Just as they have done in four of the past five seasons, the Fort Hays State women's basketball team will play in the semifinals of the 2018 MIAA Women's Basketball Championship Saturday afternoon (March 3) in Kansas City. The third-seeded Tigers will take on No. 2 Pittsburg State at noon inside historic Municipal Auditorium.
 
The Tigers advanced to the weekend after an exciting 57-54 win over Emporia State in the quarterfinal round, while the Gorillas came from behind in the last five minutes to defeat Washburn, 71-63. The winner in Saturday's semifinal will move on to the MIAA Championship Sunday at 1 p.m. where they will meet the winner of Lindenwood and Missouri Western.
 
Fort Hays State won the lone regular season meeting between these two teams, knocking off then No. 19 Pittsburg State in Hays, 75-70.
 
The Tigers have a chance to tie the all-time series with Pittsburg State on Saturday, entering the weekend 26-27 all-time against their in-state rivals. Pittsburg State won the lone neutral site contest in series history two years ago in the MIAA semifinals, the only meeting between the teams in the MIAA tournament. Tony Hobson is 5-13 against Pittsburg State, including a 3-4 mark since 2014.
 
Fort Hays State has reached the MIAA semifinals four times, going 1-3 in those games.
 
Carly Heim led the team with 13 points in the quarterfinal victory, giving her 11 double-digit performances over the last 12 games. She is one of five Tigers averaging more than nine points per night, the more than any other team in the league.
 
Currently ranked fifth in the Central Region rankings, Pittsburg State finished one game ahead of FHSU in the conference standings. The Gorillas won nine-straight games late in the year before dropping the regular season finale against UCM. They average 73.4 points per contest, ranking third in the conference with a shooting percentage of 44.0. Mikaela Burgess paces the team with 15.9 points each night, ninth-most in the MIAA. Paige Imhoff leads the conference and ranks eighth in the country with an astounding six assists per game.