By RANDY GONZALES

rgonzales@dailynews.net

Last time out, the Tigers let a halftime lead slip away from an NAIA school, and lost.

The Fort Hays State University women's basketball team had another halftime lead Tuesday night against NAIA Bethany College. But this time, the Tigers pulled away in the second half for an 88-53 win in the team's home opener at Gross Memorial Coliseum.

Not blowing another lead was important, said first-year Tiger coach Tony Hobson.

"Just for our mental health," Hobson said. "What's important is not get in the habit of losing leads every game.

"That's what we talked about at half, just digging in and not giving our lead back," he added.

On Sunday, in the team's second game of the season, Fort Hays led by 11 points at halftime, only to lose to NAIA Avila University at a tourney in Emporia.

The Tigers couldn't wait to get the taste of that loss out of their mouths.

"We wanted to play this game as soon as Sunday was over," Tiger junior guard Naomi Bancroft said. "Learn from your mistakes. We made mistakes on Sunday."

It was a mistake for Bethany to give junior forward Erica Biel room in the paint. The 6-foot-1 Biel scored a career-high 22 points and pulled down 15 rebounds for a double-double. Biel also had a team-high five assists.

"I thought we had an advantage inside," Hobson said. "She played a great game.

"Any post player with her size should be able to score," he added.

Biel's inside presence opened things up on the perimeter. Bancroft connected on four 3-pointers, scoring 17 of her 20 points in the first half.

Bancroft set the school record for career 3-point attempts Tuesday, and her four made treys put her within three of the school record for career 3-pointers.

Hobson has no problem with Bancroft shooting from long range, or from long, long range.

"If there was a light above a green light, she would have it," Hobson said.

Bancroft now has 465 3-point attempts, five more than former Tiger guard Shauna Porter's 460 from 1997-01. Porter also has the career record for 3-pointers with 167; Bancroft now has 164.

Which was news to her. Bancroft had no idea she was on the cusp of two Tiger records.

"Win-loss record is what I'm concerned about," Bancroft said.

Fort Hays (2-1) put this win in the bank early. The Tigers jumped out to a 13-4 lead, only to have the Swedes tie it at 17. The Tigers then went on a 20-6 run and eventually led 42-28 at the break.

A 10-3 run to start the second half gave Fort Hays a 52-31 lead. The advantage grew from there to the final 25-point margin.

Senior Ashley Cornett added 13 points for Fort Hays, and junior Audra Binford scored 11.

Junior Jade Pihl led Bethany (3-1), which used the game as an exhibtion, with 11 points.

Fort Hays will play host to rival University of Nebraska-Kearney Saturday at 5:30 p.m. at GMC.

Game notes

Claire Cole, a sophomore forward from Kensington, started for Bethany, but was held scoreless on 0-of-4 shooting. ... The Tigers' next opponent, UNK, is rankd 25th in the nation.... The announced attendance was 1,250.