Women's Basketball | 3/4/2018 4:16:08 PM

Kansas City, Mo. - For the first time in MIAA history, a nine seed has won the MIAA Women's Basketball Tournament as Lindenwood defeated third seed Fort Hays State 58-51 in the championship game of the 2018 MIAA Tournament inside historic Municipal Auditorium.

Lindenwood (20-12) also becomes the first team in MIAA Tournament history to win four games in a single tournament

The Lions were led offensively by Gabby Walker with 17 points, while Lindsay Medlen scored 14.

Fort Hays State (25-5) Carly Heim led the Tigers with 14 points and seven rebounds. Belle Barbieri had a team-high nine rebounds for the Tigers.

The Tigers raced out to an early 15-2 lead after a jumper from Emma Stroyan with 4:53 left in the first. The FHSU lead was 17-4 with 1:44 left on the clock and the Tigers led 19-9 after one.

Lindenwood, however, started the second quarter on a 9-2 run and cut the deficit to just three (21-18) after a layup from Sara Ross with 6:33 left. A pair of free throws from Kallie Bildner got the Lions within one (21-20), but Fort Hays would go on a 9-0 run to lead 30-20 with 2:32 left in the quarter. Not to be outdone, the Lions closed the half on a 7-0 run and Fort Hays led 30-27 at the half.

The Tigers scored the first points of the third quarter and went up 32-27, but a 10-5 run from Lindenwood tied the game at 37 with 3:05 left in the third. Fort Hays led 40-38 after three on a pair of free throws from Heim.

The game was tied again at 40, before Lindenwood used a 6-0 run to lead 46-40 with 5:35 left after a layup from Gabby Walker. Fort Hays got within on multiple occasions, the last coming with 13 seconds left after a pair of free throws from Kacey Kennett made the score 54-51. The Lions closed the game on a 4-0 run to secure their first-ever MIAA Championship.

The All-Tournament team was highlighted by Tournament MVP Gabby Walker of Lindenwood. Joining Walker was teammate Lindsay Medlen, Carly Heim and Tatyana Legette of Fort Hays and Axelle Bernard of Washburn.

Lindenwood earns the MIAA's automatic qualification to the 2018 NCAA Tournament. The official field will be announced tonight at 9 pm on NCAA.com.