Box Score

Fort Hays State built a 12-point halftime lead and cruised to a 68-51 win over Central Missouri on Saturday (Feb. 11) at Gross Memorial Coliseum. The Lady Tigers upped their record to 17-7 and 9-7 in the MIAA, where the Tigers currently rank fifth behind the Jennies, who are fourth at 11-6 in the MIAA.
 
Three Lady Tigers scored in double figures with senior guard Crista Bechard leading the way with 16 points, which included 11 in the second half. The Holton, Kan. native shot 5-of-8 from the field and 3-of-5 from 3-point range. Katelyn Edwards totaled another double-double, her team-leading eighth of the season, with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Kate Lehman narrowly missed out on a double-double herself, finishing with 13 points and eight boards, including eight points and seven rebounds in the first half. Lehman's three blocks in the win give her 77 on the season, which is already a single-season record. She moved past LeAnne Bryant (75) to fifth in career blocks.
 
Off the bench, Melissa Nelson and Kaiameka Brown added nine points and seven points, respectively. Nelson also totaled a team-high three assists.
 
After an even first 7 minutes of the game where the visiting Jennies took a one-point lead at 10-9, the Lady Tigers went on a 10-0 run to build a nine point advantage at 19-10 with 8:42 left in the half, highlighted by four points from both Nelson and Edwards.
 
The Jennies closed to six, 25-19, with just more than 3 minutes left in the half, but FHSU scored eight of the last 10 points to go into halftime at 33-21.
 
In the second half, the Lady Tigers controlled the game, only allowing the Jennies to close to within nine points twice. Fort Hays pushed the margin to as high as 25 points, 68-43, with just under 5 minutes remaining. The Tigers outscored the Jennies 35-30 in the second frame.
 
A stingy Tiger defense held the visiting Jennies to 29.5 percent from the field in the game, including 28.1 percent in the first half.  From 3, the Jennies were 4-of-14 for 28.6 percent. Alyssa Rhodes scored 11 for UCM, while Shaquanda Wiggins and Nicole Caddall added 10 points each.
 
The Tigers hit 40 percent of their shots from the field (24-60) and 5-of-13 from 3-point range for 38.5 percent.
 
Central Missouri falls to 17-6 (11-6 MIAA) on the year with the loss for fourth in the MIAA.
 
Fort Hays State improved to 17-7 (9-7) and continue to be fifth in the MIAA. The Lady Tigers take to the road for their final two road games on Thursday (Feb. 16) and Saturday (Feb. 18). FHSU travels to Southwest Baptist on Thursday for a 5:30 p.m. game then go to Missouri Southern for a 1