KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Missouri Western women's basketball (20-9) got off to a 19-11 start in the first quarter and chipped away at a 14-point deficit late, but the Griffons came up short against Fort Hays State, 77-73, in MIAA tournament semifinals on Saturday night at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City.

The Griffons came out strong, making 7-of-14 from the field to start and hitting four of their first eight shots from three. Missouri Western, however, fell behind 36-28 midway through the second quarter before making it a 36-33 ballgame at halftime.

Fort Hays State (27-3) shot consistently well throughout the game, and they hit 9-of-13 from the field to start the second half, leading 56-48 at the start of the fourth quarter. Hays' biggest lead was 64-50 with 7:25 to play.

Missouri Western went on a furious 12-3 run to pull within 67-62 with 2:23 to play. Fort Hays State, however, got a big three-pointer from Bailey Wilborn with 2:08 to go, and led 70-62 at that point. The Tigers led by 10 with a minute to go, but two three-pointers by Alyssa Bonilla, and another from Malgorzata Byczkowska in the final minute, gave Missouri Western a chance late.

Hays, however, hit 8-of-12 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter, and was able to hold Western off in the end.

Bonilla led Missouri Western with a game-high 26 points, going 5-of-7 from three. She had three rebounds and two steals. Laura Toffali turned in a career-high 21 points to go with seven rebounds and five assists. Marie Sepp had nine points and a team-best eight rebounds.

Katie DeGarmo led Fort Hays State with 25 points. Telexa Weeter came off the bench to score 21 for the Tigers, who are back in the MIAA Championship game for the seventh time in nine seasons.

Missouri Western is all but certain to hear its name called during the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Tournament Selection Show, which is set for Sunday night at 9:30 p.m. CT. The show will be streamed on NCAA.com.