Pitt State begins MIAA play this week as Nebraska-Kearney and Fort Hays State come to John Lance Arena on Thursday (December 1) at 5:30 p.m. and Saturday (December 3) at 1:30 p.m. Saturday's matchup with the Tigers will be a top 25 matchup, as the Gorillas have moved up to No. 4 in the WBCA Coaches Poll this week, while Fort Hays State rings in at No. 25.

Ticket Specials

Pitt State Athletics is offering two holiday ticket packages this year. Until January 12, fans can purchase a package for all eight home games in January and February for $70 for reserved seats or $50 for general admission. Also a Winter Break special is available for the women's game vs. Emporia State on December 31 and the men's game on January 2 against Avila only. With this special, one adult admission gets two children's admissions free. Either of these packages can be purchase in person or by calling the PSU ticket office at (620) 235-4796.

Scouting Nebraska-Kearney

Thursday will mark Nebraska-Kearney's conference debut. Despite their 3-4 record, three of their wins were  over fellow Nebraska schools by 20 points or more: Grace University (84-23), Chadron State (72-52), and Midland University (80-43). The Lopers are currently riding a two-game winning streak.

Nebraska-Kearney scores 65.7 points per game, only allowing opponents 56.9 ppg. The team is also shooting .380 (167-440) inside the arc, .273 (48-176) beyond the arc and .667 (78-117) from the charity stripe.

Michaela Barry puts up 12.6 points with a .353 (30-85) field goal clip. McKenzie Brown is .356 (26-73) overall and .294 (15-51) from long range and contributes 9.6 ppg. Courtney Aitken has 12 steals. Kelsey Fitzgerald pulls down six rebounds per game and Alexa Hogberg has dished out 30 assists this season.

Scouting Fort Hays State

Fort Hays State sports an undefeated 6-0 record heading into Thursday's MIAA opener at Missouri Southern prior to traveling to Pittsburg.

The Tigers recorded a record breaking home-opening win against Bethel College on Nov. 26, 125-31. Five Tigers finished in double figures. The team as a whole broke multiple school records and career and season highs. 

The Tigers have a balanced offensive attack. Eight players score eight or more points per game: Jill Faxon (14.2 ppg), Taylor Rolfs (10.2 ppg), Carly Heim (9.5 ppg), Tatyana Legette (9.3 ppg), Emma Stroyan (9.2 ppg), Kacey Kennett (9.2 ppg), Madison Mittie (8.8 ppg), and Nikola Kacperska (8.3 ppg). Stroyan's 27 blocks tops the conference and leads the conference in most consecutive made field goals with 22.

With six games under their belt, Fort Hays State is already among the top in the nation in several categories. Their .528 (218-413) field goal clip is second best in the nation, 22.5 apg is third, 94.3 ppg is fourth and total assists (135), total 3FG (66) and total blocked shots (39) are all fifth best.

Scouting Pittsburg State

Pitt State has started the season 7-0 after hosting two home tournaments and traveling to Puerto Rico over the Thanksgiving holiday. The team has won its games by an average of almost 28 points per game, putting up 74.4 ppg, while holding opponents to just 46.1. The 18 point win over West Alabama in the Puerto Rico Classic was the closest of the season, while the 61-point win over Rio-Piedras was the largest. 

The Gorillas are shooting .425 from the floor overall and .377 from three-point range. The Gorillas make an average of 11 threes a game. Pitt State is also outrebounding its opponents by 13.0 rpg. 

Mikaela Burgess leads the Gorillas with 16.7 ppg and was named the MIAA Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 21-27. She has hit 25 threes on the season, which leads the MIAA. Shelby Lopez comes off the bench to score 9.1 ppg and has made 17 threes.Hadyn Herlocker chips in 8.9 ppg and leads the team with 6.9 assists and 3.1 steals per game. Her assists lead the MIAA, while her steals are second. Herlocker is also the team's second-leading recbounder with 5.0 rpg. Elena Flott is coming into her own down low for the Gorillas and averages 8.6 ppg, while pulling down 4.7 rpg. Madison Northcutt is a force on the boards and leads the team with 6.7 rebounds per game, while also scoring 7.0 ppg. Paige Lungwitz scores 7.9 ppg, while adding 4.7 rpg and 2.7 apg. 

Pitt State vs. Nebraska-Kearney

Pitt State leads the series with Nebraska-Kearney 23-12. The Gorillas have won each of the last 10 games and 14 of the last 15.

The two teams met twice a year every season from 1976-77 to 1988-89 as part of Central States Intercollegiate Conference play. The teams also met in two non-conference games in the 1993-94 and 1994-95 seasons. The last meeting was Dec. 30, 1994 in Kearney. The Gorillas won, 80-67.

    The two teams resumed regular meetings in 2013 when the Lopers joined the MIAA. PItt State won the first MIAA meeting between the two teams, 62-42 in Pittsburg on Jan. 3, 2013.

    The longest streak of wins in the series, prior to the current 10- game win streak, was six by Pittsburg State from Jan. 22, 1982 to Feb. 3, 1984. The longest streak of wins by the Lopers was five to start the series from Jan. 28, 1977 to Jan. 27, 1979.

