Women's Basketball | 3/6/2020 6:32:09 PM

KANSAS CITY, Missouri - Fort Hays State and Nebraska Kearney advanced in the 2020 MIAA Women's Basketball Championships presented by Citizens Bank & Trust. No. 5 Fort Hays State defeated No. 4 Pittsburg State and No. 3 Nebraska Kearney beat No. 6 Missouri Western. Below are game recaps from today's games.

For the complete bracket of the 2020 Women's Basketball Championship, click here and for more information on the Championship, click here.

No. 5 Fort Hays 69, No. 4 Pittsburg State 53 - Box Score
Fort Hays State up-ended Pittsburg State and advanced to the semifinals of the MIAA Championship. This will be their third straight semifinals appearance. 

The Tigers shot 41.7% from the field and went 8-22 (36.4%) from behind the arc. Kacey Kennett made four of the Tigers eight three-pointers as she led the Tigers with 19 points and added eight rebounds. Whitney Randall had 16 points and Bell Barbieri scored 14. Barbieri tied a game-high with nine rebounds. Cydney Bergmann had a game-high six assists. 

The Gorillas shot 35.3% from the field and 27.8% from behind the arc. Kaylee DaMitz had a game-high 20 points, going 6-of-12 from the field and 6-of-6 from the foul line. Maya Williams added 12 points and led PSU with nine rebounds.

No. 5 Fort Hays will take on No. 1 Central Missouri in the semifinals tomorrow at 12 p.m.
 

No. 3 Nebraska Kearney 68, No. 6 Missouri Western 62 - Box Score
Nebraska Kearney took advantage of a fast start to beat Missouri Western in their quarterfinal matchup. The Lopers outscored the Griffons 39-27 in the first half. This will be Nebraska Kearney’s first ever MIAA semifinals appearance. The Lopers had been eliminated from the MIAA Tournament by the Griffons each of the previous two seasons.

The Lopers only had one scorer in double figures, but had seven players score six or more. Elisa Backes had a game-high 21 points. Klaire Kirsch had a game-high 13 rebounds and Haley Simental tied for a game-high with six assists. Nebraska-Kearney outrebounded the Griffons 31-23 and the Lopers bench outscored the Griffons bench 32-14. 

Chris Wilson led the Griffons with 17 points, followed by Corbyn Cunningham with 14. Wilson led Missouri Western with six rebounds and Katrina Roenfeldt tied for a game-high with 6 assists. Roenfeldt and Wilson each added three steals as well. 

No. 3 Nebraska Kearney will advance to the semifinals and take on No. 2 Emporia State tomorrow at 2:15 p.m.