Fort Hays State will play just their second home game in nearly a month on Wednesday evening (Feb. 8) when they host Truman. The Lady Tigers are coming off of a stretch where they played five out of the last six games away from Gross Memorial Coliseum, going 1-5 in those games. Wednesday night's game is crucial for FHSU since Truman is just a half game behind the Lady Tigers for fifth place in the MIAA standings.
Fort Hays State and Truman had met just one time prior to FHSU joining the MIAA in 2006, which was a Truman win during the 1998-99 season. Fort Hays State won the first three meetings as a member of the conference, but Truman won five of the next seven, including a string of three straight coming into this season. The Lady Tigers won at Kirksville 69-63 on January 2, earning just their third win at Truman all-time. The all-time series is tied at 6-6 and FHSU will be looking for only their second season sweep of the Bulldogs.
Truman comes to Hays with a record of 12-8 and 7-8 in the MIAA. They are directly behind FHSU in the MIAA standings, just a half game out of fifth place. Truman is very good at taking care of the basketball and they lead the MIAA in turnover margin at +3.0. The Bulldogs have alternated wins and losses over the past eight games and they are coming off a 77-68 win at Southwest Baptist on Saturday. Junior guard Becka McHenry is one of three players for Truman averaging double figures, leading the team with 13.7 points per game. McHenry is also leading the MIAA in assists with 5.1 per game. Jennifer Conway, who got hurt when the teams first met up, is putting in 12.7 points per game while Breanna Daniels is chipping in 10.4 points and a team-high 6.5 rebounds per game.
After finishing Saturday with three assists and just one turnover,
Crista Bechard now leads the MIAA in assist/turnover ratio and ranks No. 6 in NCAA Division II for games through February 5. Bechard has dished out 69 assists against 30 turnovers for a ratio 2.3. Becka McHenry of Truman is right behind Bechard in the category with 102 assists against 50 turnovers for a ratio of 2.0. As a team, Fort Hays State ranks fifth in the MIAA with an assist/turnover ratio of 1.0.
Katelyn Edwards recorded her seventh double-double of the season at Washburn on Saturday with 15 points and 13 rebounds. That mark is the second best in the MIAA, behind Vivian Essuon who has nine, and is among the top 50 in NCAA Division II. Edwards isn't the only player for FHSU who has had success both scoring and rebounding the ball, however.
Kate Lehman has also accomplished the feat five times this season and
Traci Keyser recorded the first double-double of her career at Central Missouri. Fort Hays State has had three games this year where multiple players recorded a double-double, most recently at Northwest Missouri State on January 28 when Lehman and Edwards pulled it off. Last season, Fort Hays State had just one double-double recorded, but this year members of the Lady Tigers have combined for 13.
Fort Hays State is near the top of the conference in all three of the major margin categories: scoring, rebounding and turnover. The Lady Tigers are scoring an average of 73.5 points per game while giving up just 59.1, giving them a scoring margin of +14.4, the second best in the MIAA behind Washburn. FHSU is also right behind the Lady Blues in rebounding margin at +9.0, with the Lady Tigers pulling down 45.0 rebounds per game against 36.0 for opponents. Truman and Northwest Missouri State are the only teams with a better turnover margin than FHSU, who averages 14.4 turnovers per game while forcing 16.9, a margin of +2.5.
