FHSU Sports Information Department
PITTSBURG, Kan. – Fort Hays State was red-hot shooting the ball in the first half, but fell ice cold in the second half as Winona State slipped past FHSU late 60-55. The No. 7 ranked Warriors improved to 30-3 on the season, while the No. 16 ranked Tigers finished their season at 25-6.
The Tigers seized control of the game in the second quarter by opening the period on a 17-4 run to lead by 11. FHSU extended its lead to 13 by halftime, 41-28. The Tigers shot 51.6 percent from the field in the opening half, while holding the Warriors to just 37.9 percent. FHSU outscored WSU 27-12 in the second quarter.
Winona State came out in an extended zone in the second half and gave the Tigers fits offensively. FHSU hit a shot with 8:12 to go in the third quarter, but then went without a field goal for nearly eight minutes until Taylor Chandler hit a layup late in the quarter. Meanwhile, WSU cut the FHSU lead all the way down to two before FHSU scored the final four points of the quarter.
Chelsea Mason hit the first two shots of the fourth quarter, a two-pointer and a three-pointer, to get the Tiger lead back out to 11. But once again the offense fell into a horrible drought, going scoreless all the way to 13 seconds remaining in the game. The defense was still good, but not good enough to prevent a 17-0 run by Winona State. The Warriors pushed into the lead with 2:31 remaining and held on with the Tigers unable to bury jump shots. The Tigers had several open looks after halftime, but just struggled to bury them.
The Tigers shot just 15.2 percent from the field and only 5.0 percent beyond the 3-point line after halftime. FHSU scored only 14 points in the second half after 41 in the first half, putting up just seven points in both the third and fourth quarters.
Faxon led the Tigers with her fourth double-double of the season – 11 points and 15 rebounds. The 15 rebounds was a career high for Faxon. Chandler also scored 11 points, while Nikola Kacperska and Mason each added nine. Beth Bohuslavsky had a team-high four assists.
Tara Roelofs had the hot hand for Winona State, scoring 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field, including a 4-of-4 effort beyond the 3-point line. Connor Nagle added 15 points.
John Lance Arena in Pittsburg has been unkind to the Tigers, where they have now lost eight straight games. FHSU has not won inside the arena since the 2008-09 season. The streak looked to be nearing its end early in the fourth quarter before Winona State stormed back late.
Beth Bohuslavsky and Paige Lunsford ended their four-year careers at FHSU with a school record 98 wins. Chelsea Mason finished with 1,206 points in her career as a Tiger to rank 11th on the all-time list. Bohuslavsky finished with 378 career assists to rank fourth all-time in school history.
The 25 wins for FHSU this year were second most in the program’s NCAA Division II history, only topped by the previous year’s team which had 30. The Tigers have reached the 20-win mark for five consecutive seasons and this was the first consecutive appearances for the FHSU women in the NCAA Tournament.