Fort Hays State looks for its first-ever MIAA Tournament Championship on Sunday (Mar. 8) when it faces Emporia State at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City. The game matches the top two seeds in the MIAA, and marks the third Top 10 meeting between the schools this year. FHSU is currently ranked No. 4 in the nation, while ESU is No. 10.

Fort Hays State won both meetings with Emporia State in the regular season, helping secure its first-ever MIAA Regular Season Championship. FHSU won the first meeting on January 28 in Emporia, 65-55, when ESU was No. 2 in the nation and FHSU was No. 6. FHSU took the rematch in Hays on February 7 by a score of 72-62, when FHSU was No. 3 in the nation and ESU was No. 6.

Not only is this a battle between the top two teams in the conference, but its a match of the top two teams in the region. FHSU is No. 1 in the latest Central Region Rankings, while ESU is No. 2.

The Tigers carved a path to the finals with a 26-point win over No. 9 seed Northeastern State in the quarterfinals, and a six-point win over No. 5 seed Central Missouri in the semifinals. ESU made its way to the finals with a 17-point win over No. 7 seed Missouri Western in the quarterfinals, and a 14-point win over No. 3 seed Pittsburg State in the semifinals.

Kate Lehman became the first player ever in NCAA Division II women's basketball history to reach at least 1,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, and 500 blocked shots in a career. She recorded five blocked shots in the semifinals against Central Missouri, the third giving her 500 in her career. She is just the second player in NCAA Division II history to reach the 500-block plateau, but that player never reached 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in their career. Lehman had the 54th double-double of her career in the win over Central Missouri on Saturday night, scoring 18 points and pulling down 13 rebounds.

Chelsea Mason buried five 3-point field goals in each of the first two games in the tournament for FHSU, scoring 23 in the quarterfinals and 17 in the semifinals for an average of 20 points over two games. Lehman is averaging better than 20 points over the two games (21.0).

Nikola Kacperska scored 12 points in the win over UCM on Saturday night and dished out a team-high five assists. Keriann Shaw pulled down 12 rebounds and she's averaging 9.5 rebounds per contest at the MIAA Tournament this year.

Following the championship game on Sunday, the teams will turn their focus to the NCAA Division II selection show on NCAA.com at 9 pm (CT). Here is the link to the selection show... Selection Show