FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION DEPARTMENT
LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Fort Hays State women’s basketball team put up a good fight against a tough opponent but fell to Kansas Sunday afternoon (Oct. 30) in an exhibition contest, 98-71. A total of 2,412 fans were in attendance inside historic Allen Fieldhouse, many dressed in black and gold. The Tigers trailed by just six at the break before being outscored by 21 in the second half.
The Tigers took their only lead of the night two minutes into the contest when Nikola Kacperska knocked down the first bucket of the game. The Jayhawks scored 15 of the next 19 points to open up a nine-point lead and set the tone for the afternoon. A three-pointer from freshman Taylor Rolfs helped the Tigers close the gap to five later in the period, but KU rebounded to lead by eight after 10 minutes of play.
Head coach Tony Hobson called a timeout midway through the second quarter after KU scored seven of the first 10 points in the frame. Whatever Hobson said in the huddle was effective, as the Tigers went on a 10-0 run over the next two minutes to close the gap to one score, 28-26. After a Jayhawk miss, FHSU had two chances to tie or take the lead but a pair of long-range attempts from Rolfs and Kacey Kennett rimmed out. The Crimson and Blue outscored the Tigers 9-5 over the last two minutes and change in the second quarter to head into the locker room with a six-point lead, 37-31. The teams were level with 26 rebounds apiece in the opening frame, but a shooting percentage of just 27.8 percent kept the Tigers from taking the lead.
The Jayhawks came out of the locker room with a vengeance, scoring 13-straight to extend the gap to 19, 50-31. Layups from Kennett, Madison Mittie, and Tatyana Legette helped the Tigers close within 13, but the home team bounced back to build the lead back to 19 points. A triple from Kennett in the waning seconds of the quarter narrowed the deficit to 16 with one-quarter to play, 65-49.
Kansas made it a 20-point game early in the fourth quarter before Kacperska rattled in six-straight points, four coming after she was fouled on a made three-pointer. Kennett then hit a jumper after a KU turnover and in just 76 seconds the lead had been trimmed to 12, 75-63. However, the Jayhawks missed just five shots after the 8-0 Tiger run, outscoring FHSU 23-8 over the last six minutes of the ballgame to secure the victory.
The Tigers were led in scoring by Rolfs, who dropped in 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting. The freshman played 22 minutes off the bench, adding two boards, two steals, one assist and one block. Legette and Mittie also reached double-figures in scoring, posting 10 points each. Legette grabbed a team-high seven rebounds with Carly Heim and Mittie each adding six boards. Heim dished out four of the team’s 20 assists, while Kacperska made a team-best four steals. A year after being one of the top teams in the country at forcing turnovers, the Tigers forced KU into 19 turnovers on the day. In total, 14 Tigers saw the floor with nine placing their name on the scoresheet.
Fort Hays State will have one more tune-up game before the regular season opens in two weeks when it travels to Omaha, Neb. for an exhibition contest against Creighton Thursday (Nov. 3). First tip is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.