By MAYAN PAZ
Tiger Media Network
The Fort Hays State University women’s basketball team is off to another great start. The Tigers are 6-0 and ranked No. 3 in the WBCA Coaches Poll. After navigating six road non-conference games, FHSU plays on the road again today to open MIAA play against Central Missouri before playing Washburn on Saturday in Topeka.
Despite their early success on the court and in the polls, FHSU Head Coach Talia Kahrs said the team is trying to ignore the rankings at this point, saying they provide more motivation to FHSU opponents than to the Tigers themselves.
“It’s not something we talk about a ton. On the opposite side of things for the other team, I think that’s a motivating thing for them when they see that. I know that when we weren’t as good, that was always something that motivated us, playing a ranked team and trying to beat them,” Kahrs said. “For us, it’s not something we necessarily focus a ton on. I think we’ve beaten some good teams, but going 6-0 is impressive, considering the schedule we’ve had. We’re thankful that we’ve hung on to those leads and ended up winning the tight games.”
Last season, the Tigers went 4-0 against the Jennies and Ichabods, winning by an average margin of nearly 30 points each game. Kahrs said the two teams are similar, and even though the Tigers are capable of winning against them, it will be different from last year.
“I think they’re both winnable games, but they’re going to be tough,” she said. “I think something we talked about was just the way that we’ve been able to play within our role and continue to do what we can do, and really just kind of playing fearless and not worrying about making a mistake and just going out and doing what they’re capable of doing.”
The most impressive performer for the Tigers in the early stages of the season has been Talexa Weeter. The junior from Goodland is averaging 29 points per game – the most in NCAA DII – and 8.8 rebounds per game, and has been named the MIAA Women’s Basketball Athlete of the Week twice in three weeks.
Weeter came off the bench for FHSU last year, but still averaged 14.6 points and 6 rebounds per game. Kahrs said Weeter always had the potential to put up such impressive numbers, and this year everything fell into place for her.
“Watching her play last year, she had the opportunity to be this good. I think she wasn’t playing as many minutes as she is this year. Had she played that many minutes, we might have seen the same thing from her,” Kahrs said. “She’s doing a great job of just keeping her head, and they’re guarding her really hard and physically, and she just continues to do what she can.”
Also contributing for the Tigers are senior guard Brooke Loewe and freshman guard Olivia Mortensen. Loewe leads the team and all NCAA divisions with 10.2 assists per game, along with 8.3 points and 6.2 rebounds per contest. Mortensen is second on the team in scoring at 13.3 points per game and also pulls down 5.5 rebounds per game.
Kahrs said it isn’t just Weeter who is helping FHSU win games, pointing to other contributors for keeping the Tigers undefeated.
“I think we’re giving other people opportunities to score too, and that’s why we’re able to win some of those games,” she said.
FHSU and UCM tip off at 5:30 p.m. tonight in Warrensburg. On Saturday, FHSU and Washburn will play at 1 p.m. The Tigers will open their home season on Saturday, December 13, against No. 8 Pittsburg State in a non-MIAA contest.