HAYS, Kan. - After a 3-pointer midway through the second quarter put Emporia State in front of the Fort Hays State women's basketball team by 12 Wednesday evening (Jan. 31), Tony Hobson used a timeout to rally the troops. Whatever the 10th-year head coach said to his team made quite an impact, because the Tigers scored the final 17 points of the first half to erase a 15-point deficit in just over four minutes.
 
Fort Hays State continued to pour things on in the second half, going on to defeat the Lady Hornets by a whopping 27 points, 90-63. It was the largest margin of victory for the Tigers against ESU in history, a span of 81 meetings, and was the largest margin of defeat for ESU in more than two decades (1/11/95, 86-57 at UCM).
 
Fort Hays State improves to 17-4 on the year and 8-4 in conference play after its fifth-straight win, while the Lady Hornets dip to 13-6 overall and are also 8-4 in league action. It was the third-straight home win for the Tigers against Emporia State, who defeated FHSU earlier this season in Emporia.
 
The teams traded the lead five times over the first five minutes before Emporia State used runs of eight-straight and nine-straight points to build the lead as high as 15 midway through the second quarter. The Lady Hornets appeared to be in complete control at that point - they could not miss on the offensive end, making 15 of their first 20 shots including 6-of-8 from deep, and they had tightened things up on defense by switching to a zone look.
 
Unfortunately for Lady Hornet fans, the first 15 minutes turned out to just be a flash in the pan. The Tigers looked like a completely different team out of Hobson's timeout, knocking down 8-of-11 shots over the final six-plus minutes of the half while forcing five ESU turnovers.
 
Emporia State went back up by 15 at the 4:25 mark after a layup, but those would be the last points of the first half for the visitors. Whitney Clampitt found a hole in the defense and hit a mid-range jumper to open the Tiger run. Carly Heim dropped in a floater in the lane after Tatyana Legette drained a pair of free throws.
 
Clampitt cut the ESU lead to seven with a layup after a back-door cut, followed by a Taylor Rolfs 3-pointer from the right wing on the very next possession. Legette helped the Tigers close within one after dipping under a defender to get to the basket for a driving layup with 30 seconds to go in the half.
 
Instead of holding on for the last shot, Emporia State drove to the bucket and missed a layup with 10 seconds to go, allowing the Tigers a chance to capitalize. And capitalize they did - Heim fed Clampitt with an outlet pass down the sideline as time was winding down before the freshman launched a shot from several steps behind the arc. The ball rattled through the rim as the horn sounded, and just like that the Tigers went into the locker room with a lead, 42-40.
 
Fort Hays State kept things going out of the locker room, scoring on its first possession to stretch the run to 19-0. The Lady Hornets hung around for the first two minutes of the second half, tying the score twice before the Tigers took control for good.
 
The Tigers used a 17-1 run over the heart of the third quarter to stretch out a 16-point lead, 63-47, less than 12 minutes after they trailed by 15. Emma Stroyan stole the show in the second half, scoring 19 points on 9-of-11 shooting while blocking an astounding six shots after the break. The senior controlled the paint on both sides of the floor, using post moves to create easy layups while swatting everything in sight on the defensive end.
 
After giving up a double-digit lead against Emporia State earlier in the year, Fort Hays State made sure the same thing would not happen at home. The Tigers continued to pour things on down the stretch, ultimately leading by as many as 29 midway through the fourth quarter.
 
When it was all said and done, Fort Hays State outscored the Lady Hornets 65-23 over the final 24 minutes of action.
 
Stroyan and Legette led the way for the Tigers with 21 points each, the first time FHSU has had multiple 20-point performances in the same game since 2015 (3/6/15 vs NSU, Lehman and Mason). Legette added 10 rebounds to pick up her fourth double-double of the year while leading the team with four assists. Clampitt added another 3-pointer in the second half to finish with 10 points, her first double-digit performance since November. Heim added 16 points, giving the Tigers a quartet of players double figures for the third time in four games.
 
The Tigers poured in 50.8 percent of their shots in the victory, posting a shooting percentage better than 50 percent for the second game in a row. It was the first time FHSU did that in two-straight games against Division II opponents since 2014.
 
The 90-point outburst matches Fort Hays State's top performance of the season and is its highest scoring output against a Division II opponent this year.
 
The Lady Hornets hit 61.5 percent of its shots in the first half, but the Tigers held them to just 29.6 percent from the field after intermission. ESU scored 22 points in the first quarter alone, but barely scratched that mark after halftime with just 23 second-half points.
 
Fort Hays State will look to avenge another early-season loss on Saturday (Feb. 3) when Washburn makes the trip to Hays. First tip is set for 2 p.m. from Gross Memorial Coliseum.