STORY BY CHRISTIAN PHILLIPS
PHOTO BY ALLISON SCHWEIZER
Fort Hays state had their perfect record of 7-0 tested by the No. 24 Emporia State Hornets at Gross Coliseum on Saturday.
Behind Carly Heim’s workload of 38 minutes and 19 points, the Fort Hays State Tigers put away their respected rival Emporia State, 84-74.
“We had a big game from Carly Heim and we just had an all-around team effort,” said Tony Hobson, head coach of the Tigers.
Heim shot 7-12 FG at 58.3% and 4-8 from three-point range. She played a clean game as she stayed out of foul trouble on the game.
Emporia State started the contest off hot from beyond the arc to rattle the Tigers early on their home court. Missed switches on the top of the key left forward Emily Miller wide open several times. Miller shot 3-6 from three-point range in the first half. Four of the six Emporia State players that entered the game found at least one bucket from three. The Hornets collectively shot 9-16 at 56.3 percent.
The Hornets would finish 10-24 from three at 41.7%.
“I thought in the second half our defense kinda took over and we played much better,” said Hobson.
Fort Hays State scored by a committee as eight players found themselves in the scoring column in the first half of play. The Tigers entered the half down by two, 44-42.
The back and forth battle continued throughout the 3rd period as both teams struggled to maintain any lead.
Tatyana Legette was in foul trouble, which led her to the bench for most of the third quarter. Legette still tallied 26 minutes and 15 points on the game.
The Tigers and Hornets entered the fourth quarter in a nail-biting game 64-61, with the Tigers clinging to a 3 point advantage.
“This was a pressured packed game and I thought both teams played well. They were just making so many shots in the first half and we were lucky to stay in the game with them,” said Hobson.
Fort Hays State outscored Emporia State 40-28 from inside the paint, 26-20 off of turnovers, and most importantly the Tigers scored 23 points from their bench compared to Emporia State’s seven. Support from the bench played a significant factor for the Tigers down the stretch as Legette exited the game with four fouls with 8:34 left in the fourth.
Emporia State suffered a huge loss with No. 35 Tyra Jones fouled out with 1:20 left in the fourth. Jones finished with 20 points.
The momentum swung in the Tigers favor when Jones for fouled out and FHSU took full advantage and gained a double-digit lead late to seal the game.
The Tigers improve their overall record to 8-0 and 2-0 in MIAA conference play. You can find the Tigers back in action on December 14th versus Tabor College inside Gross Memorial Coliseum.
