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HAYS, Kan. – A dominating performance from start-to-finish has earned SWOSU Women's Basketball a spot in the Elite Eight after the Lady Bulldogs defeated Fort Hays State 88-77 to win the Central Regional Championship on Monday night at Gross Memorial Coliseum.
 
With the victory, SWOSU extends their win streak to 33 straight games, improving to 33-1 on the year which is one win away from the single-season school record. The Lady Bulldogs will now have to wait until Wednesday to learn their seeding and opponent for the Elite Eight, which begins on Tuesday, March 26, in Columbus, Ohio.
 
SWOSU controlled the game from the outset, scoring the first seven points and building a 16-2 lead less than five minutes into the game. The Lady Bulldogs held FHSU to 4-of-17 shooting in the first quarter and took a lead of 23-13 into the second. Foul trouble and second-chance points allowed the Tigers to pull within one point late in the half before a pair of free throws from Alexa Harvey made SWOSU's advantage 45-42 at halftime.
 
Fort Hays State cut the Lady Dawgs lead to one point twice in the third quarter, but Hayden Priddy had an answer with a three-pointer the enabled SWOSU to never give up the lead. An 8-0 run pushed the lead from 52-50 up to 60-50 after Maddie Sperle hit a reverse lay-in off an assist from Hailey Tucker, forcing FHSU to use a timeout. Priddy took over for the rest of the quarter, scoring the final seven points of the third as SWOSU extended their advantage to 72-56 with one quarter to play.
 
A three-pointer by Taber Beer early in the fourth quarter put SWOSU up by 17, 75-58, with 9:26, but it was answered by a 9-0 run from FHSU that left SWOSU with an eight-point lead with 5:09 to play. The Tigers got as close as seven with 3:15 to play, but Bethany Franks got a pair of free throws to stem the tide before Tucker and Tyra Aska put the game away at the free throw line in the final minutes.
 
Hayden Priddy was named the Central Regional MVP after scoring a season-high 32 points with four rebounds and one steal in the regional championship game. Hailey Tucker also earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team after a double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds in addition to six blocked shots against FHSU. Taber Beer, SWOSU's hero in the win over Central Missouri, earned the Dawgs third and final spot on the All-Tournament Team with eight points, three steals and three assists in the regional final.
 
Taylor Hedrick had seven of her 11 points in the first quarter, helping SWOSU off to their hot start while Bethany Franks finished with nine points, three rebounds and two steals. Tyra Aska finished with eight points and two steals before fouling out and Maddie Sperle came off the bench for four points and Alexa Harvey chipped in ap air of free throws.
 
"I couldn't be more proud of my team. I was really proud of the effort and energy we played with and the fight we showed throughout the game," SWOSU Head Coach Kelsi Musick said following the game. "We didn't play great in the second quarter, but we did what we need to in the third quarter to regain control of the game. I couldn't be more excited and proud of this group of seniors and this entire team for buying in and believing for us to get to this point and to win the Central Region."
 
SWOSU will head to Columbus, Ohio, next week to continue the longest NCAA Tournament run in school history at the Elite Eight, which begins on Tuesday.