The Fort Hays State women’s basketball team moved up one spot in the latest WBCA Division II Top 25 Poll, released on Tuesday (Dec. 18). The Lady Tigers are now ranked No. 10 in the nation, cracking the Top 10 for the first time school history. This is the fourth consecutive week the Lady Tigers have been in the rankings.

The 9-0 start for Fort Hays State is best in the women’s basketball program history. Fort Hays State joins Washburn (6-0) as one of two MIAA schools from the MIAA in the Top 25. Washburn also moved up one spot in the latest poll to No. 6. Pittsburg State is the only other MIAA school currently in the Top 25 at No. 17. Fort Hays State is one of seven teams in the Top 10 that remain unbeaten this year.

Fort Hays State is on a two-week break from action before returning to the court on Saturday, December 29. The Lady Tigers host South Dakota School of Mines that day at 2 pm at Gross Memorial Coliseum in Hays.

 

Fort Hays State sophomore center Kate Lehman was tabbed as the MIAA Women’s Basketball Athlete of the Week on Monday for the week of December 10-16. This is the second time Lehman has earned the honor this year, after also being selected on Monday, December 3.

Lehman posted her team-leading fourth double-double of the season with 16 points and 13 rebounds in a 33-point win on the road at Oklahoma Panhandle State on Saturday (Dec. 15). Lehaman also was just a shade over her season blocks per game average with five in the contest. She also added two assists and one steal. The 6-foot, 4-inch sophomore center is a native of Newton, Kan. where she competed at Newton High School.

– FHSU Sports Information –

Fort Hays State’s Rory Wilkinson has been named the MIAA Wrestler of the Week for week six, announced by the MIAA today (Dec. 17). It is the second straight week the Tigers have earned the honor as Derek Koehn was named wrestler of the week last week.

Wilkinson went 4-0 for the Tigers at the Raven Duals hosted by Benedictine College on Saturday. At 133 pounds, Wilkinson had three wins by decision and one forfeit win. He had a 4-0 win in his match against Rust from Morningside. He then had a 4-1 win over Negley of York College to help FHSU to a 41-12 win. He edged Stephanek of Concordia 7-5 to help the Tigers blank Concordia 48-0.

The 133 pounder is a native of Gibbon, Neb. where he competed at Shelton High School. It is the first time Wilkinson has earned the honor.

The Fort Hays State hit 18-of-23 free throws in the second half as they rally from a five-point deficit to defeat the Oklahoma-Panhandle State Aggies 87-80 Saturday night in Goodwell. The win is the Tigers fourth straight as they improve to 6-2 on the season. The Aggies fall to 4-6.

The Tigers led by two at halftime then opened the second half on a 5-0 run to build a seven-point lead early in the second. OPSU ralled to go up five, the a 27-15 Tiger run put them up seven with one minute to play.

Fort Hays State shot 46-percent from the floor and only 41-percent in the second half. They turned the ball over just 14 times while forcing 20 for OPSU.

Ben Congiusta led five Tigers in double-figures with a career-high 21 points. Dwayne Brunson added 20, 16 in the second half. Freshman point guard Criag Nicholson added 16 while dishing out eight assists with no turnovers.

Men’s Game Highlights 12-15

Mark Johnson Postgame Interview 12-15

Ben Congiusta Postgame Interview 12-15

The No. 11 Fort Hays State Lady Tigers raced out to an 11-0 lead in the first 3 1/2 minutes and never looked back in a 87-54 win over Oklahoma-Panhandle State Saturday night in Goodwell, Oklahoma. The win moves the Lady Tigers to 9-0 for the first time in school history. The Aggies drop to 3-6.

Fort Hays State led the game from wire-to-wire, never leading  by less than seven in the first half and were up 42-22 at the half. The Aggies got as close at 17 in the second half but FHSU answered with a 17-4 run to push the lead to 30 and would lead by as many as 35 in the second half.

