The Lady Blues continue to make a case as the best team in the MIAA after stomping past the Lady Tigers of Fort Hays State. 

Fort Hays entered the game with a six-game win streak and looked to move up in the Central Region rankings. Problem is that somebody forgot to tell Washburn, who took advantage of the Lady Tigers’ poor shooting en route to a 61-41 victory.

“Our defense was clean again other than we fouled the big kid a bunch,” said McHenry. “That was their whole purpose was to go inside to her.”

The Lady Tigers were able to keep things interesting in the first half. Sophomore 6-foot-4 center Kate Lehman was tough to guard in the first half, scoring eight of her game-high 22 points. Junior guard Katelyn Edwards chipped in seven more points in the first half, but the hot shooting of senior point guard Laura Kinderknecht was too much for FHSU. Kinderknecht’s 13 first half points gave the Blues an eight point heading into the locker room.

“Laura had an awesome game, hitting almost every shot she took,” said Casyn Buchman, Washburn sophomore guard.

Lehman and Edwards continued to try get the Lady Tigers back in the game, but Washburn used their perimeter to keep FHSU off of their heels. Washburn was 7-12 from behind the arc, four of those by Kinderknecht who led WU with 18 points. Fort Hays also attempted 12 threes, but was unable to knock down any of them. The Lady Tigers struggled to hit a shot from anywhere on the court as they finished with an abysmal 21 percent from the field on 10-48 shooting. Washburn shot much better, going 23-54 from the field for a solid 43 percent. 

“We always put up on the board know not only who you’re guarding, but what you’re guarding,”  said McHenry. “You got to know what kind of player you have. I though our perimeter defense was good.”

Senior Stormye Everett continues to provide a threat on the offensive end, scoring 12 points to go with six rebounds. Buchman sank two three-pointers on the way to 10 points. Junior guard Lavonda McCall led the Lady Blues in rebounding with eight. Both teams had 35 rebounds in the game, but the Lady Tigers were unable to capitalize on second chance opportunities. 

Luke Warnken, [email protected], is a junior athletic training major.