The Emporia State women’s basketball team beat the Northwest Missouri Bearcats Monday, 96-52. The Lady Hornets shot well from the floor throughout the evening.
“Our focus was to try and get the ball to the rim,” said Jory Collins, head coach. “Even against their zone, we were able to find some holes and get it in there deep and work inside out.”
Through one quarter, the Bearcats, who are 2-13 (0-9) hung tough with the Lady Hornets, only trailing 24-18. A 12-4 run to start the second quarter gave ESU a 14 point advantage that widened to 20 with three minutes left in the half that ended by a near 30 foot three pointer by Kyrstie Miller, sophomore guard and forward.
“Executing and making our own plays,” Miller said of executing offense against the zone. “Everybody can shoot, so it’s just about trusting each other.”
A 29-6 second quarter, and a half court three pointer by Kelly Moten, junior guard, gave the Lady Hornets a 53-24 advantage at the break. The Lady Hornets big lead was in large part due to a 58.3 field goal percentage. That included 55 percent from three. ESU also gathered 30 points in the paint, 14 points off turnovers and the bench contributed with 14 points coming from non-starters. The ESU defense held Northwest to just 36 percent shooting from the floor. ESU was also plus nine in the rebounding category, out-rebounding the Bearcats 22-13 in the first half. ESU had three players in double figures in the first half, Moten led all scorers with 14 points, while Addie Lacky, sophomore guard, and Sandra Ngoie, senior forward, each had 10.
Moten’s big night continued in the second half as she had the first 10 Lady Hornet points from within the pain, despite a zone look from the Bearcats. Dribble penetration remained a problem through the opening minutes of the second half. The Bearcats scored early in the half finding mismatches in the paint and scoring on them. The third quarter favored the Hornets 18-16, the score was 71-40. Ngoie had a double, double after three quarters with 10 points and rebounds.
The final score was 96-52. The Lady Hornets finished shooting 51.5 percent from the floor including 9-20 from three. Moten finished with 25 points, followed by Ngoie with 19 and Lackey with 10. The Lady Hornets also held the Bearcats to 42 percent shooting.
“The more aggressive we are, the more plays we make,” Moten said about getting easy baskets at the rim. “It just leads to great things.”
The Lady Hornets improve their record to 14-2 (9-2). But they have a big test coming into White Auditorium on Saturday as undefeated Missouri Western comes to town in a battle of two of the MIAA’s best. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.
