The Emporia State women’s basketball team suffered their first loss at home and third overall when they fell to Missouri Western last Saturday afternoon.
“You have to play smart and we didn’t play very smart in certain situations,” said Jory Collins, head coach. “We wanted to go to the rim and we just weren’t aggressive enough. When someone comes into your house and shoots 20 more free throws than you that raises your eyebrows.”
With 4:07 left in the first quarter, the lady Hornets led 9-8. Both teams played man to man defense and did not allow easy buckets. Though they led by one, ESU shot just 3-11 (27 percent) to start the afternoon.
The Lady Hornets finished the quarter on a 6-2 run and led 15-10. Kathryn Flott, junior forward, led the team with four points. ESU finished the quarter shooting 6-19 (34 percent), but held the Lady Griffons to 5-13 from the floor.
The Lady Griffons opened the second quarter on a 17-8 run and led the Lady Hornets 27-23 with 3:50 left in the second quarter. At halftime, the Griffons led 31-29. ESU had open looks in the first half but shot just 1-13 from three and 11-35 from the floor. Kelsey Barnwell, senior guard, led all scorers with nine points. Flott led the rebounders with nine.
“They were just aggressive getting to the rim and we weren’t,” Barnwell said. “They shot I don’t know how many more free throws.”
After the first five minutes in the third quarter, ESU trailed 42-38. The Lady Hornets shot better to start the half, but stops became an issue as Western scored 13 points. The Lady Griffons raised their shooting percentage by 9 percent, shooting 44 percent for the game to that point.
After three quarters, the Griffons led the Lady Hornets 51-44. Two Hornets were in double figures -Barnwell had 14 and Kathryn Flott had 10. The Hornets shot 37 percent to that point and less than 20 percent from three.
“We just didn’t knock down shots that we have been knocking down,” Flott said. “They just didn’t go in the hole tonight.”
With 5:11 remaining in the game, the Lady Hornets trailed by three. They cut the lead to two on a 7-2 run to start the quarter, but Western answered and pushed it to multiple possessions. Trailing 69-60 with 1:49 remaining, Collins called a full timeout. ESU hit a three with almost a minute and a half to go to cut it to six, but a missed opportunity of a rebound led to two more points for Western, ending ESU’s chances at victory.
Following the loss, the Lady Hornets fell to 14-3 on the season (8-3). They will continue their season this Saturday as they travel to Washburn. A pep bus will be available to take students.