Hot-Shooting Tigers roll past RiverHawks in MIAA Tournament Quarterfinals

Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament No. 1 seed Fort Hays State Univeristy rolled to a 26-point win over No. 9 seed Northeastern State in the quarterfinals on Friday in Kansas City. FHSU, ranked fourth nationally, shot 53.7 percent from the field on its way to a 79-53 win.

Much like last week in Tahlequah, the Tigers jumped out to a big lead over the RiverHawks with an early run. FHSU scored the first nine points and opened the game on a 20-2 run and never looked back. The lead remained double digits the remainder of the game, NSU coming within 12 as the closest margin at 10:54 mark of the first half. The lead swelled as large as 28 points with 2:27 remaining in the opening half. FHSU led by 24 at the half, 43-19.

Chelsea Mason had the hot hand in the first half, scoring 17 points on 4-of-6 shooting from 3-point range. Kate Lehman added 10 before the break.

Lehman went on to add 14 points after halftime and finish with a game-high 24 points on a near perfect shooting effort, 12-of-13 from the field. She also tied with a team-high seven rebounds and had two blocked shots, putting her at 497 for her career. Mason added six more points after the half to finish with 23, going 7-of-13 from the field overall, 5-of-8 beyond the 3-point line, and 4-of-6 at the free-throw line.

Jill Faxon also reached double figures in scoring for FHSU with 15 points, hitting three 3-point attempts. Keriann Shaw and Paige Lunsford tied Lehman in rebounds, each with seven. FHSU outrebounded NSU 43-22 in the game. Nikola Kacperska had a team-high seven assists.

Chelsey Beathard led NSU with 12 points, followed by Bria Pierce with 11. The RiverHawks scored nearly 60 percent of their points beyond the 3-point line, hitting 10 in the game.

The Tigers (27-2 overall) await the winner of Missouri Southern vs. Central Missouri in Saturday’s MIAA Tournament semifinal, which is slated for 6 p.m.