Fort Hays State begins its final regular season homestand of the season tonight when it hosts Lindenwood University. Game time is set for 5:30 pm at Gross Memorial Coliseum. The No. 10 ranked Tigers enter at 21-3 overall, 15-3 in the MIAA, while Lindenwood is 7-17 overall and 3-15 in the MIAA.
Fort Hays State focuses on the race for the MIAA Regular Season Championship and the NCAA Tournament in the final two weeks of the regular season. FHSU enters Thursday a game and a half back of Missouri Western in the MIAA standings, but can pull within a game of the Griffons with a win. Missouri Western only has one game this week when it travels to rival Northwest Missouri State on Saturday.
Fort Hays State is No. 3 in the NCAA Regional Rankings, released on Wednesday (Feb. 17). The rankings show the strength of the MIAA schedule as Missouri Western is No. 1 and Pittsburg State is No. 2 in the region. All three teams entered this week with 20 wins against Division II and regional competition. Winona State, the top team in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) is No. 4 in the region and Arkansas Tech, the top team in the Great American Conference (GAC) is No. 5.
The Tigers have four regular season games remaining, two at home this week and two on the road in Oklahoma next week before heading to the MIAA Tournament in Kansas City. The Tigers are already mathematically locked for a bye to the quarterfinals, so now they look to chase down Missouri Western for the conference regular season title. FHSU won the MIAA Regular Season Championship last year and will need to play well in the final two weeks to possibly have a chance to repeat the feat. Right now, Missouri Western controls its own destiny in both the conference standings and regional picture.
Fort Hays State continues to lead the nation in turnover margin (+10.71) and fewest turnovers per game (9.6). Chelsea Mason leads the team in scoring at 13.1 points per game while Jill Faxon adds 12.4 per game and a team-best 5.5 rebounds per contest. Beth Bohuslavsky averages 11.3 points, while Paige Lunsford chips in 11.1 per game.