#3 Fort Hays State Women's Basketball (7-0, 1-0 MIAA)
at Washburn (5-2, 1-0 MIAA)
Saturday, December 6, 2025 • 1 p.m.
Topeka, Kan. • Lee Arena
 
The third-ranked Fort Hays State women's basketball team continues conference play Saturday (Dec. 6) against in-state rival Washburn. First tip from Lee Arena is slated for 1 p.m.
 
The Tigers enter the contest 7-0 overall and 1-0 in conference play, while the Ichabods are 5-2 on the year and are 1-0 in league action.
 
Game Coverage
Live video will be available on The MIAA Network, with subscriptions available at $15 per game, $35 for a monthly subscription or $140 for an all-access pass. Radio coverage will be available on KJLS 103.3 FM or online here, with voice of the Tigers Gerard Wellbrock on the call. Live stats will be available online here.
 
Quick Hits
- Now with 457 career assists, Brooke Loewe is 22 assists away from breaking the school's career assists record (478, Maisha Prewitt, 1997-01). The senior is third amongst active DII players and ranks 18th across all NCAA Divisions in career assists, while this year she leads all NCAA Divisions with an average of 9.9 assists per game.
- Talexa Weeter leads all Division II and ranks second across all NCAA Divisions with an average of 28.1 points per game. She's scored 23 or more points in six of seven games this season, including three with 30-plus.
- Ellie Stearns is averaging five made 3-pointers over the last two games. She's shooting 55.6 percent from deep over that time (10-of-18).
- FHSU's seven wins to start the year are tied for the 5th-best start in program history. The top four season-opening winning streaks are all in double figures.
- The Tigers last played on December 6 in 2017, a road loss against the Washburn Ichabods. FHSU's record going into that game? 7-0.
- FHSU now has 24 wins all-time when ranked No. 3, tied for its most at any position in the WBCA poll (No. 5).
- Fort Hays State reached the 20-win plateau for the 14th-consecutive season last year. That is the longest active streak in Division II and is tied for sixth-longest across all NCAA divisions. In comparison, the next longest current streak in the MIAA is four (Missouri Western), while the next longest in DII is Drury with 12.
 
National Rankings
- FHSU ranks fourth in the country with 19.7 assists per game while ranking eighth in field goal percentage (47.8 percent) and 19th in scoring offense (78.7 ppg).
- Brooke Loewe's 9.9 assists per game are the most across all NCAA Divisions. The DI lead is 8.9 assists per game, while the second-best average in DII is 7.6 (Lydia Haack, Concordia-St. Paul).
- Talexa Weeter leads Division II and would also rank first in DI with an average of 28.1 points per game. Only Alexa Charles of DIII school Hunter with 34.0 points per game averages more points per game across all NCAA Divisions.
- Loewe's 14 assists in a game, a feat she accomplished twice in five days, are the most in a game by a DII athlete this season.
- Ellie Stearns leads the conference with 2.57 3-pointers made per game. Her 18 made triples are fourth-most in the MIAA and 36th-most in Division II.
- Weeter ranks second in the MIAA in field goal percentage (49.3 percent) and rebounds (8.7 rebounds per game)
- Loewe ranks third in the MIAA with an average of 2.3 steals per game.
 
Fresh Start
- Olivia Mortensen is the 14th true freshman to start a season opener for the Tigers during the DII era (since 1991-92) and the first since Ellie Stearns in 2022.
 
Yet to Lose
- The Tigers are one of 17 NCAA Division II programs that have yet to lose a game in the 2025-26 season.
- This is the third-straight season and the fourth time out of the last five years the Tigers have won at least seven in a row to start the year.
 
MIAA Athlete of the Week x 2
- Talexa Weeter has earned two of the first three MIAA Athlete of the Week awards this season.
- The junior averaged 32.5 points and 10.5 rebounds while shooting 60.5 percent from the floor in the first two games of the season.
- The Goodland, Kan. native then averaged 33.5 points and 10.0 rebounds in the two wins in Denver last week.
 
Road Warriors
- Saturday's game will be the eighth-straight game on the road for the Tigers.
- FHSU won't play at home until Saturday, December 13 when the Tigers host Pittsburg State in a non-conference matchup. That will be the latest home opener on record (since at least 1973). The current latest date for the Tigers to play their first home game is December 10, 1975 when FHSU lost to Northwestern Oklahoma State, 75-45.
 
Nationally Recognized
- The Tigers are back up to No. 3 in this week's WBCA Coaches Poll.
- This is the 12th time the Tigers have been ranked No. 3 in the program's DII era.
- This is the seventh time the Tigers have been ranked in the preseason. FHSU also opened the 2024-25 ranked 23rd, the 2022-23 season ranked third, the 2021-22 season ranked fourth, the 2019-20 season ranked seventh, the 2018-19 season ranked 12th and the 2015-16 season ranked 10th.
- Fort Hays State has been ranked inside the top 25 in 122 different weekly releases from the WBCA.
- This is the eighth-straight season the Tigers have been ranked at some point and the 13th-such season all-time.
- Including the 2017-18 season (multiple weeks receiving votes), the Tigers have been mentioned in the polls at least once in each of the last 13 seasons.
 
Scouting the Ichabods
- The Ichabods were picked second behind FHSU in the 2025 MIAA Preseason Coaches Poll, collecting the most first-place votes with six.
- WU is 5-2 overall, including a 3-0 record at home.
- The Ichabods play solid defense, limiting teams to 55.6 points per game. That ranks second in the MIAA and 38th in Division II.
- Yiibari Nwidadah leads the MIAA with a shooting percentage of 55.9 percent.
- Payton Sterk leads the team and ranks 10th in the conference with an average of 14.3 points per night. She is one of three Ichabods to average in double figures.
 
Series History with Washburn
- Washburn leads the all-time series, 47-42.
- The Tigers have won each of the last 10 meetings, with Washburn's last win over FHSU coming on this date in 2017.
- FHSU is 19-24 all-time on the road against the Ichabods.
- The Tigers are 3-0 against WU under head coach Talia Kahrs, including a 1-0 record on the road.
- FHSU is 16-15 against the Ichabods in MIAA regular season matchups.
- The Tigers have won four in a row on the road, also the longest-such streak in series history.
 
Last Meeting with the Ichabods
- The No. 8 Tigers put together a dominant road performance last January, defeating the Ichabods 85-47 (1/30/25).
- It was tied for FHSU's largest margin of victory in series history.
- The win extended FHSU's winning streak over the Ichabods to 10 games, its longest in series history.
- Katie DeGarmo collected 11 rebounds, helping her climb to No. 1 on the all-time list at FHSU.
- Four Tigers scored in double figures, including 19 from Talexa Weeter.
 
Career Stats vs. Washburn
- Talexa Weeter - 10.3 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 0.3 apg in 3 games - 2 games with 10+ points
- Brooke Loewe - 6.5 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 3.3 apg in 4 games - 1 game with 10+ points
- Ellie Stearns - 4.5 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.0 apg in 4 games
- Avery Lowe - 4.5 ppg, 0.5 rpg, 1.5 apg in 2 games