#7/#14 Fort Hays State Women's Basketball (22-2, 13-2 MIAA)
vs. Missouri Southern (16-11, 8-7 MIAA)
Thursday, February 20, 2025 • 5:30 p.m.
Hays, Kan. • Gross Memorial Coliseum
Game Sponsor: High Plains Farm Credit
National Anthem: Trilogy
Promotions: FHSU Student Success Night (prizes and giveaways for FHSU Students), Styles Dance Performance at both halftimes
 
Seventh-ranked Fort Hays State women's basketball opens its final homestand of the regular season Thursday (Feb. 20) when the Tigers host Missouri Southern. First tip between the Tigers and Lions is set for 5:30 p.m. inside Gross Memorial Coliseum.
 
Single-game tickets are available for purchase online. Only upper-level general admission tickets are available, with pricing set at $12 for adults and $5 for youth K-12. Tickets can also be purchased at the door, with ticket booths opening one hour prior to tipoff.

Live video will be available on The MIAA Network, brought to you by Tiger Media Network. Single game broadcasts can be purchased for $15, while fans can also purchase a monthly subscription for $30 or a year-long all-access pass for $140.
 
Radio coverage with voice of the Tigers Gerard Wellbrock will be available on KJLS 103.3 FM and online here, while live stats will also be posted online here.
 
Now 22-2 on the year and 13-2 in MIAA action, Fort Hays State brings a nine-game winning streak into the contest. After opening the year with 12-straight wins, a victory over MSSU would give the Tigers a pair of 10-game winning streaks in a season for just the third time in program history (1990-91, 2018-19).
 
Despite winning two road games by an average margin of 29.5 points last week, the Tigers moved from second to third in the updated MIAA KPI Standings, which will be used for seeding for the 2025 MIAA Championship. The Tigers have a rating of .152 (down from .165 a week ago), behind both Pittsburg State (.176) and Missouri Western (.166). This rating system assigns point values to wins and losses based on opponent, location, score margin, etc.
 
Fans have been flocking to the Coliseum in droves this season, helping FHSU lead Division II in attendance with an average of 1,943 fans per home contest. That total would rank 89th in Division I and is more than 278 DI programs.
 
All but two of FHSU's 22 wins have been double-figure victories, including 12 victories by 20 or more points, helping the Tigers to the fifth-best scoring margin in the country of plus-19.5 points. FHSU also ranks in the top 10 in DII in several other categories, including assist/turnover ratio (1.43, second), assists per game (19.0, second), field goal percentage (45.9, seventh), field goal percentage defense (34.5, ninth) and winning percentage (.917, ninth).
 
The Tigers reached 20 wins for the 14th season in a row this year, the longest active streak of 20-win seasons in Division II and tied for fifth best across all NCAA divisions. The next-best active stretch of 20-win seasons in the MIAA is three (MWSU, MSSU, PSU), while the next-best streak in DII is Drury with 11. Only four DI programs have longer active stretches of 20-win seasons, including UConn (32), Baylor (25), Stanford (23) and Florida Gulf Coast (21). Fort Hays State's run of 14-straight 20-win seasons is tied with Louisville, South Carolina and South Dakota State for fifth best in all NCAA women's basketball.
 
Brooke Loewe has distributed 163 assists this season, already second-most in a single season in program history. The junior needs three more to tie the program record of 166 set by Kristi Leeper-Meis in 1990-91.
 
Graduate student duo Katie Wagner DeGarmo and Olivia Hollenbeck continue to climb the all-time leaderboards at Fort Hays State. DeGarmo is second in points with 2,118, first in rebounds with 1,161, fifth in steals with 223 and second in field goals with 793. Hollenbeck ranks fourth in points with 1,812, second in blocks with 212, t-9th in steals with 188 and fourth in field goals with 685.
 
Ellie Stearns has hit a 3-pointer in each of the last four games, the longest active streak on the team.
 
Fort Hays State is 39-21 all-time against Missouri Southern, including a 26-5 mark at home. The Tigers hold a one-game winning streak in the series while the teams have split the last six matchups 3-3. FHSU is 1-1 against Missouri Southern under head coach Talia Kahrs, including a 1-0 record at home. Fort Hays State is 17-11 against the Lions in MIAA regular season meetings while the series is tied 1-1 in games that reach overtime.
 
Missouri Southern is 16-11 on the year, however the Lions are just 2-6 in road games. They are in the middle of the pack of the MIAA in scoring, ranking seventh both scoring offense (69.7 ppg) and scoring defense (64.4 ppg). They have the top turnover margin in the conference of plus-4.0, just in front of FHSU's plus-3.96. Ryan Franklin leads the team in both points and rebounds, ranking sixth in the league with 7.5 rebounds per contest and 15th in scoring with 13.3 points per game.
 
Looking ahead, FHSU's final homestand of the regular season continues Saturday (Feb. 22) at 2 p.m. with Senior Day against fifth-ranked Pittsburg State.