UNK Women Fall At Ft Hays State, 92-56
Four players scored in double figures and seventh-ranked Fort Hays State got off to a fast start to beat Nebraska Kearney, 92-56, Wednesday night in Kansas.
This game was originally set for Jan. 7 but postponed due to the weather. The two teams meet again this Saturday (Mar. 1) at the Health & Sports Center; it'll be the regular season finale for both teams.
Hays (25-2, 16-2) has won 12 straight and now leads the all-time series with UNK (19-8, 12-6) by a 63-42 margin. They came into the game ranked third in the Central Region behind Concordia-St. Paul and Pittsburg State; the Tigers beat Pitt by 16 points last week.
Graduate forward Kia Wilson (St. George, Kan.) scored the first bucket of the game, but it was literally all Tigers after that. They scored 17 of the next 19 points to lead 29-11 after the opening quarter. They made 11 of 14 shots (3 of 4 threes) which was close to what Pitt did last Thursday night (11 of 12) in the fourth quarter of an 81-74 win at Buckle Court.
"It feels like when teams want to beat us physically – Missouri Southern, tonight against Hays on duck ins and just physical basketball -- we back down," said UNK head coach Drew Johnson. "That's not going to work in March; if you want to play postseason basketball it's going to be the most physical team wins. We've got to find a way to match that."
Sophomore reserve Talexa Wheeter went for a game-high 25 points and seven boards, reigning MIAA Player of the Year Katie Wanger DeGarmo had 20 points and nine rebounds with graduate post Olivia Hollenbeck at 12 points, six steals, five caroms and two blocks. The trio combined to go 22 of 32 from the field.
"Hollenbeck can't have 12 on seven (shots), Wagner can't have 20 on 12, and Wheeter 25 on 13," said Johnson. "When that happens, it's going to be a long night because that's who they are going to play through."
Overall, Hays out shot UNK by 30 percentage points, was 10 of 15 from behind the arc, had 41 bench points and took advantage of 17 turnovers.
For the Lopers, redshirt junior point guard Jillian Aschoff (Lincoln Pius) carried the torch again to the tune of 17 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals. She went 7 of 14 from the field and now ranks 10th all-time in carer dimes with 304; UNK Hall of Famer Jennifer Warner was in 10th place (301). Finally, sophomore forward Brinly Christensen (Lincoln Southwest) hit three more triples to continue her recent hot shooting with sophomore reserve Jordan Sears (McPherson, Kan.) at 12 points.
"We have some questions to answer for ourselves. I believe we have it, we're a team that wants to be able to do it, we're a team that cares enough to try and do it," said Johnson. "Champions get back up and punch tomorrow. If we want to be champs, we'll have to do that, but the punch better be strong."