HAYS, Kan. - The Tigers just were not ready for the regular season to end. The Fort Hays State women's basketball team played in its first overtime game of the season on Thursday (Feb. 22), holding on to knock off Southwest Baptist in the regular season finale, 98-95.
 
The Tigers (23-5, 14-5 MIAA) will finish third in the MIAA standings after the win, securing a first round bye in the MIAA Tournament. Tony Hobson's squad will open postseason play in the quarterfinals at noon on Thursday, March 1 inside historic Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo.
 
Fort Hays State knocked down 51.4 percent en route to its 98 points, the most points the Tigers have scored against a conference opponent since the 2013-14 season (98 vs. Lincoln, 1/11/14).
 
Emma Stroyan posted another strong performance in her final game at Gross Memorial Coliseum, scoring 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting. The Tigers had four players score in double figures, led by Tatyana Legette's 12th career double-double (25 points, 11 rebounds). The junior set a new career-high in points, matching the most by a Tiger since Beth Bohuslavsky dropped in 27 against these same Bearcats two years ago (2/6/16).
 
The Tigers jumped out to a torrid start, holding SBU scoreless for more than five minutes out of the gate. While holding the Bearcats to an 0-for-8 start from the floor, the Tigers knocked down six of their first nine shots to sprint to a 13-0 lead. Something clicked for the visitors after the media timeout, as the Bearcats made their next seven shots to close within five by the end of the first quarter, 23-18.
 
The teams traded 10-point runs in the second quarter, with the Tigers going back in front by 15 with three minutes to go until halftime before the Bearcats clawed back within five over the next two minutes. A layup from Stroyan gave the home team a seven-point advantage at the break, 48-41.
 
Southwest Baptist came out of the locker room with a vengeance, making six-straight shots to take the lead for the first time all game after an 11-2 run. Combined with their run in the second quarter, the Bearcats rallied from 15 down to take the lead thanks to a 21-4 run over just more than four minutes of game play.
 
Fort Hays State took back the lead with 2:23 to play in the quarter after Belle Barbieri grabbed an offensive rebound and found Whitney Randall on a back cut, dropping in an easy layup to put the Tigers in front, 68-67.
 
The lead would change hands a whopping 14 times after that layup from Randall. A layup and-one from Legette to open the fourth quarter put the Tigers up by four, 77-73, before SBU scored 10-straight points once again to stretch out its largest lead of the evening, 83-77.
 
Lanie Page made a steal and Taylor Rolfs blocked a shot and made a steal on 3-straight possessions to bring a temporary halt to the Bearcat attack, allowing the Tigers a chance to respond. Layups from Rolfs and Legette put the Tigers within one with less than five minutes to play before two free throws from Kacey Kennett gave the Tigers the lead once again, 84-83.
 
After the Bearcats took an 88-86 lead on a 3-pointer with less than a minute to play, Page took the ball calmly down the floor and hit a jumper from the elbow to tie things up with 44.5 seconds left. Southwest Baptist had two tries to win the game after an offensive rebound, but both shots rimmed out to force overtime.
 
The lead changed hands five times in the overtime period, with neither side leading by more than three points. The Bearcats did not make a shot from the field for the first four minutes of the extra period, but they led by as many as three after knocking down 5-of-6 free throws over the first 2 minutes, 25 seconds of overtime.
 
Legette made a layup after another Barbieri offensive rebound before Kennett sank two more huge free throws, putting the Tigers up by one with just over two minutes on the clock. The lone Bearcat field goal in overtime gave them the lead with 57 seconds to play, but FHSU answered right back when Rolfs made a perfect entry pass to Barbieri, who dropped in the go-ahead layup with 39.7 seconds to go.
 
Barbieri and Kennett both hit a free throw to pad the lead to three, giving the Bearcats an opportunity to extend the game to double overtime. After hitting nine 3-pointers in the contest, the sharp-shooting Bearcats could not knock one down when they needed it most, with the final attempt sailing wide of the backboard.
 
Kennett (17 points) and Heim (12 points) joined Stroyan and Legette in double figures, while Legette led the way with five assists. The Tigers took advantage of 16 offensive rebounds, including five from Barbieri, scoring 18 second-chance points. FHSU also made the most of 16 SBU turnovers, adding 21 points off those miscues.
 
The Tigers will have one week to prepare for the MIAA quarterfinals, when they will take on the winner of the game between the No. 6 seed and the No. 11 seed. The rest of the bracket will be determined at the conclusion of the regular season on Saturday.