By MAYAN PAZ
Tiger Media Network
With a record of 21-2 overall and a 12-2 mark in the MIAA, the FHSU women’s basketball team is ranked No. 7 nationally and leads the MIAA heading into the final five games of the regular season. This weekend, the Tigers will host Emporia State on Thursday and Newman on Saturday.
FHSU and Emporia (12-11, 6-8) have met once already this season – an 82-64 road victory for the Tigers. Emporia is ranked 8th in the MIAA, trying to gather as many wins as possible in the tight battle for a spot in the MIAA Tournament. On paper, the Hornets are the hardest challenge this weekend for the Tigers, as the Newman Jets are last in the MIAA with a 7-16 overall record and 1-13 record in the MIAA.
For FHSU head coach Talia Kahrs, there is something nice about facing the better opponent of the weekend first in a double-game week, as this allows more preparation for the harder challenge.
“I think it’s nice to face the better team first this time,” she said. “I like to always make preparations for the first game of the weekend, whatever game it is, and not think ahead of time about the second game. So it’s nice that this time it happens to be the better team.”
Last week, the Tigers went on the road and earned two 5-point wins against Northeastern State and Arkansas-Fort Smith. Reflecting on those games and looking forward to the challenges ahead, Kahrs highlights a few aspects of the game where she thinks her players can still improve.
“We just need to be more detailed in execution in a better way. Make sure we’re screening bodies, make sure we’re rolling hard to the basket, ball fakes, all those things, and then just being really much stronger around the hoop,” she said. “Whether it’s a guard going to the basket, whether it’s a post, and making sure that we’re making really tough, physical moves and not just throwing up a shot as we get in there.”
The Tigers are trying to secure the top spot in the MIAA ahead of the conclusion of the regular season to ensure the best possible draw in the MIAA tournament. FHSU is 0.5 games ahead of Central Missouri and Missouri Southern and 1 game ahead of Pittsburg State. FHSU is also playing for a top seed in the NCAA Central Region. The top team earns the right to host the regional. The first rankings have yet to be released.
Kahrs mentioned that she wants to see her players perform on a higher level, so the national committee would reflect that in their selections.
“Something we talked about this week is just kind of playing with a chip on our shoulder. I don’t think we have a lot of respect nationally. I think there are a lot of games that we have left to play this year, and if we want to do that at a high level, we’ve got to get better this week,” she said. “Regardless of who we’re playing and regardless of maybe how bad we beat them last time, we’ve got to focus on us, and we’ve got to focus on making sure that we’re the best, that we can be, not just good enough to beat the team we’re playing that week.”
FHSU and ESU tip at 5:30 p.m. tonight inside Gross Memorial Coliseum. The Tigers and Jets will play at 2 p.m. on Saturday.