FHSU Sports Information Department
Fort Hays State, ranked No. 5 in the nation, takes on No. 1 ranked Emporia State on Saturday in Hays at 2 pm. This will be the fifth straight meeting in which both teams are ranked in the Top 10 of the WBCA Division II Poll. Both teams enter at 7-0 overall and 1-0 in the MIAA.
A rematch of last year’s Central Regional Championship of the NCAA Tournament, the Tigers looks to get revenge on the Hornets after they took the regional title at Gross Memorial Coliseum last year. Emporia State went on to the national semifinals before getting knocked out by national champion California (Pa.).
Fort Hays State and Emporia State split four meetings last year. As the No. 6 ranked team in the nation, FHSU knocked off No. 2 Emporia State by 10 points in Emporia and then won by the same margin just over a week later in Hays as the No. 3 team in the nation, while ESU held the No. 6 ranking. FHSU went on to win the MIAA Regular Season Championship, but ESU took both meetings in the postseason. The Hornets ranked No. 10, defeated the No. 4 ranked Tigers by three points in the MIAA Tournament Final, then knocked the Tigers out of the NCAA Tournament in the Central Regional Final in Hays by five points. The Hornets were ranked No. 9 and the Tigers were No. 6 in the final epic battle of the season in front of nearly 5,000 fans at Gross Memorial Coliseum.
This will be the first meeting between the teams since the start of the 2014-15 season where both are inside the top five of the national rankings.
Chelsea Mason leads FHSU in scoring at 12.3 points per game, while Jill Faxon is close behind at 12.1 per game. Beth Bohuslavsky averages 10.7 points per game and leads the team in assists at 3.4 per game. Paige Lunsford leads the team in rebounds with 4.7 per game.
Kelly Moten leads the Emporia State offensive attack at 18 points per game. Kelsey Barnwell adds 12.4 points per game and Sandra Ngoie averages 10.7 per game. Kathryn Flott leads the team in rebounding at 9.6 per game while Moten leads in assists at 4.4 per game.
This will be the only regular-season meeting between the teams this year.