Box Score

The Fort Hays State women's basketball team went to the locker room with a one-point lead, but Missouri Western caught fire in the second half and handed the Lady Tigers a 90-78 loss on Monday evening (Jan. 30) at MWSU Fieldhouse in St. Joseph, Mo. The loss is the fourth in the last five games for FHSU, who is now 15-6 (7-6 MIAA) on the season.
 
Fort Hays State jumped on top early by a count of 15-8 with Kate Lehman scoring eight early points to lead the way. Once Missouri Western made a defensive adjustment to slow down Lehman, the Lady Tigers struggled scoring, hoisting up 18 three-pointers in the first half and knocking down just four. Still, FHSU hung on to a 33-32 advantage at the break, but it would not last long.
 
Missouri Western scored the first five points of the second half and went on to make 21-of-29 field goal attempts in the half, a staggering 72.4%. The Griffons scored a season-high 90 points and handed FHSU their worst loss of the season. Missouri Western hit 58.9% (33-of-56) of their shots for the game, giving them the highest point total and field goal percentages given up by Fort Hays State this season.
 
Ashleigh Curry scored a game-high 24 points to lead Missouri Western, followed by the MIAA's leading scorer Jessica Koch who had 21. The Griffons turned the ball over 21 times, opposed to 14 by the Lady Tigers, but it did not make a difference since they were so accurate shooting the ball. Missouri Western improves to 6-14 on the year and 4-10 in conference play with the win.
 
Fort Hays State had five players reach double figures in scoring, led by Lehman who had 20 points and finished two rebounds shy of a double-double. Katelyn Edwards was also close to another double-double after scoring 16 points and pulling down a team-high nine rebounds. Traci Keyser knocked down three first-half three pointers, moving past Katie Rhodes and into eighth place in career three's at FHSU with 89. Keyser finished with 11 points while Crista Bechard scored 12 and Melissa Nelson came off the bench to put in 10 points in 10 minutes.
 
The road ahead does not get any easier for the Lady Tigers, who will travel to No. 14 Washburn on Saturday (Feb. 4). That game will begin at 1:30 pm from Lee Arena in Topeka, Kan.