BY CHRISTIAN PHILLIPS
Fort Hays State Women’s basketball team faced off against Northeastern State Friday evening at the Coliseum and took care of business 88-50.
The Tigers were looking to improve their 13-0 record, but it didn’t come easy in the first half. FHSU was quite stagnant for the beginning of the affair. After the first media timeout, the Tigers were down 9-8 with 4:09 left. Adjustments during the timeout fueled a 9-0 run that sparked the much-needed rhythm on offense. NSU was forced to call their first timeout.
Multiple and-one opportunities at the charity stripe for FHSU helped separate them from the RiverHawks, but missed free-throw shooting kept things a little closer. Fort Hays went on to shoot 16-22 from the line on the game.
Whitney Randall led the Tigers’ first-half scoring column with 12 points in five minutes. She finished the period 4-4 from the field, 1-1 from three and 3-3 from the line. Randall ended the game with 17 points.
The second quarter was very slow and unorganized for both units. The Tigers shot 2-8 from the field past the halfway point and were struggling to regain rhythm. Taylor Rolfs lead the team with six points in eight minutes. Despite all the trouble, Laine Paige closes out the half with a last-second jumper to send the Tigers to the locker room up 42-28.
Fort Hays State came with full force in the third and a quick 8-3 run turned things the other way. The Tigers very talented bunch went on a 26-5 run to end the third quarter, which sealed the victory for FHSU. Fort Hays State shot 8-16 from the field in the third period. Tatyana Legette came alive during the third period and tied scoring with Kacey Kennett at 10 points apiece. Legette also finished the game with 17 points.
Another dominating performance by the Tigers led the way for the bench to contribute 42 points on the game compared to Northeastern’s 11. FHSU also scored 19 fast-break points to NSU’S three.
Fort Hays State improves to 14-0 overall and 5-0 in conference play. You can catch the women’s team back in action on Saturday the 12th at 2 p.m. in the Coliseum.