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Tiger women claim victory
1/27/2008
By NICK McQUEEN
Hays Daily News
Every time the Lions threatened, trigger-happy Naomi Bancroft and the Fort Hays State University women's basketball team had an answer.
Bancroft, the Tigers' sharp-shooting sophomore guard, posted another outstanding performance, draining six buckets from downtown, scoring a career-high 24 points, and leading Fort Hays to a 70-59 win over Missouri Southern State University Saturday at Gross Memorial Coliseum.
The win snapped a four-game losing skid for the Tigers, where they nearly dropped out of the race for the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association postseason tournament. A must-win by the Tigers kept hope alive.
"Any time we get to shoot on our home floor, we just have to take advantage," said Bancroft, one of three Tigers in double figures.
The Lions were coming off a stunning upset of nationally ranked Emporia State University in Emporia and were 5-1 in road games this season.
Tiger guard Meshia Mason did her best to make sure the momentum of the upset win didn't carry over in the early going. Nearly a minute into the game, the 5-foot-3 senior knocked in a trey of her own to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead. It was followed by an easy bucket underneath for senior Brianna Willhite, causing Missouri Southern (13-4 overall, 4-4 MIAA) to use an early time out.
"Give all the credit to the players. They really stepped up tonight and brought the intensity,"¬ Tiger coach Annette Wiles said. "I saw Missouri Southern out there warming up before the game, and there was no question they were riding a big high after their big win over Emporia State -- which was ranked -- and they beat them badly."
After taking the early lead, Fort Hays (8-9, 2-6) never trailed in the first half, but Missouri Southern kept things close, tying the game three times before the intermission. Each time the Lions did, Bancroft answered with a 3 to put Fort Hays back up.
"Coach set us in positions to be successful, and we just had to come through,"¬ Bancroft said. "You come off those screens with no one there, you just have to take that shot."
The senior hit three of her six treys in the first half, each time breaking a tie.
"We were going to have to step up or it could have been a really long night for us," Wiles said. "'Give our players a lot of credit for stepping up."
Missouri Southern stayed close and took its first lead with 16:07 to play in the second half, when senior guard Ela Zawadka knocked in a trey from the corner to give the Lions a 39-37 lead. Missouri Southern controlled the momentum and forced Fort Hays to have to come from behind to tie. That is, until Bancroft's fourth 3 gave the Tigers the edge, 47-44, midway through the second half.
Her first of three second-half treys spawned a 10-2 run to give the Tigers a 54-46 lead, one they never relinquished. Switching defenses on the Lions held them to 59 points, nearly 10 under their season average.
"That's definitely one of our team goals is to hold teams to 60 points. In our losses, that's been the real issue," said senior guard Sheena Kuntzsch, who had nine rebounds and seven points. "It's obvious what can happen when we do execute our defense. It creates a lot of offense."
The Tigers worked much of the second half out of their man-to-man defense, but threw in a zone to mix it up.
"This was the first time that we ran our 3-2 zone, and coach did a good job of mixing it up and keeping them off balance," said Mason. "We were kind of lost out there too, but we held it together."
Mason, the shortest player on the floor, also pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds to lead the Tigers to a 44-32 edge on the boards.
"If I had to pick one thing we did well tonight, it was win. That was the best thing we did," Wiles said. "Give our players all the credit for that."
Willhite chipped in 13 points for the Tigers, shooting 6-of-10 from the field, and sophomore guard Kayla Klug scored 12. The Lions were led by senior forward Tynesha Pierce with 18 points and eight rebounds.
Assistant sports editor Nick McQueen can be reached at (785) 628-1081, Ext. 128, or by e-mail at nmcqueen@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 |
