K-State women knock off FHSU in exhibition opener

The Fort Hays State women's basketball team fought hard against Kansas State but fell 68-57 in exhibition play on Thursday night (Nov. 1) at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, Kan. The Tigers held the lead for a good portion of the first half and took the lead back early in the second half before Kansas State took the lead for good at the 18:18 mark of the second half.

Fort Hays State pulled within two points on a breakaway layup by Melisa Nelson at the 9:39 mark of the second half, but Chantay Caron hit a key 3-point field goal for the Wildcats at the 7:51 mark to extend the lead back to five. The Wildcats steadily pulled away from that point on.

Fort Hays State held the first half lead from the 16:46 mark all the way to the 6:00 mark. The Tigers could have had the lead throughout the first half, despite a scoring drought that went over nine minutes long that allowed the Wildcats to regain the lead. Traci Keyser ended the drought with 1:18 remaining in the first half with a 3-point field goal, cutting the K-State lead back to four. That was the margin the Wildcats led by at halftime, 30-26.

The Tigers opened the second half on a 5-0 run, but the Wildcats responded with a couple of baskets to take the lead back for good.

Kate Lehman had a big night for the Tigers with a double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds. She added six blocked shots, well over her average of 3.3 per game last year. She had 96 blocked shots in her freshman season.

Katelyn Edwards and Melissa Nelson added nine points each, Keyser had eight, and Kaiameka Brown added seven. FHSU had just seven points from its bench. The Tigers finished the game shooting 36.8 percent from the field.

The Lady Tigers held the Wildcats to just 39.1 percent shooting from the field, including just 16.7 percent from beyond the 3-point line. The Wildcats benefited from 21 FHSU turnovers, outscoring FHSU in points off turnovers 21-9. Brittany Chambers led KSU with a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds, also adding a team-high five assists and four steals. Ashia Woods was the top scorer for the Wildcats with 19 points. Chantay Caron added 14 points.