A two-game home stretch yielded two conference wins for the Fort Hays State University’s women’s basketball team last week. The Lady Tigers improved to 15-4 on the season and 8-4 in the conference, good enough for fourth place.
The first win came on a 72-57 dismantling of No. 3 Emporia State last Thursday; that win was followed by a 69-62 win over Washburn on Saturday.
The win on Thursday snapped a 15-game losing streak to the Lady Hornets and gave the program its first win over a Top 5 opponent.
The Lady Tigers came out with a new look, starting two players for the first time this season. Both senior Tera Ingalsbe, Wamego and freshman Nikola Kacperska, Tuszyn, Poland got their first starts of the season.
Three Lady Tigers finished the Emporia game with a double-double. Led by senior Katelyn Edwards, Crete, Neb., who finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds. She also added five assists to her fifth double-double of the season and 22nd of her career.
Junior, Kate Lehman, Newton, also finished with her 29th career double-double finishing the game with 12 points and 14 rebounds. She also added four blocks on the night, a category she leads the nation in.
Ingalsbe played a career-high 28 minutes and completed the best game of her career against the Lady Hornets picking up the first double-double of her career with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Edwards’s layup at the 17:12 mark in the first half tied the game for the Tigers, it was all Edwards after that. She scored nine straight points capping an 11-4 Lady Tiger run to start the game.
After the Lady Hornets pulled within four, the Lady Tigers responded with another 10-1 run capped by sophomore Beth Bohuslavshy, Dwight, Neb., 3-pointer to give the Lady Tigers a double-digit lead with 8:50 left in the first half.
The Lady Hornets again pulled within five with 2:38 left in the first half before an 8-2 Lady Tiger run gave them an 11 point advantage at intermission.
A 15-6 Lady Tiger run in the first five minutes of the second half gave them a 20 point advantage and sealed the victory for the Lady Tigers.
Both teams shot 35.2 percent from the field, but second chance points and free-throws game the Lady Tigers the advantage. Of the Lady Tigers 72 points, 25 came off second chance points as they grabbed 25 offensive rebounds.
The Lady Tigers finished the night 19-of-27 from the charity stripe; Emporia was 6-of-14.
Saturday’s game against Washburn would prove more difficult for the Lady Tigers. Despite retaining the lead from the 8:20 mark in the first, the Lady Tigers had to fend off several runs by the Ichabods.
The Ichabods came out in a 2-3 zone to limit Lehman’s impact on the game. That combined with two quick fouls limited Lehman to five minutes in the first half. She finished the first half with two points on 1-of-2 shooting from the field.
The zone was anchored by Washburn’s 6-foot-4 center Kara Lee and 6-foot-1 forward Honor Duvall, who took turns playing the middle and focusing on Lehman’s usual dominance in the post. The zone made sure Lehman was double-teamed every time she touched the ball.
The Lady Tigers did; however, have an answer for the 2-3 zone. Edwards used the zone to her advantage and took over in the first half, scoring eight points and grabbing eight rebounds. She played 17 of the 20 minutes in the first half.
After starting 13 straight games sophomore Chelsea Mason, Bellevue, Neb. lost her starting spot before the Emporia game. She was unfazed coming off the bench scoring eight points in nine minutes the first half of the Washburn game.
Despite being without Lehman for most of the first half the Lady Tigers outscored Washburn 33-26. This cushion would proved vital as the Ichabods kept with the Lady Tigers throughout the second half each scoring 36 points.
Despite going 0-of-7 from the field sophomore Beth Bohuslavsky, Dwight, Neb., played 36 minutes in the game, a season-high. All five of her points came from the free-throw line and her six assists led the team and was the most she has had since Nov. 30.
Lehman, despite foul trouble, turned things around in the second half scoring 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting. She also grabbed five rebounds in the second half.
In just her second start of the season Kacperska finished with 11 points and five rebounds, both season-highs.
Tonight the Lady Tigers hit the road for a conference matchup against Nebraska-Kearney. The Lopers come into the game on a five-game conference skid and sit at 3-9 in the conference and 13th in the conference standings.