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Trio of Tigers earn all-MIAA honors
3/5/2008
By CONOR NICHOLL
Hays Daily News
Three Fort Hays State University basketball players earned all-conference honors when the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association awards were announced Monday. Junior guard Tyrone Evans was named to second team for the Tiger men, while seniors Sheena Kuntzsch and Brianna Willhite collected honorable mention honors. They are the first all-MIAA awards for all three players.
Evans, a transfer from Independence Community College, started slowly in the non-conference season and the first part of MIAA play. Starting with a road game against Southwest Baptist on Jan. 12, Evans scored in double figures in 15 of the final 16 games. He averaged 14.9 points per conference contest and led the team in scoring with 12.4 points per game. Evans finished with two 28 point games, the most points any Tiger has scored in the two years they have been in the MIAA.
Against Washburn on Jan. 16, Evans finished with 28 points and eight 3-pointers, including a buzzer-beater trey that gave Fort Hays the victory.
A week later, Evans collected another eight 3s and 28 points in a win against Central Missouri. The eight 3s were one off the school record and were the most of anyone in MIAA play all season. Those two games helped yield back-to-back MIAA Player of the Week awards and a five-game stretch that was one of the best runs by any conference player all year. From Jan. 12 to 26, Evans made 30 3-pointers, shot nearly 60 percent beyond the arc, and averaged almost 19 points a game.
"Sometimes someone has to step up and I felt like it was my time to step up," Evans said during the run. "We are going to need this Tyrone Evans."
The stretch helped put Fort Hays back in the MIAA race. The Tigers (18-9, 10-8 MIAA) are the No. 5 seed for the conference tournament in Kansas City this weekend. They likely need at least one win to help their chances at a NCAA berth.
Overall, Evans' 76 3-pointers led the conference and his 41.8 shooting percentage ranked sixth in the MIAA. Both numbers ranked in the top 35 in the nation.
Kuntzsch, considered by several coaches as one of the conference's top 10 players, averaged 12.7 points and a team-high 6.7 rebounds a game. One of the conference's hardest working players, she led the team in free throws made and attempted, and set a school record earlier this season for most free throw attempts in one game.
"She over-achieves," Missouri Southern State University head coach Mary Ann Mitts said.
A member of ESPN The Magazine's all-academic third team for her 4.00 GPA in art, Kuntzsch also ranked second for Fort Hays (12-15, 6-12 MIAA) in steals and assists.
Willhite, a 6-foot-1 senior who missed the MIAA last season because of a knee injury, led the team with 14.2 points per game, 32 blocked shots and a 49.4 field goal percentage.
Sports Reporter Conor Nicholl can be reached at (785) 628-1081 Ext. 127 or at
cnicholl@dailynews.net.
| Scoreboard | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Date | Opponent | Score |
| BB | 5/04 | Pittsburg State | W 17-5 |
| BB | 5/04 | Pittsburg State | L 4-3 |
| BB | 5/03 | Pittsburg State | L 15-7 |
| BB | 5/03 | Pittsburg State | L 5-4 |
| SB | 5/02 | Central Missouri | L 3-1 |
| SB | 5/02 | Missouri Western | W 3-2 |
| SB | 5/01 | Pittsburg State | W 6-0 |
| SB | 5/01 | Emporia State | L 11-0 |
| BB | 4/30 | Kansas Wesleyan | W 14-1 |
| BB | 4/30 | Kansas Wesleyan | W 12-2 |
