Fort Hays State

The Fort Hays State women's basketball team moved up one spot in the latest WBCA Division II Top 25 Poll, released on Tuesday. The Lady Tigers are now ranked No. 10 in the nation, cracking the Top 10 for the first time school history. This is the fourth consecutive week the Lady Tigers have been in the rankings. The 9-0 start for Fort Hays State is best in the women's basketball program history. Fort Hays State joins Washburn (6-0) as one of two MIAA schools from the MIAA in the Top 25. Washburn also moved up one spot in the latest poll to No. 6. Pittsburg State is the only other MIAA school currently in the Top 25 at No. 17. Fort Hays State is one of seven teams in the Top 10 that remain unbeaten this year.

Fort Hays State men's basketball ranked sixth nationally in NCAA Division II attendance for the 2010-11 season, averaging 2,498 fans per home game. Fort Hays State was tops in attendance among MIAA schools and helped the MIAA lead the nation once again in average attendance at 1,330 fans per contest. Joining the Tigers in the top 10 is Pittsburg State at 10th nationally with an average of 2,250. Washburn was 11th at 2,166 and Central Missouri was 12th at 2,129. Missouri Southern, Emporia State, and Missouri Western were also in the top 25.

The Fort Hays State women's basketball team opened the 2011-12 season on Saturday night at the St. Mary's Classic in San Antonio, Texas. Facing tournament host St. Mary's (Texas), the Lady Tigers led by two after a sluggish first half and pulled away and never trailed in the second half on their way to the season opening 70-60 win. Both teams struggled offensively, but St. Mary's still managed to shoot a better field goal percentage (45.5% to 43.5%) and outrebound (35 to 32) the Lady Tigers, but FHSU used a big advantage at the free throw line to get the victory.

The Fort Hays State women's basketball team improved to 3-0 on the young season with a 93-34 win over Tabor College on Wednesday night (Nov. 16) at Gross Memorial Coliseum. Every player for FHSU scored, but only one reached double figures on a night where the Lady Tigers shot 46.7% from the field and 25.0% from 3-point range.   Katelyn Edwards, the reigning MIAA Player of the Week, led the way for Fort Hays State, scoring 14 points in only 16 minutes of action. While she was the only Lady Tiger to score in double figures, four other players had either eight or nine points.

Fort Hays State women's basketball will be the No. 6 seed in the MIAA Championship Tournament, March 5-10. With the new 12-team tournament format this year, FHSU will host a first round game on Tuesday (Mar. 5) at Gross Memorial Coliseum against No. 11 seed Lincoln. FHSU just defeated Lincoln in Hays on Friday in the regular season finale. Game time is set for 7 pm on Tuesday. Fort Hays State ended the regular season in a tie for fifth place with Truman, each finishing 12-6 in the MIAA.

Fort Hays State used strong shooting to defeat Missouri Southern in the first of four quarterfinal games. The Tigers shot .438 for the game as the advanced to Saturday's semi-final round.  Missouri Southern jumped out early leading by as much as five points within the first five minutes. Marquis Addison started off scoring nine of the Lions first 11 points as they jumped to an 11-6 advantage. Ben Congiusta would go four of four from the three-point line to help Fort hays State claw back into it hitting four three-pointers in the first half to help FHSU to a 36-31 halftime advantage.  The Tigers would then use .455 shooting in the second half to push their lead to 19 points and close out the victory.

Fort Hays State fought back to tie Emporia State three times before taking a 5-3 lead on a Danie Brinkmann two-out, two-RBI bases loaded single in the bottom of the sixth. The margin held up as Maddie Holub retired the side in the seventh for Fort Hays State's first-ever NCAA Tournament win. Tenth-ranked Fort Hays State moved to 46-10 overall on the season with the win on Friday (May 10) in the opening round of the NCAA Central Regional 1. Emporia State took an early 1-0 lead in the first on a Cacy Williams RBI single that just tipped off the edge of Amanda Vaupel's glove on a diving attempt, scoring a run from second.

Fort Hays State opened its game with Missouri Western on a 30-4 run on Saturday (Dec. 10) and cruised from that point to a 66-53 win at Gross Memorial Coliseum in Hays. The Tigers held the Griffons to just 1-of-17 shooting (5.8 percent) to start the game and eventually shot just 16.1 percent in the first half. Fort Hays State held a 41-17 lead at halftime. The Griffons could not get any closer than 17 points until the 2:50 mark of the second half. The score would indicate a bit closer game, but FHSU did not score over the final 4:33 of the game after holding a 20-point lead at that point.

The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) released its list of all-conference selections on Monday. Fort Hays State had three players earn All-MIAA honors, led by second-team selection Katelyn Edwards and third-team pick Kate Lehman. Crista Bechard was an honorable mention selection while Lehman was also named to the conference's all-defensive team. Edwards earned the nod in her first year with the Lady Tigers after transferring from the University of South Dakota.

The Fort Hays State softball team received the No. 1 seed in the Central Regional of the NCAA Tournament and will serve as a host site, May 10-12, for four teams competing to move on to the Super Regional the following weekend. Fort Hays State will face No. 8 seed Emporia State in the first round, fresh off having to play the Hornets in two MIAA Tournament Championship Games on Sunday. Also competing in Hays will be the No. 4 seed Central Oklahoma and the No. 5 seed Minot State. The format for the four teams in Hays will be double elimination.