EDMOND, Okla. - The 16th-ranked Fort Hays State basketball team continued its hot-shooting road trip, with the Tigers knocking down a season-high 13 3-pointers in an 84-66 road win over Central Oklahoma on Tuesday (Dec. 19). The 13 3-pointers are the most for the Tigers in a game since they buried 13 in the same building three years ago (12/15/20).
 
In their last seven trips to Edmond, the Tigers are averaging 10 made 3-pointers per game, including three games with at least 12 triples and at least eight long-distance makes in all seven contests.
 
Fort Hays State (10-1, 5-1 MIAA) scored the first five points on a layup from Olivia Hollenbeck and an Emma Ruddle 3-pointer, but Central Oklahoma (2-10, 1-5 MIAA) responded by scoring six-straight points to take a momentary lead. Brooke Loewe added a pair of free throws midway through the first quarter to give the Tigers the lead for good.
 
Ruddle added two more 3-pointers in the first quarter, while a triple from Kate Dilsaver helped the Tigers go up by 13, 21-8. UCO closed within nine after scoring four points in the final 24 seconds of the first quarter, 21-12.
 
Dilsaver added two more 3-pointers early in the second quarter, giving the junior a career-high three long-range makes. A traditional 3-point play from Hollenbeck put the Tigers up by as many as 15, 36-21, but the Bronchos closed within 11 by the end of the opening half, 41-30.
 
After the Tigers hit 7-of-12 from behind the arc in the first half, they continued to pour it on in the second half. FHSU hit 6-of-9 from deep in the second half, including two makes from Ellie Stearns and one each from Sydney Golladay, Jessie Sallach, Ruddle and Loewe.
 
Golladay's triple early in the third quarter pushed the Tigers to a game-high 20 points, 52-32, before the Bronchos started to chip away. The home team closed within 13 by the end of the third quarter, 61-48, before trimming the deficit to 10 twice in the fourth quarter.
 
The Tigers kept things rolling to the final whistle, with the Tigers finishing the game 2-for-2 from the floor and 4-for-4 from the charity stripe over the final two minutes after UCO closed within 10.
 
Katie Wagner led the team with a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double after hitting 9-of-10 from the charity stripe, helping FHSU to a 77.3 percent shooting day at the free-throw line (17-of-22). Three other Tigers scored in double figures, including Hollenbeck with 14, Dilsaver with a season-high 13 and 12 from Ruddle. Loewe dished out five assists, with Wagner and Hollenbeck both dishing out four assists each.
 
Fort Hays State hit a season-high 50.9 percent from the floor (27-of-53) and hit 61.9 percent from behind the arc (13-of-21), knocking down more than 60 percent from behind the arc for the first time in nearly three years (64.3 percent at PSU, 1/23/21).
 
The Tigers outrebounded UCO by 10, 37-27. Fort Hays State scored 24 fast-break points, its most in more than two years. The Tigers were credited with assists on 21 of 27 made baskets.
 
After playing just three of their first 11 games at home, the Tigers will return to Gross Memorial Coliseum to start a three-game homestand after the holiday break when FHSU hosts Bethany College on Saturday, December 30 beginning at 2 p.m.