STORY BY CHRISTIAN PHILLIPS
PICTURES BY ALLIE SCHWEIZER
A wait well worth it; Tiger fans waited 18 days for the FHSU women’s basketball team to return home and the outcome didn’t disappoint.
The Tigers dominated Lindenwood 77-52 behind Lanie page’s 19 Points, and 5 blocks in 30 minutes of play.
The Lindenwood Lions came into Gross Coliseum with an overall record 16-4 and 10-3 in MIAA play.
The Lions were forced to call an early timeout when the Tigers jumped out a three-point lead with 6:30 left in the first quarter.
Lindenwood closed the first quarter out on a small run to cut an FHSU lead down to just three (21-18).
Stagnant second period scoring by Fort Hays State kept the game to an 11 point lead going into the half. The Tigers shot 13-30 at 43.3%. Both teams shot a collective 4-22 from the three at 18%.
Lanie Page led in points for FHSU with 12 in the first half. She also tallied three blocks through the first 20 minutes of action. The Tigers entered the half up 38-27.
Second Half:
Fort Hays state turned their offensive scoring woes around as the Tigers went on to shoot 17-26 for the second half. Both teams continued to struggle beyond the arc in the third and fourth periods, the two schools finished 5-19 from three.
The Tigers didn’t have an answer for Lindenwoods Kallie Bildner as she finished the game with 15 points (6-9, 1-2 from behind the arc, 7 def rebounds). The solo performance by Bildner wasn’t enough to keep the Tigers from outscoring the Lions 49-25 in the second half.
Fort Hays State had five players in double figures for the night. Bench production for both sides racked up a combined 31 points (16 FHSU, 15 LU).
A well disciplined Tiger team stayed off the foul sheet in the fourth quarter up until the one-minute mark. FHSU only committed eight personal fouls compared to Lindenwoods 17 on the game.
Fort Hays State improves their overall record to 22-1 and 13-1 in MIAA Conference play.
You can catch the women’s team back in action this Saturday against Lincoln at 2 P.M.
