minutes of action after halftime. Beth Bohuslavsky weathered the run with a pair of running layups on consecutive trips down the floor to push the lead back to eight. After the lead was cut back to five, a Lehman jumper and a Jill Faxon 3-point field goal at 6:45 pushed the lead back to 10.
At 6:06 another Lehman jumper pushed the Tiger lead to 11, but UNK would not go quietly, countering with a 9-2 run to cut the lead back to just four with 3:07 to play.
Paige Lunsford provided the dagger for FHSU with 2:44 to play, stopping the burst with a 3-point field goal from the right corner to push the lead back to seven. UNK cut the lead back to five with 1:55 to go, but Lehman put in a layup with 1:40 to go to extend the lead back to seven. FHSU got a key offensive rebound with about a minute to play and then closed the game out with free-throws from that point for a 10-point win.
Lehman recorded the 53rd double-double of her career, leading the Tigers with 26 points and 11 rebounds. She added four blocked shots as well to move to third all-time in NCAA Division II history, now with 487 in her career.
Mason had 18 points for the Tigers, finishing with four 3-point field goals. Bohuslavsky had 16 points and a team-high eight assists and four steals. Faxon finished with 11 points.
The Tigers overcame a strong offensive effort from the Lopers by forcing 21 turnovers in the game, including 16 in the first half. UNK finished 43.1 percent from the field and 40 percent beyond the 3-point line (8-of-20). UNK struggled at the free-throw line, just 13-of-22. Laramey Lewis led UNK with 21 points and Alexa Hogberg also reached double figures with 12, all on 3-point field goals. UNK outrebounded FHSU by seven, 45-38, led by Amarah Williams with 10.
FHSU looks for the outright conference title on Thursday night at Central Oklahoma. Game time is set for 5:30 p.m. in Edmond. Regular Season Championship with an 81-71 win over Nebraska-Kearney in Kearney on Saturday night. The Tigers, ranked No. 1 in the Central Region, moved to 24-2 overall and 16-1 in the MIAA.