By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The ninth-ranked Fort Hays State women’s basketball team held serve on the road Thursday evening (Feb. 17), defeating Lincoln 76-65 to stay tied for first place in the MIAA standings. The Tigers (22-3, 16-3) hit more than 50 percent from the floor for the third game in a row while burying nine shots from behind the arc to grab the road win.
Six early points from Katie Wagner and a 3-pointer from Jaden Hobbs helped the Tigers to an early four-point lead before Lincoln scored six straight to take the lead, 13-11. Fort Hays State proceeded to close the quarter on a 9-0 run to lead by seven, capped off by a Whitney Randall layup just before the horn sounded.
The Blue Tigers closed within two by the midway point of the second quarter before Lauren West hit a trio of 3-pointers in less than 90 seconds to balloon the lead to 12, 38-26. FHSU led by as many as 16 before taking a 42-29 lead into the locker room.
Fort Hays State’s largest lead of 18 came midway through the period on a free throw from Olivia Hollenbeck before Lincoln closed the quarter on a 17-7 run to narrow the gap to eight, 56-48.
Lincoln got as close as six after scoring first in the final frame before another 3-pointer from West ended the Blue Tiger run. Hobbs hit back-to-back buckets for the Tigers before a long two from Randall put the Tigers back up by 16, 68-52. The Blue Tigers kept battling, closing within single digits three more times over the final four minutes.
Randall scored again at the 2:37 mark, hitting a layup with the left hand after a strong post move to push the senior past 1,300 career points. She’s just the 11th player to hit that milestone at Fort Hays State.
The Tigers hit 51.9 percent from the floor in the win (27-of-52), including a 9-for-22 effort from behind the arc (40.9 percent), while hitting 13-of-16 from the line (81.3 percent). Lincoln hit 45.8 percent from the floor (27-of-59), its third-best outing in an MIAA game this season. Fort Hays State took care of business on the boards, outrebounding the Blue Tigers by 13, 38-25. Fort Hays State committed 20 turnovers in the victory, one off its season high.
Five Tigers scored in double figures for the fourth time this season, including a team-high 17 from West thanks to five 3-pointers, the most in a game by a Tiger this season. Hobbs, Wagner, Randall and Emma Ruddle all had 10 points each, with Hollenbeck adding eight. Wagner grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds to record her seventh double-double of the year. Hobbs dished out a team-high six assists.
The Tigers will wrap up the road trip against Central Missouri on Saturday (Feb. 19) beginning at 1 p.m. in Warrensburg, Mo.