    The largest margin of victory in the series is 32 points by the Gorillas in a 81-49 win on January 22, 1982 in Pittsburg. The largest win by the Lopers was in the first game of the series on Jan. 28, 1977, a 69-39 UNK win  in Kearney. Seven of the last eight games have been decided by 10 points or more

    There has been one overtime game in the series, which Pitt State won 79-73 on Feb. 16, 1985. The most points scored in the series was 100 by the Gorillas on Feb. 19, 1989.  

Pitt State vs. Fort Hays State

Fort Hays leads the all-time series with Pitt State 26-25, though Pitt State has won seven of the last 10 meetings between the two teams. Pitt State leads the series 14-11 in Pittsburg, but the Tigers lead 15-10 in Hays. Last season's MIAA Semifinal game was the first meeting at a neutral site. Pitt State won that game, 90-74.

The two teams split the regular season meetings last season with each team winning on its home court. Fort Hays State took a 77-57 win over the Gorillas in Hays on Jan. 2, but Pitt State recovered to win 79-69 in Pittsburg on Feb. 11.

The longest streak of wins in the series was seven by the Tigers in the first seven meetings between the two teams from Jan.11, 1975 to Jan. 26, 1979. Pitt State's streak of five victories from Jan. 16, 2010 when PSU beat FHSU 71-65 in Pittsburg until the 72-61 loss in Hays in 2012 was the longest streak for the Gorillas.

The most points scored by either team in a game was 101 by Pitt State in a 101-94 win in Pittsburg on Feb. 1, 1986. The largest margin of victory in the series was 56 points by FHSU in the first meeting. PSU's largest margin of victory has been 22 points on Jan. 30, 1981.

In the Polls

The Gorillas pushed their way into the top five with their 7-0 start to the season in the November 29 poll. Pitt State moved up three spots from its No. 7 spot in the Nov. 22 poll, the first regular season poll of the 2016-17 season. 

Pitt State opened the season ranked No. 12 in the WBCA Preseason Coaches Poll. This marked only the second time in school history the Gorillas have started the se ason ranked in the nation's top 25. The other time being a No. 3 ranking at the start of the 2012-13 season.

Three Pitt State opponents are also currently ranked. Emporia State is the top team in the land. Fort Hays State rings in at No. 25 and MIssouri Western is receiving votes.

Up Next

Pitt State will play its first MIAA road games next week, as the team travels to Lindenwood on Thursday, December 8 for a 5:30 p.m. game and to Lincoln on Saturday, December 10 for a 1:30 p.m. game in Jefferson City, Mo. Lindenwood is 3-2 and will open MIAA play with the Gorillas. Lincoln is 1-4 and will also not begin MIAA play until December 8 against MIssouri Southern. 

Records Check

Its time to start tracking some Gorillas in the record books. After only four games, junior Mikaela Burgess is already moving up the all-time threes list. She just passed Morgan Westhoff to move into fourth with 181 career threes and needs only five more to pass Drew Roberts (185) for second. Burgess is averaging 3.6 made threes a game this season, so should hit that milestone this week. Jenni Miller holds the career record with 364. 

Hadyn Herlocker finished last season second on the single season assists list with 156, almost double from her previous two seasons combined. Herlocker now  has 293 assists for her career, which is seventh on the all-time list. it will take a bit to move to sixth, as Lizzy Jeronimus is currently sixth with 325. Current assistant coach Amanda Davied is the career record holder with 553.

The Road to 1000

Mikaela Burgess is not only climbing up the career-three-point list, but also working to her career 1,000 points mark. Burgess currently has 988 points, 283 her freshman year and 589 last season. Her 589 points last season were third only to Lizzy Jeronimus and Leslie Dudley, the two top scorers (men or women) in Pitt State history. When Burgess reaches her 1000th point, she will be the 20th player in school history to score 1000 or more. With her 16.6 ppg average this season, Burgess should reach her 1000th point in the MIAA opener against Nebraska-Kearney on December 1.  

Program Milestones

Pitt State's 70-38 win over Mary was the 600th win in program history. The Gorillas now have a 606-479 (.559) all-time record. The Gorillas are 328-177 at home, 199-257 on the road and 71-42 at neutral sites. Head Coach Lane Lord is now just 10 wins from his 200th win at Pitt State. 

In the MIAA Stats

Pitt State leads the MIAA in scoring defense, allowing opponents only 46.1 ppg, eight fewer than the second place team, Emporia State. The Gorillas are also the top three-point shooting team, having made 78 threes on the season, 12 more than the second-place Tigers. Pitt State is also tops in three-point defense, holding opponents to a .165 (16-97) three-point shooting percentage.

Individually, Mikaela Burgess is the league's seventh leading scorer with 16.6 ppg. She leads the league with 25 threes made and 3.6 threes made a game. She is 14th in field goal percentage (.418) and 11th in three-point percentage (.403). Shelby Lopez is ninth in three-point percentage (.415) and eighth in threes per game with 2.4. Hadyn Herlocker leads the MIAA in assists per game w ith 6.9 and is second in assists/turnover ratio with 4.0 and in steals with 3.1 steals per game. She is 16th in threes per game with 1.9. 

In the NCAA Stats

The Gorillas rank among the top 10 in the nation for assists (10th), scoring defense (third), scoring margin (ninth), three-point defense (second), three-point attempts (fifth), threes made (third) and threes per game (fourth).  

Herlocker is fourth in the nation with her 48 assists and 10th in assists her game. She also ranks ninth in steals with 22. Burgess is second in the nation for threes attempts with 62, fourth for threes made with 25 and ninth for threes per game w ith 3.6.