No. 6 Fort Hays State battled its way to its 19th consecutive victory on Saturday (Jan. 31), knocking off Washburn in a 62-58 contest at Lee Arena to close a two-game road swing.
 
FHSU (20-1, 12-0 MIAA) shot 39 percent in the game, hitting seven three-pointers with three double-digit scorers to overcome a 45-26 rebounding deficit.
 
Slow going early on, FHSU trailed the Ichabods, 6-3, at the first media timeout, but soon saw WU's lead grow to seven (13-6) with 13:23 on the clock.  Near the 11-minute mark, back-to-back three pointers from Chelsea Mason and Nikola Kacperska helped the Tigers roar back to take the lead with a 10-0 run. During that span, FHSU held the Ichabods without a field goal for over six minutes.
 
Up three (22-19) with 5:27 to go in the half, FHSU allowed Washburn to go on a 6-0 run and regain the lead over the next two minutes.  A 15-4 scoring advantage to close the half, however, helped FHSU take a 37-29 lead into the break.  Lehman's buzzer beating jumper ended an 11-2 run over the final 2:49 of the opening period.
 
WU opened the second half with a strong push, cutting the lead to two (41-39) in the first five minutes of play.  The Ichabods tied the game 41-all with 12:57 to go, but a jumper from Mason on the opposite end put FHSU back in the lead. From there, a back-and-forth battle saw the Tigers hold the lead until 6:35, when a layup from the Ichabods' Honor Duvall put WU up, 51-50.
 
The Ichabods grew that lead to four (56-52) just under the five-minute mark, but back-to-back field goals from Kate Lehman tied it at 56 with 3:12 to go.  Soon after, Lehman again tied the game (58-58) with a pair of free throws, and a stop on the defensive end led to Kacperska's jumper that put FHSU back on top, 60-58, with 1:57 to play.
 
Though FHSU picked up back-to-back defensive stops, the Tigers couldn't convert on the offensive end, giving Washburn a chance with 21.9 seconds to go.  After a timeout for the Ichabods, Beth Bohuslavsky came up in the clutch, intercepting an Ichabod pass before a foul on the other end send Mason to the line with two seconds to go.  Mason hit both of a one-and-one, securing the win.
 
Lehman finished the game with 21 points, nine rebounds and three blocks, just missing her ninth consecutive double-double while recording her 10th 20-plus scoring game of the year. 
 
Mason netted two three-pointers on her way to a 12 point scoring effort, while Jill Faxon was a perfect 3-of-3 from long range to reach double-digits (11 points) for the fourth consecutive game.
 
Keriann Shaw led the team with 34 minutes played while scoring five points with five rebounds, and Kacperska dished out a team-high five assists.
 
For Washburn, Taylor Ignoto scored 18 points while Casyn Buchman had 13 points.  In the paint, Jayna Smith pulled down 12 rebounds to lead both teams.

FHSU reached the 20-win threshold for the fourth consecutive season (a first in program history), and is still two games in front of the MIAA standings.  The road win was the first for FHSU at Lee Arena since 1994-95, and helped the Tigers close out January 10-0.
 
The Tigers have officially clinched a berth to the MIAA Tournament, remaining in the hunt for the MIAA Tournament first-round bye (given to the top four seeds) and the NCAA Central Regional.
 
FHSU returns home next week for two rivalry games, taking on Nebraska-Kearney on Thursday, Feb. 5 and Emporia State on Saturday, Feb. 7.