The Fort Hays State women's basketball team will host Central Missouri on Saturday (Feb. 11) for the annual 'Pink Game' to raise Breast Cancer awareness. The Lady Tigers are coming off a 63-56 win over Truman on Wednesday while Central Missouri knocked off No. 9 Washburn 69-68 in Topeka. The Jennies sit fourth in the MIAA standings, two and a half games ahead of FHSU, and they defeated the Lady Tigers earlier this season in Warrensburg.
Fort Hays State and Central Missouri had met just three times prior to the Tigers joining the MIAA for the 2006-07 season. The two teams have split the season series in four of the five years since then, including each of the last three. The Jennies have won the last two games played between the teams, but each meeting was in Warrensburg. FHSU won the last meeting in Hays, a 70-58 win on January 5, 2011. Central Missouri leads the all-time series over FHSU by a 9-5 count. The Lady Tigers hold a 3-2 advantage over the Jennies in games played at Gross Memorial Coliseum.
Central Missouri is one of the hottest teams in the MIAA currently, having won nine of their last ten games following a 2-4 start in conference play. That streak started with their 76-66 win over Fort Hays State on January 4 and since then the only loss for the Jennies was 72-67 setback against MIAA-leader Pittsburg State. Central Missouri is one of the top shooting teams in the conference, ranking second in field goal percentage (44.9) and three-point field goal percentage (38.0). They are also leading the conference in three-pointers made with 168, an average of 7.6 per game. Nicole Caddell is the Jennies top offensive threat, scoring 16.0 points per game to rank second in the MIAA. Caddell is also averaging 7.3 rebounds per game and ranks sixth in the conference in that category. Alyssa Rhodes is dishing out 4.6 assists per game to rank second in the conference. The Jennies also feature the MIAA's top three-point threat in Taylor Hanson, who has hit 65 attempts (3.0/game) from long range and connected on 46.8% (65-of-139) of such shots.
Fort Hays State improved to 16-7 (8-7 MIAA) with the win over Truman on Wednesday. The 16 wins is the most in a season since joining the MIAA in 2006-07, surpassing the 15 games that the Lady Tigers during the 2009-10 season. The eight conference wins ties for the most by FHSU against a 20-game conference schedule. Last season, the Lady Tigers won nine conference games but they played a 22-game MIAA schedule after Lincoln joined the conference. Since Nebraska-Omaha left the conference after last season, the MIAA went back to the 20-game format for this season. FHSU went 8-12 in conference play in both the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons.
Kate Lehman recorded her sixth double-double of the season, all in the last 10 games, against Truman on Wednesday after scoring 13 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. It was also the second time this season that she blocked eight shots, leaving her two shy of a triple-double.
Katelyn Edwards finished with 21 points and eight rebounds against Truman, but she leads the team with seven double-doubles on the season. That mark is the second best in the MIAA, behind Vivian Essuon of Lincoln who has nine.
Traci Keyser is the only other player for FHSU to accomplish the feat after scoring 18 points and pulling down 12 rebounds in the first meeting with 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 14.
