{"id":54140,"date":"2020-03-04T16:49:23","date_gmt":"2020-03-04T22:49:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=54140"},"modified":"2020-03-04T23:00:39","modified_gmt":"2020-03-05T05:00:39","slug":"day-1-miaa-tourney-recap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=54140","title":{"rendered":"Day 1: MIAA tourney recap"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

KANSAS CITY, Mo. \u2013 While the Fort Hays State University women\u2019s\nbasketball team won\u2019t get a chance to take the floor at Municipal Auditorium in\nKansas City, Mo., until Friday, the MIAA tournament kicked off in full gear\nWednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fort Hays (22-6) will play at noon Friday against Pitt State\n(17-10), with the winner advancing to Saturday\u2019s noon semifinal game against\neither No. 1 seed Central Missouri or No. 8 seed Washburn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four games started this year\u2019s tournament Wednesday, with Washburn taking care of Missouri Southern and Northwest Missouri State upsetting Central Oklahoma on the women’s side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WOMEN<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Washburn 66, Missouri\nSouthern 52<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Washburn (18-11) outscored the Lions 16-6 in the second quarter to overcome a one-point deficit in the first period. A strong fourth quarter in which the Ichabods outscored Missouri Southern 21-9 sealed the victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shelbe Piggie paced Washburn with 19 points, and Hunter\nBentley added 17 points and eight rebounds. Reagan Phelan finished with 10\npoints and nine rebounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Destiny Cozart led Missouri Southern (10-18) with 20 points, five rebounds and five steals, while Zoe Campbell finished with 10 points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Washburn will play top-seeded Central Missouri at noon Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NW Missouri State 71,\nCentral Oklahoma 67<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A solid effort by the Bearcats, especially in the second quarter, helped Northwest Missouri State take the lead and hold on for the rest of the way en route to the upset of the No. 7 seeded Bronchos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After trailing 18-15 after the first quarter, Northwest\nMissouri State outscored the Bronchos 23-12 in the second period to take\ncontrol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UCO tried to rally in the second half, but the Bearcats had\nan answer each time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jaelyn Haggard keyed the Bearcats, finishing with 24 points\nand two steals. She went 5 of 9 from the 3-point line and hit all seven of her\nfree throws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mallory McConkey added 19 points, 6 rebounds and two blocks\nfor NWMSU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelsey Johnson led the Bronchos (18-10) with 22 points and\n10 rebounds, and Jaci Littell chipped in 11 points and eight rebounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No. 10-seeded Bearcats (12-17) will play No. 2 seed Emporia State at 2:15 p.m. Thursday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

MEN<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lincoln 78, Central Oklahoma 69<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Blue Tigers, the ninth seed, took control midway through\nthe first half Wednesday night and never relinquished it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Central Oklahoma (11-18) nipped at the Blue Tigers\u2019 tails late\nin the half, but Lincoln (11-18) was able to hold a 31-27 advantage at the\nbreak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Blue Tigers were hot from the field, especially from long\nrange. Lincoln hit 9 of 17 shots from 3-point range and shot 57% from the field\noverall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lincoln pushed the lead to as many as 15 late in the second half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marcel Burton led Lincoln in scoring with 15 points, including\nnine in the second half. Bansi King had nine points at the break and finished\nwith 14, and Cameron Potts chipped in 13. L\u2019Kielynn Taylor led the rebounding\neffort with 12.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dashon Bell paced UCO with 15 points. Colt Savage (14) and\nCarson Calavan (11) also hit double figures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The win puts the Blue Tigers in Thursday\u2019s 6 p.m. quarterfinal against defending national champion and current No. 1 team in the country, Northwest Missouri State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pitt State 79, Nebraska-Kearney 76 (OT)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 10th<\/sup>-seeded Gorillas (11-18) pulled off another upset on the first day of the tourney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pitt State rallied from a five-point deficit over the final\nthree minutes of regulation to force overtime, then outscored the Lopers 11-8\nin the extra period to advance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UNK (16-13) led 36-33 at halftime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jah-Kobe Womack scored the final five points of regulation\nfor Pitt State and finished with 17 points, six rebounds and three steals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A.J. Walker led PSU with 21 points and 10 rebounds, and\nChristian Edmondson added 12 points. Antonio Givens II also hit double figures\nwith 10 points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morgan Soucie paced UNK with 26 points and eight rebounds.\nJake Walker finished with 13 points, and A.J. Jackson chipped in 12 points and\neight boards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pitt State will play No. 2 seed Rogers State at 8:15 p.m.\nThursday in the quarterfinals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n