Emporia State suffered two losses on Saturday as the Hornets faced off against the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats. The Lady Hornets put up a fight against Northwest Missouri, but were thwarted in the last two minutes of play, losing 70-71. The men lacked momentum on offense and came up short 56-81.
The first quarter of the women’s game saw extremely close scoring with neither team gaining more than one possession lead. At the ten minute mark, the score was tied at 16. The Bearcats later took the lead in the second with a score of 26-22 and 6:41 left in the half. ESU went on a 7-0 run to retake the lead, ending when senior forward Macey Gandee hit an and-one at the five minute mark. Emporia kept the lead and closed out the half ahead 39-34.
In the first six minutes after the break, the Bearcats went on a 14-4 run to lead 48-43. The Lady Hornets countered with a 13-3 run of their own and began the fourth quarter with a 56-51 lead.
At the 5:08 mark freshman forward Vanessa Coleman tied the game 64-64 with a three. Graduate student Kaitlyn Sanders responded to a Bearcat three with a three-point play and a three pointer, giving the Hornets a 70-69 lead with 1:34 left.
After the Bearcats secured two free throws, the Lady Hornets forced a shot clock violation for the Bearcats. The Hornets put up a shot with less than two seconds left on the clock, but the Bearcats blocked the effort, leaving a final score of 71-70 with the Hornets trailing by one point.
The Hornet men began with an early 4-0 lead Saturday just over a minute into play, secured at the start of the game by senior forward Mason Wujek and senior guard Mason Jones. In the next three minutes Northwest Missouri would go on a 10-0 run, followed by an 11-0 run. The Bearcats were up 27-11 at the 9:24 mark and up 47-26 at the half.
In the second half, ESU trailed by as many as 28 points and the final score of 81-56 favored the Bearcats. The loss marks the end of the season for the Hornets, who close out the season with 19 losses on the books for overall play and 14 in the MIAA conference. Their record sits at 9-19 overall and 5-14 in conference play to close out the season.
Despite the loss to Northwest Missouri, the No. 9-ranked Lady Hornets will compete next in the opening round of the MIAA Tournament in Kansas City on March 4. The advancement marks the Lady Hornet’s 30th consecutive appearance at the tournament, where they will enter as the No. 9 seed going 14-14 overall on the season and 8-11 in conference play. Tip-off is set for noon at Municipal Auditorium against the Northeastern University Riverhawks.
In a Jan. 26 matchup with the Riverhawks, the Lady Hornets sustained a 57-74 loss. Going into the MIAA Tournament, the No.8-seeded Riverhawks sit with an overall record of 17-11 and 9-10 in the MIAA.
