Top-seeded Fort Hays State (27-2) faces fifth-seeded Central Missouri (21-8) in the semifinals of the MIAA Tournament on Saturday (Mar. 7) in Kansas City at Municipal Auditorium. The teams will meet for the third straight year in the semifinals, looking for a meeting in the finals Sunday with either Emporia State or Pittsburg State.

FHSU won the only meeting in the regular season this year between the teams, a 76-75 overtime victory in Hays to kick off MIAA play back on December 4, 2014. UCM was ranked No. 21 in the nation at the time, while FHSU was receiving votes. That triggered a run of 14 straight MIAA wins for the Tigers this year.

Central Missouri has knocked Fort Hays State out of the MIAA Tournament in each of the last three years, the last two in the semifinals (2013 and 2014) and the first in the quarterfinals (2012). UCM was the higher seed in all three of those games. The Jennies won last year's semifinal game by a score of 71-69, hitting a game-winning shot with six seconds remaining.

The seeding roles are reversed this year, FHSU with the No. 1 seed and UCM with the No. 5. It was the other way around last year. The teams also see a role reversal this year in the potential NCAA Tournament picture. Last year, FHSU was No. 9 in the Central Region Rankings entering the MIAA Tournament, while UCM finds itself in that position this year, just on the outside looking in. The Jennies are trying to make a case for being selected to the Central Regional next week.

FHSU was unable to edge its way into the NCAA Tournament last year and has a chance to maybe keep UCM out of the regional this year. However, it is not a sure deal that UCM will be left out no matter the outcome of Saturday's contest. Minnesota State-Mankato was the No. 8 team in the region this week and finished its season at 21-9 overall. UCM enters Saturday at 21-8, but a head-to-head loss to MSU-Mankato in the first game of the season could loom large in determining which team gets in next week. UCM is 3-4 this year against teams currently in the NCAA Central Region Rankings, while MSU-Mankato went 2-3.

A win by FHSU on Saturday would leave the top three teams in the region remaining in the MIAA Tournament, No. 1 FHSU, No. 2 Emporia State, and No. 3 Pittsburg State. ESU and PSU meet each other in the other semifinal game Saturday, ESU with a 2-0 advantage in the head-to-head between the teams this year.

Central Missouri enters the game on a nine-game win streak, while FHSU has its current win streak at five games. The Tigers had a single-season school record 21-game win streak earlier this season.

Kate Lehman paced the Tigers with 24 points in the 79-53 quarterfinal win over No. 9 seed Northeastern State. The MIAA Player of the Year was nearly perfect from the field, hitting 12-of-13 attempts. She is just three blocks shy of 500 for her career, looking to become the first player in NCAA Division II history with 1,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, and 500 blocked shots in a career.

Chelsea Mason hit five 3-point field goals on Friday, part of a 7-of-13 shooting effort from the field that led to 23 points. Jill Faxon added 15 in the win over NSU, while Nikola Kacperska dished out seven assists and Keriann Shaw and Paige Lunsford tied Lehman for top rebounding honors, all with seven in a game that saw FHSU outrebound NSU by 21.