The Emporia State women’s basketball team beat Central Oklahoma Wednesday night with a final score of 69-58. This secured the Lady Hornets’ place in the first round of the MIAA tournament.
“I thought we play(ed) a decent first half, but the second half was littered with mental mistakes and some errors,” said Jory Collins, head coach. “It was frustrating because we didn’t execute in the second half.”
At the end of the first quarter, ESU led 20-15.
Kathryn Flott, junior forward, scored seven points and rebounded six times in the first quarter, leading all scorers.
As a team, ESU shot 57 percent from the floor and 66 percent from the three-point-line. ESU out-rebounded the Bronchos by six, 10-4, in the first quarter.
With 4:46 to go in the half, the Lady Hornets led 31-24 and Collins called a timeout. The Lady Hornets bested the Bronchos in rebounds, 17-5. Seven of the rebounds were offensive, while the Bronchos only rebounded offensively once. In addition, the Lady Hornets had 10 defensive rebounds.
ESU ended the first half in the lead, 41-30.
“You can’t ever be comfortable when Jory is your coach,” Kelly Moten said, when asked if the team got too comfortable and relaxed with a big early lead.
Kathryn Flott nearly had a double-double at half with 11 points and eight rebounds.
During the first half, ESU shot 5-9 from the three and made 15 out of 29 attempted baskets, 51 percent. UCO shot 41 percent from the floor and 20 percent from three.
ESU had great bench production, as 12 points were scored by non-starters. The Lady Bronchos had four bench points. Combined, the teams scored 40 points in front of the free throw, and the Lady Hornets made 18 of those.
With 7:21 left in the third quarter, ESU led by 11 points, the score being 47-36.
With 4:36 left in the quarter, UCO cut the lead to eight, and the score was 50-42.
At the end of the third quarter, ESU led, 57-51. UCO missed five free throws through three quarters and were being outrebounded by nine. This contributed to their trailing in the points.
With eight minutes left in the game, ESU played a 2-3 zone look and ran in two possessions, forcing outside shots that missed. The Lady Hornet’s defended their basket and UCO didn’t score during the first five minutes of the quarter, while ESU made four points.
UCO scored a layup with 2:37 to go and cut the ESU lead to five. A lid was on the basket for the Lady Hornets as the UCO’s defense made it difficult for Flott and Sandra Ngoie, senior forward, to score.
“It made it very difficult,” said Flott. “It just forced me to find my teammates for open shots.”
The was ESU’s 20th win of the season. The next game for the Lady Hornets is Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at White Auditorium.
