Three straight years Central Missouri had knocked Fort Hays State out of the MIAA Tournament, but the Tigers stopped the run from pushing to four with a 59-53 win in the MIAA Tournament Semifinals on Saturday (Mar. 7) in Kansas City. FHSU, the No. 1 seed, ousted the No. 5 seed in a very physical contest to move to 28-2 overall on the season.

In a game that saw neither team lead by double digits, FHSU clawed its way to a six point lead at halftime, 26-20. Both teams fought hard defensively in the first half as FHSU was held to just 29 percent shooting from the field and UCM was held to 28.6 percent. FHSU turned the ball over 11 times, but forced eight out of UCM.

After UCM tied the game with a 6-0 run to open the second half, FHSU went on an 11-4 run to take a 37-30 lead with 9:58 remaining. But UCM kept chipping away, eventually tying the game once again at 44-44 on an old-fashioned three-point play by Shelby Winkelmann at the 6:14 mark. The teams each traded a pair of free-throws before FHSU used a 7-1 run to go up six with 3:35 to go.

UCM pushed at FHSU once again, cutting the lead down to just two with 2:24 remaining. Following Kate Lehman hitting one of two free-throws to push the lead to three, Nikola Kacperska came up with a huge steal and fast-break layup with 1:38 to go, pushing the lead back to five. FHSU would go on to get three consecutive defensive stops inside the last minute and a half to secure the win. Chelsea Mason put the game out of reach with a pair of free-throws with 15 seconds remaining, pushing the lead to eight.

FHSU shot only 28.3 percent from the field in the game, but used a 20-of-30 effort at the free-throw line to pick up the victory. FHSU hit five three-point field goals in the game, all by Mason, who finished with 17 points.

The Tigers shut down the Jennies from beyond the three-point line, holding them to an 0-of-10 effort. Eight of those 10 attempts were in the first half. UCM shot only 33.8 percent from the field in the game.

Lehman led the Tigers with a scrappy double-double effort of 18 points and 13 rebounds. She did the majority of her damage at the free-throw line, where she was 12-of-20. With five blocked shots in the game, Lehman became the first player in NCAA Division II history to have at least 1,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, and 500 blocked shots in a career. Her 500th came on a block of a Winkelmann jumper in the lane in the second half. She now has 502 for her career, to go with 1,842 points and 1,079 rebounds.

Kacperska led the team with five assists and added 12 points, making several key driving layups in the second half. Keriann Shaw had a big night on the boards with 12, helping FHSU outrebound UCM 47-43 in the game. FHSU forced nine turnovers out of UCM in the second half, leaving UCM with 17 for the game.

Winkelmann led UCM with a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds. Revonnia Howard added 13 points.

The Tigers will meet the winner of the other semifinal game between No. 2 seed Emporia State and No. 3 seed Pittsburg State in the tournament finals on Sunday (Mar. 7).