First place in the MIAA standings is on the line this Wednesday (Jan. 28) as No. 6 Fort Hays State travels to No. 2 Emporia State for a Top 10, in-state rivalry matchup at 5:30 p.m.
FHSU (18-1, 10-0 MIAA) has won 17 straight games and climbed into the Top 10 this week, while ESU (17-1, 9-1 MIAA) has been ranked in the Top 10 all season, including a four-week stay at No. 1. FHSU sits one game ahead of the Lady Hornets in the conference standings currently and both teams are in the thick of the NCAA Central Region conversation as the season nears February.
The Tigers trail Emporia State, 44-27, in the series history while dropping 11 of the 12 matchups with head coach
Tony Hobson at the helm. That one win came last season, as FHSU picked up its first-ever Top 5 win in program history with a 72-57 victory over then-No. 3 Emporia State in Hays on Jan. 30, 2014.
Fort Hays State is in the midst of an eight-game stretch against rivalry teams, which started last Saturday (Jan. 24) in a 62-43 win over previously fourth-ranked Pittsburg State.
Kate Lehman became the all-time leader in career rebounds at FHSU during the game and now has 975 in her career, averaging 10.7 boards this season. Lehman also recorded her 50th career double-double in the win, helped by a 20.6 scoring average on the year. Defensively, Lehman has swatted 87 blocks this season, leading the conference with a 4.58 blocks per game average.
Aside from Lehman,
Chelsea Mason is averaging double-digits (12.5) with a 31.6 percent effort from beyond the arc and
Jill Faxon has seen her average climb back near 10 points (9.2) after back-to-back games with 16 points.
Beth Bohuslavsky continues to lead the conference with a 3.1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
ESU has won 23 straight games at White Auditorium and is 10-4 against Top 10 teams at home. This season, the Lady Hornets are scoring 76.2 points per game while limiting opponents to just 52.3 points on average. ESU has held their opponent under 50 points five times this season and under 60 in all but four of the 17 games thus far.
Individually, Kelly Moten is scoring 14.8 points per game while senior Merissa Quick averages 10.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game to go with 57 blocks on the year. Also inside, Amber Vandiver has 41 blocks while leading the team with a 7.4 rebounding average. Addie Lackey is a third Lady Hornet to average double-digits, putting up 10.7 points per contest.
