By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
HAYS, KS - Missouri Western women's basketball had already made some pretty sweet memories at Gross Memorial Coliseum in Hays within the past year after winning the Central Region championship there last March.
The Griffons certainly added to their memory bank on Thursday. Missouri Western (18-4, 12-2 MIAA) survived a double-overtime thriller and beat Fort Hays State 82-81, giving the Griffons their first regular season win at Hays since January 2007.
It also marked the 200th career win for Missouri Western coach Candi Whitaker.
The game started about as perfectly as it could have for the Griffons, as Western led 24-10 at the end of the first quarter after junior Brionna Budgets scored a staggering 20 points in the first 10 minutes alone.
Fort Hays State (15-7, 10-4 MIAA) started inching closer, as the Tigers only trailed 32-23 at halftime. Hays outscored Missouri Western in the third period 19-10 and tied the game at 42-42 headed to the fourth.
The fourth quarter was as evenly matched as it could be, as Hays' Olivia Hollenbeck's layup tied the game 60-60 with 24 seconds left in regulation.
The Griffons then got down 67-62 with 1:30 left in the first overtime. But a Brionna Budgets layup and a massive three-pointer from Jordan Cunningham tied the game in the final minute.
A steal and fast break layup by Alyssa Bonilla gave the Griffons a 69-67 lead with 16 seconds left in the first OT, but free throws by Hays' Sydney Golladay with six seconds remaining tied the game at 69, and sent the contest to a second OT.
Missouri Western got off to a great start in that period and led 76-70 with 1:43 left, but Hays fought back yet again and even took the lead, 81-80, with just over four seconds left after a running layup by Golladay went down.
The Griffons used their final timeout and got the ball in the halfcourt. Cunningham threw the ball directly in the lane to Connie Clarke, who gathered the ball, backpedaled just a bit and threw the ball up off the glass and through the rim, putting the Griffons up 82-81 with 2.2 to go.
Hays had a look at a halfcourt shot at the buzzer, but it fell well short.
Budgets led the Griffons with a game-high 29 points. Clarke had 16 points and seven rebounds. Junior Mary Fultz came off the bench and had 12 points and 10 rebounds to score her first career double-double.
Cunningham had 11 points, while Bonilla had eight points and a game-high three steals.
Katie Wagner led Fort Hays State with 20 points and 17 rebounds. The Griffons have now won 11 straight games and got some revenge after Hays beat the Griffons in St. Joseph 64-58 earlier this season on Dec. 10, 2022.
Candi Whitaker postgame
FHSU men pull away late, down Missouri Western Thursday
The Missouri Western men's basketball team trailed by 13 at halftime and were only down 12 with 10:46 left in the game. But over that final 10:46, Fort Hays State outscored the Griffons 28-13 and the Tigers rolled to a 75-48 win at Gross Memorial Coliseum Thursday.
Hays (14-6, 9-5 MIAA) shot 60 percent from the field in the second half, and made 10-of-18 from beyond the arc through the whole game.
Missouri Western also turned the ball over 19 times, which led to 27 points the other way for Hays. The Tigers, meanwhile, turned the ball over just seven times the whole game.
Kaleb Hammeke led Hays with a game-high 25 points on an impressive 10-of-13 shooting from the field. JaRon Thames led Missouri Western with 13 points. Reed Kemp came off the bench to score 11 for the Griffons.
Missouri Western has now dropped five straight games and eight of their last nine. Ethan Kilgore was out for a second straight game with a foot injury, while Will Eames remains out as he recovers from a surgery on his hand.
Both Griffon teams are at Nebraska-Kearney Saturday. The women play at 2 and the men at 4. Both games are on KFEQ Radio (680, 95.3, 680kfeq.com).
The Loper women are ranked No. 13 and come in at 19-3, which sets up for a huge matchup against the 18-4 Griffons, who have won 11 straight.
The Kearney men are 3-16 overall and just 1-12 in MIAA play.
Will Martin postgame
You can follow Tommy on Twitter @TommyKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.