KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The 11th-ranked Fort Hays State women's basketball team fell to Missouri Western in the MIAA Championship quarterfinals Thursday afternoon (March 5), losing 77-68 in overtime.
 
The Tigers (24-5), seeded second in the tournament, have now lost three of the last four, while the seventh-seeded Griffons (15-15) own the second-longest winning streak in the conference at seven in a row.
 
Fort Hays State hit 33.3 percent from the floor (25-of-75), its lowest shooting percentage in a game in two years.
 
A pair of early 3-pointers from Talexa Weeter and Olivia Mortensen gave the Tigers a quick lead, but the Griffons quickly responded with a 13-2 run to go up by seven. Fort Hays State punched back with a 9-0 run to take the lead, going into the second quarter ahead 21-20.
 
Brooke Loewe opened the second frame with a triple of her own, stretching the FHSU run to 16-2. A pair of baskets from Kaitlin Schumann put the Tigers up by eight at the break, 35-27.
 
The Griffons came out of the locker room on a mission, scoring the first seven points before taking the lead on a 3-pointer four minutes into the frame. Missouri Western outscored the Tigers 25-14 in the third quarter, taking a 52-49 lead into the final stanza.
 
Missouri Western led by as many as nine with 6:53 to go before the Tigers mounted their comeback, outscoring the Griffons 13-4 over the final six-plus minutes to tie things up.
 
Four free throws from Weeter pulled the Tigers within five before Mortensen hit a layup to make it a one-possession game with four minutes to play. The Tigers closed within one on a Loewe layup before the Griffons pushed the lead to three with a pair of free throws with four seconds to go.
 
After calling a timeout to advance the ball, FHSU got the ball to Weeter at the top of the key where she made a ball fake to get an open look at a game-tying 3-pointer. The attempt swished through the net with 1.2 seconds to go, giving the Tigers their first long-range make in the second half after 11 misses.
 
After giving up the late lead, Missouri Western bounced back in overtime, hitting a 3-pointer 18 seconds in to take the lead for good. The Griffons hit 3-of-4 from the floor in the extra period while holding the Tigers to an 0-for-6 effort from the floor in OT, extending their stay in Kansas City to the weekend.
 
Four Tigers scored in double figures for the sixth time this season, including 20 each from Weeter and Mortensen, 16 from Loewe and a career-best 12 from Schumann for a second-straight game. Mortensen added a career-high 15 rebounds, tallying her second-career double-double. That quartet of players combined for all 68 Tiger points.
 
Mia Morel led the Griffons with 32 points while attempting 36 field goals. The Tigers outrebounded the Griffons by 10, 57-47.
 
The Tigers will await Selection Sunday, with the bracket set to be announced in three days at 9:30 p.m. on NCAA.com. FHSU was ranked second in the latest regional ranking and are poised to make its 11th regional appearance.
 
Notes
- The loss snaps an eight-year streak of FHSU playing in the MIAA Championship semifinals, which was the longest active streak in the league entering the tournament.
- The Tigers are now 0-3 in overtime games in the MIAA tournament.
- This was the first overtime loss for FHSU under head coach Talia Kahrs (5-1).
- The loss snaps a stretch of 10 straight wins when coming off a loss. It is just the second time the Tigers have lost back-to-back games under Kahrs (13-2).
- FHSU is now 3-5 against Missouri Western under Kahrs. The Griffons are one of only two teams with a winning record over the third-year head coach.
- After winning each of its first five games as the No. 2 seed in the MIAA Championship tournament, the Tigers have now lost two in a row when seeded second (Friday & last year's championship game).