This past Sunday was a historic day for Rachel Hanf, senior guard for the women’s basketball team and marketing major. She not only became the 26th Lady Hornet to score 1,000 points in her career, but she also had a career high 23 points in an 89-57 victory over the Bronchos of University Central Oklahoma at White Auditorium.
“It’s really special,” Hanf said. “There have been a lot of great players come through here, and to be in the same list as them is pretty neat.”
Before the game, Hanf was 15 points shy of the 1,000 point mark. Last night, she scored 25 points in a match against University of Nebraska at Kearney, breaking her career high yet again. The Hornets won, 88-53.
During Sunday’s match, Hanf scored four of the first six points for Emporia State. But five minutes in, the Bronchos controlled the scoreboard, 11-6.
Sarah Wood, junior forward, tied it up with a turnaround bank from inside the paint with 12 minutes to go in the half.
After seven minutes, neither team was able to pull away, until the Hornets began to catch fire from the deep. In the final five minutes of the half, ESU pulled away with three three-pointers from Hanf, including her 1,000 point mark.
Desiree Wylie, junior forward, added two of her own, including one at the buzzer, giving the Hornets a 49-29 lead at the half.
“Our game plan coming in was to…set up our offense,” said Laura Patrick, junior forward and accounting major. “In the early going, we struggled with that, but around the 10 minute mark, we did a lot better job.”
ESU kept their momentum in the second half and continued to shoot the ball from the deep. Rheanna Egli, junior guard, led the way in the second with 11 points, as the Lady Hornets went on to win their third straight game during their three-game home stretch.
“We didn’t have a good record, and we knew we needed to get these three,” said Jory Collins, head coach. “It’s not enough though. We are still behind, and we still have to climb.”
The Hornets take on Northwest Missouri State at 1:30 p.m. Feb. 2 in Maryville, Mo.