BY RAEGAN NEUFELD
PHOTOS BY JESS KIRCHHOFF
The FHSU women’s basketball team suffered just their second loss of the season on Thursday against Missouri Southern. The loss also marks their second at home and second in conference play.
The Tigers came into the game ranked first in the MIAA with a record of 9-1 and an overall record of 15-1. The Lions of Missouri Southern sat at 7-3 and 10-5. The Lions proved that any team in the MIAA can come out on top on any given night, and outscored FHSU in the last three quarters to win 54-41.
“It was pretty obvious from the beginning that they were more ready to play and the game meant more to them than it did to us,” Head Coach Tony Hobson said. “We had several kids who weren’t ready to play and as a result, we struggled on the offensive end.”
The game was fast-paced from the beginning and fueled by the typical crowd at Gross Memorial Coliseum, but both teams started off slow offensively. The Tigers held a narrow 15-12 lead at the end of the first quarter, and the score was tied at the half. FHSU only scored five points in the third quarter, all five points coming in a minute time span. Missouri Southern finished out the game by outscoring FHSU 21-14 in the fourth quarter.
Unfortunately for the Tigers, this game marks the third lowest overall shooting percentage in Hobson’s career at FHSU, at just 22.7%. The team also shot just 9.1% from three-point range. Missouri Southern only shot the ball at 36.2 and 11.8%, but it was enough.
Katie Wagner led FHSU with nine points and led all players with 16 rebounds. Whitney Randall and Jaden Hobbs each had seven points.
Injuries also plagued the Tigers as they have all season. Jessie Sallach and Megan Earney have both played a majority of the season, but sat out against the Lions with injuries. However, Hobson said that his team was simply bested.
“We got outplayed. It shouldn’t happen but it does,” he said.
With the loss, FHSU moves to 15-2 and 9-2 on the season, while Missouri Southern moves to 11-5 and 8-3.
“We just have to pick ourselves up and do the best we can in preparation, and get ready to play on Saturday, but it’s pretty difficult,” Hobson said of their next game.
The Tigers will be back in Gross Memorial Coliseum at 2 P.M. on Saturday the 22nd against Pittsburg State University.