By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
KANSAS CITY - The Missouri Western women's basketball played a sound first quarter, and matched Fort Hays State step-for-step early.
Hays, however, ended the first half on a 12-3 run to go up by 16 points at halftime, and the Griffons never recovered in a 71-62 loss to the Tigers in the MIAA tournament quarterfinals at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City Friday.
The Griffons (24-7, 18-5 MIAA) went scoreless for the final 3:16 of the second quarter, and then got down 50-30 with 6:37 left in the third quarter.
Missouri Western showed life with a 12-2 run to end the third. Suddenly, the Griffons were only down 56-46 entering the fourth.
Hays went up 63-48 early in the fourth, however, and the Griffons had a scoring drought of nearly four minutes after that.
Missouri Western got back to within nine at 69-60 with 1:37 left, but Hays sunk a pair of free throws with 53 seconds remaining to seal the deal.
Connie Clarke led the Griffons Friday with 23 points and 14 rebounds - her 13th double-double of the season. After a quiet first half, Brionna Budgets finished with 15 points and five boards.
Katie Wagner led Fort Hays State with 23 points and nine rebounds. The Tigers (20-11) made six threes in the victory, while Missouri Western was just 2-of-18 from long range.
The Griffons also went 14-of-23 at the free throw line.
While Fort Hays State faces Central Missouri in MIAA tournament semifinals on Saturday night at 8:15, the Griffons' season has all but certainly come to an end.
Despite matching their win total from a season ago, finishing third in the MIAA and having the sixth toughest schedule in the nation, the Griffons were squarely on the bubble going into Friday, sitting as the No. 8 seed in the latest Central Region Rankings put out on Wednesday
The Great American Conference tournament champion will be an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, and knock the Griffons off the bubble.
The NCAA DII women's basketball tournament selection show is slated for Sunday night at 9:30 p.m. CT on NCAA.com.
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