Box Score Kearney, Neb. – The Fort Hays State women's basketball team shot 64 percent in the fourth quarter to pull away from Nebraska-Kearney, 64-53, Thursday night in Kansas.
In front of 3,450 fans, the Tigers (20-7, 11-7) reach 20 wins once again while UNK's four-game win streak comes to an end.
Kearney (11-15, 7-11) still has a chance at finishing eighth in the MIAA and thus the right to host a first round tournament game on Tuesday. Missouri Southern State (12-15, 7-11) fell at nationally-ranked Pittsburg State tonight, 70-48, while Southwest Baptist (15-11, 7-10) hosts Hays on Thursday. UNK is at SBU on Saturday with MSSU hosting nationally-ranked Central Missouri.
On "Senior Night" at Gross Memorial Coliseum, Hays outscored UNK 23-15 in the fourth quarter and got 30 points off its bench. Improving to 13-1 at home, the always tough Tiger defense held the Lopers to a season-low 28.3% shooting (17 of 60) from the field.
"They are a tough team. But we just couldn't get in that mindset that we could beat a great opponent on their home floor. There was some hesitancy," said UNK assistant coach
Brandon Rohr. "We couldn't make those plays that we've been making the past few games, especially in the fourth quarter."
In a game with eight ties and six lead changes, neither team held a lead of more than seven points over the first three quarters. Hays seemed a bit in control when they moved ahead 36-31 with 2:28 left in the third but back-to-back buckets by seniors
Kelsey Fitzgerald (Yankton, S.D.) and
Nieka Wheeler (Independence, Mo.) tied things back up.
However, the Tigers scored the final three points of the quarter to lead 41-38. After Beatrice native Jill Faxon missed two free throws, an offensive rebound led to a three-point play by sophomore Tatyana Legette.
"That sequence at the end of the third quarter; that really took the wind out of our sails," said Rohr. "We needed to make some plays down the stretch and we weren't able to do that tonight."
Scoring just 23 points in the first half, Hays erupted for 25 in the final 10 minutes. They went 8 of 12 from the field (3 of 4 threes) and started the quarter on an 11-3 run. The key spurt featured five points from senior Nikola Kacperska.
UNK didn't get closer than seven points the rest of the way as they finished 4 of 16 (0 of 2 threes) from the field in the fourth. The Lopers did have a solid night at the line, knocking down 17 of 23 shots. Hays chucked up a couple of air balls in making just 11 of its 23 freebies (48%).
Nine different Tigers scored with Kacperska (12) and Legette (11) the leaders. Legette also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds, blocked three shots and made two steals. Off the bench, freshman Madison Mittie tallied nine points in 17 minutes.
For UNK, junior wing
McKenzie Brown (G.I. Northwest) scored a team-high 10 with Fitzgerald (nine rebounds & eight points) and Battle Creek junior
Michaela Barry (eight rebounds & eight points) close to double doubles.
Among the reserves, Wheeler had seven points in 10 minutes with Alabama junior
Imani Kyser supplying eight points and five boards in 13 minutes.
