No. 4 FHSU begins final weekend of regular season at Central Oklahoma

No. 4 Fort Hays State University women’s basketball begins its final weekend of the regular season this Thursday on the road in Edmond, Okla., taking on Central Oklahoma. Tip off at Hamilton Field House is set for 5:30 p.m. FHSU enters at 24-2 overall, 16-1 in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association, while UCO is 15-11 overall, 8-9 in the MIAA.Last weekend, the Tigers grabbed a claim of their first regular season conference title in 20 years with an 81-71 victory at Nebraska-Kearney, and is now two games up on Pittsburg State in the conference standings with two games to go. FHSU is seeking its first-ever outright conference championship in its NCAA Division II history, which began in 1991-92. In the conference picture, the Tigers, PSU and Emporia State (three games back) have locked up first round byes to the MIAA Quarterfinals in Kansas City, Mo.

FHSU was listed as the top ranked team for the second straight week in the NCAA Central Region Rankings, released Wednesday. One other version of the poll will be released next week leading up the NCAA Tournament Selection Show, held March 8. The top eight teams in the region advance to the NCAA Regionals, held March 13-15 at a site to be determined.

Senior Kate Lehman, who was named a CoSIDA/Capital One Academic All-American this week, leads the team with 20.2 points, 10.5 rebounds and 4.3 blocks per game on the year. Lehman is the first ever FHSU player to record over 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in her career, and is on pace to be one of two players in NCAA Division II history to finish with over 500 blocks. If she reaches that defensive threshold, she will also be the only player in NCAA Division II history to record 1,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 500 blocks in a career.

Chelsea Mason is averaging 11.8 points per game thanks to 54 made three-pointers this season, while Jill Faxon (9.6 points per game) and Beth Bohuslavsky (9.0 points per game) are near the double-digit scoring mark. Bohuslavsky has had the hot hand of late, scoring 25 and 16 in the last two games, respectively. Additionally, the junior guard dished out a career-high eight assists in the Tigers’ win over UNK and has 99 for the season.

For the Bronchos, who are scoring 66.1 points per game as a team, three players are averaging double figures in scoring – Julia Mason (10.2), Kylie Mayes (10.0) and Olivia Mason (10.0).