Fort Hays State defeated Lindenwood, 75-60, in a physical, grind-it-out contest on Thursday (Jan. 8) for its 12th consecutive victory.
 
FHSU (13-1, 6-0 MIAA) kept pace with No. 1 Emporia State in the conference standings, shooting 42.6 percent from the field while committing an uncharacteristic 14 turnovers (forcing 17). All told, 43 personal fouls were called in the game - 16 coming against the Tigers.
 
After a slow start found the Tigers down five (9-4) just past the 15-minute mark, a layup from Kate Lehman started a 12-2 run for FHSU that lasted until 10:34.  During that run, back-to-back three-pointers from Chelsea Mason moved FHSU into the lead for the first time (14-11) before a layup from Nikola Kacperska ended the run with the Tigers ahead five (16-11). 
 
From there, the teams were relatively even until 4:03, when Lehman's second field goal of the game started another 8-0 burst for FHSU – though LWU answered with five unanswered of its own.  Still, a layup from Lehman with 1:23 to go in the half sent FHSU to the locker room up eight, 34-26, at half.
 
Out of the break, FHSU slowly grew its lead to 10 (45-35) before four quick points from the Lions cut it to six at 11:16.  That was as close as LWU came the rest of the way, as Paige Lunsford hit a three-pointer on the next possession to start a string of eight unanswered, moving FHSU's lead to double-digits with 8:31 to go (53-39). That was the final run of the game for FHSU, which reached its largest lead with 23 seconds to go (73-55).
 
Lehman finished the game with her second consecutive double-double, scoring 19 points to go with 10 rebounds and six blocks, moving past Roberta Augustine (1,552 points) on FHSU's career scoring list. Lehman is now in fourth place with 1,568 career points.
 
Lunsford reached double-digits in the win, scoring 12 points with a three-pointer on 5-of-9 shooting, adding five rebounds. Bohuslavsky had 11 points, scoring 10 in the second half to go with four assists.
 
Mason saw her streak of seven consecutive games with at least 10 points come to an end, though she hit three three-pointers and finished with nine points.
 
Keriann Shaw turned in another strong performance on the boards, finishing with nine rebounds with eight points (just missing a second straight double-double).
 
FHSU is now just two wins short of tying its second-longest win streak in history (14), set during the Tigers' 1990-91 NAIA National Championship season.
 
The Tigers head for Jefferson City, Mo., this Saturday (Jan. 10) for a 1:30 p.m. contest against Lincoln.