Fort Hays State pushed its win streak to 13 with a 61-53 road win against Lincoln on Saturday (Jan. 10).  A back-and-forth, grind-it-out game with 10 lead changes and 27 combined turnovers, FHSU used a 15-3 push late in the game to pull away for good to secure the victory.

The Tigers shot just 32.8 percent (21-of-64) from the field, their lowest shooting percentage since Nov. 15, when they shot 32.3 percent against then-No. 10 Concordia-St. Paul.  At the line, the Tigers saw improvement from the previous two games, hitting 17-of-23 (73.9 percent).
 
FHSU (14-1, 7-0 MIAA) jumped out to an 8-3 lead early, starting the game with six unanswered before Lincoln woke up to score eight unanswered and lead, 11-8 at the first media timeout.  Out of the pause, a jumper from Paige Lunsford stopped the Blue Tigers' run, springing the Tigers back to the lead with ten unanswered points of their own.

Down 18-11 at the 8-minute mark, LU again answered, outscoring FHSU 9-2 over the next three minutes to tie the game, 20-20.  From there, relatively even play over the final five minutes sent the Tigers to the break ahead four, 29-25.
 
LU started the second half hot, outscoring FHSU 8-0 in the first two and half minutes of play, though FHSU again rebounded to take a 37-34 lead near the under-15 media timeout (14:54).
 
After a layup from LU's Jasmine Guthrie gave the Blue Tigers a three-point lead (45-42) with 9:29 to go in the game, Fort Hays State regrouped for its most important run of the night – a 15-3 run lasting six minutes that ended with 13 straight points.  Nikola Kacperska had a key role in the run, picking up back-to-back steals on two defensive possessions, helping the Tigers score four fast break points in quick succession and take the lead for good (51-48) at 6:32.
 
LU stopped the run with a jumper at 1:37, but it the deficit was too much to overcome in the final minute of play.
 
Keriann Shaw led the team with 14 points, tallying her second double-double in the last three games with 13 rebounds on the glass.  Kate Lehman matched Shaw with the rebounding effort, adding 11 point with four blocks for her third consecutive double-double (and 46th of her career).
 
Chelsea Mason and Paige Lunsford each scored nine points, while Kacperska scored six points, dished out a team-high four assists and had four steals.
 
The Tigers completed the west portion of its conference schedule undefeated (7-0) and are now alone in first place for the MIAA standings after No. 1 Emporia State lost to Central Missouri.
 
FHSU returns to Gross Memorial Coliseum next weekend to start a four-game homestand, which kicks off on Thursday (Jan. 15) against Central Oklahoma.