The third-ranked Fort Hays State women's basketball team opens the postseason in the MIAA Championship quarterfinals against Missouri Western Thursday evening (March 7) inside historic Municipal Auditorium. First tip in Kansas City, Mo. is set for 6 p.m.
 
It will be the second meeting of the season between the No. 1 Tigers (27-1) and the ninth-seeded Griffons (14-15). Fort Hays State led wire-to-wire in a 67-50 home victory over MWSU earlier this season (1/24/19). It will be the first matchup between the Tigers and Griffons in the MIAA Championship.
 
Fort Hays State holds a 27-22 lead in the all-time series against Missouri Western, including a two-game winning streak and an 11-5 mark under Tony Hobson. Missouri Western won both previous neutral site matchups.
 
This is the 10th time the Tigers have qualified for the MIAA Championship and the eighth year in a row the team has booked a trip to KC in early March. Fort Hays State is 10-9 overall in the league tournament, including a 7-9 mark in Kansas City. The Tigers are 5-4 all-time in the quarterfinals, 2-1 as the No. 1 seed and 1-1 against No. 9 seeds.
 
The Tigers head into the postseason on a 12-game winning streak, their second double-digit win streak this season. It is just the second time the Tigers have multiple non-consecutive double-digit win streaks in program history (1990-91).
 
Saturday's win was Fort Hays State's 100th victory over the last four years, making Tatyana Legette and Carly Heim the first players in program history to win 100 or more games in their career.
 
Both the Tigers and Griffons had a player listed on the first team All-MIAA roster, with Legette earning MIAA Player of the Year honors and MWSU's Katrina Roenfeldt earning a spot on the first team.
 
Missouri Western opened the postseason with a 55-47 win over Nebraska-Kearney Wednesday to move to 14-15 overall. The Griffons rank 12th in the league with an average of 64.3 points per game. Katrina Roenfeldt, a first team All-MIAA performer, leads the team and ranks third in the league with 16.5 points per game while pacing the Griffons with 5.1 rebounds every game. The Griffons are now 3-0 in neutral site games this season.

The winner of Thursday's contest will advance to the semifinals on Saturday (March 9) against the winner of No. 4 Washburn and No. 6 Emporia State. First tip in that contest is also slated for 6 p.m.