FHSU dominated the glass, outrebounding OPSU 59-36 and outscored them on second chance points 33-3. The Lady Tigers also outscored the Aggies 20-8 off of turnovers.

Kate Edwards and Kate Lehman both turned in double-doubles, Edwards scoring 18 and grabbing 12 rebounds, Lehman 16 points and 13 boards. Tera Ingalbe and Kelsey Sorenson both came off the bench to score nine.

Women’s Game Highlights 12-15

Tony Hobson Postgame Segment 1
Tony Hobson Postgame Segment 2

The Fort Hays State women’s basketball team vaulted to No. 11 in the latest WBCA NCAA Division II Top 25 Poll, released on Tuesday (Dec. 11). The Lady Tigers, which now sit at 8-0 overall, jumped six spots for the second straight week after holding the No. 17 spot last week and the No. 23 spot in the previous week.

The No. 11 ranking is the highest national ranking ever for the FHSU women setting a new high for the third straight week. The only other year the Lady Tigers were ever ranked in the program’s NCAA history was in 1996-97 for two weeks at No. 25.

Fort Hays State is one of three teams from the MIAA in the national rankings this week. Washburn is the highest ranked team from the MIAA at No. 7 this week, up one spot from No. 8 last week. The Lady Blues, like the Lady Tigers, are still unbeaten overall. Pittsburg State, which was No. 3 a couple weeks ago, continued its slide down the poll to No. 18 this week after suffering its second loss of the season this past week.

Fort Hays State dispatched Central Missouri back out of the rankings with its 45-point win over the Jennies in Hays this past week. The Jennies were No. 23 in the nation last week. Following their loss to the Lady Tigers, the Jennies helped oust Emporia State from the rankings by defeating the Hornets in Warrensburg. However, Emporia State, which was No. 21 last week, lost earlier in the week to an unranked Northeastern State team before falling to Central Missouri.

Fort Hays State is one of 13 teams in the Top 25 this week that remains unbeaten overall for the season. The Lady Tigers currently have three one-loss teams sitting in front of them in the poll. The top seven teams in the country are all unbeaten.

Below is the Top 25 Poll for Tuesday, December 11, 2012.

Rank	Institution – First Place Votes	Previous Rank	Record	Total Points
1	Ashland University (Ohio) -31	1	10-0	775
2	Bentley University (Mass.)	2	7-0	741
3	University of South Carolina – Aiken	3	6-0	704
4	Clayton State University (Ga.)	4	5-0	656
5	University of Indianapolis (Ind.)	5	6-0	642
6	Augustana College (S.D.)	7	7-0	609
7	Washburn University (Kan.)	8	6-0	585
8	Gannon University (Pa.)	10	8-1	511
9	Simon Fraser University (BC)	12	8-1	481
10	Holy Family University (Pa.)	13	8-1	426
11	Fort Hays State University (Kan.)	17	8-0	411
12	Wayne State College (Neb.)	15	5-1	400
13	Shaw University (N.C.)	9	1-0	394
14	Limestone College (S.C.)	20	6-0	279
15	Indiana University of Pennsylvania	14	6-1	257
16	Grand Canyon University (Ariz.)	18	8-2	248
17	Nova Southeastern University (Fla.)	19	5-1	226
18	Pittsburg State University (Kan.)	11	6-2	207
19	Colorado Mesa University	25	8-0	198
20	California State University – Chico	NR	6-0	196
21	Western Washington University	6	6-2	191
22	Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania	16	5-1	128
23	Rollins College (Fla.)	22	6-2	116
24	University of Tampa (Fla.)	NR	7-0	107
25	University of Wisconsin – Parkside	24	4-1	101

 

Fort Hays State head men’s basketball coach Mark Johnson held his weekly news conference with members of the local media Monday afternoon at the Cade Suran Tiger Room. The 5-2 Tigers return to action Saturday night at Oklahoma-Panhandle State before returning home to host Sterling College in their final game before Christmas Monday.

Mark Johnson Presser 12-10-12