#18 LADY HORNETS COME UP SHORT IN REGIONAL TITLE GAME AT #19 PITTSBURG STATE

March 14, 2016-The #18 Lady Hornets battled back from a 13 point deficit in the third quarter to tie the score in the fourth, but couldn't get over the hump in a 78-74 loss to #19 Pittsburg State in the NCAA Central Regional Championship game on Monday night in Pittsburg, Kan.
 
TURNING IT OVER
The two teams played even in the first quarter with Pitt State holding onto a 15-14 lead at the end of the period thanks to nine points off Emporia State turnovers in the opening ten minutes.  The Lady Hornets out rebounded the Gorillas 11-5 in the opening frame, but turned it over five times to Pitt State's two, both of which came in the opening minute of action.
 
BACK AND FORTH
Kelly Moten scored the first points of the second quarter to give the Lady Hornets a 16-15 lead. After a Cathy Brugman bucket put the Gorilla back up by one, Moten found Shelby Baker on a cut to the basket for an 18-17 lead.  Madison Northcutt hit one of two free throws to tie the game and 18 and Sandra Ngoie scored inside to give Emporia State a 20-18 lead with 6:30 left in the half.   Back to back three-pointers from Pitt State gave the Gorillas a 24-20 lead with 5:14 left in half.  Moten hit one of two free throws with 1:05 remaining to pull Emporia State within 28-25 before Brugman hit a layup with 53 seconds left and Mikaela Burgess hit two free throws with 27 seconds left to give the Gorillas their biggest lead of the half at 32-25.  Moten was able to score with three seconds left to send the Lady Hornets into the locker room down 32-27.
 
THIRD QUARTER RUNS
The Gorillas scored the first five points of the second half to go up 37-27 with 8:11 left in the third.  They would push the lead to 13 points twice, the last coming on a pair of Paige Lungwitz free throws with 5:32 left in the period.  The Lady Hornets then went on a 10-0 run to cut the lead to three on a Kelsey Barnwell layup with 1:47 left.  Addie Lackey started the run with a three-pointer and also hit one of two free throws while Kathryn Flott hit a pair of layups as well during the run.  Kylie Gafford scored inside with 1:26 left and Burgess hit a three-pointer with 44 seconds left to pus the lead back to eight points.  Moten ended the scoring in the quarter with a jumper with 30 seconds left to pull the Lady Hornets within six at 55-49 headed into the fourth quarter.
 
FINAL QUARTER
The teams traded scores for the first four minutes of the fourth quarter with Burgess hitting a layup with 6:29 left following two offensive rebounds to give Pitt State a 60-55 lead.  Barnwell hit a pair of free throws with 6:12 remaining to pull the Lady Hornets within three points.  Neither team scored over the next 1:35 until Ngoie hit a three pointer with 4:37 left to tie the game at 60.  Brugman scored the next four points for the Gorillas to put them up 64-60 with 3:37 remaining.  Flott and Brugman traded free throws and Ngoie scored inside with 2:48 left to pull the Hornets within 66-64.  Hadyn Herlocker scored the final field goal for Pitt State with 2:26 left to give the Gorillas a four point lead.  On the next possession Moten was blocked going up for a layup and the Lady Hornets were forced to start fouling.  Brugman hit two free throws with 1:44 left and Herlocker hit two more with 1:20 left to go up 72-64. 
The Lady Hornets were not done as Flott scored on a put back with 1:08 left to cut the lead to six.  After back to back turnovers by each team, Lackey scored on old fashioned three-point play with 40.3 seconds left to make it 72-69. Brugman hit two free throws with 37.4 seconds left to give the Gorillas a 74-69 lead.  Ngoie answered with a three-pointer to pull within two a 74-72 with 27.3 seconds left.  Brugman hit two more free throws with :19.0 left to push the lead back to four.  Lackey scored with 11.2 seconds left to cut it back to two points.  Burgess then hit two free throws with 7.3 seconds left to make it 78-74 and ice the win for the Gorillas.
 
THE NUMBERS
Kelly Moten had 25 points, six assists and three steals to lead the Lady Hornets and earn a spot on the All-Tournament team for the second straight year. She was joined in double figures by Addie Lackey with 13 points, Sandra Ngoie with 11 and Kathryn Flott with ten points.  Flott also had nine rebounds, two steals and a block to earn a spot on the All-Tournament team with Moten and Pitt State's Mikaela Burgess, Kylie Gafford and Most Outstanding Player Cathy Brugman. Kyrstie Miller tied Flott for game high rebounding honors with nine as well.
The Lady Hornets hit 28 of 60 field goals, including four three-pointers while the Gorillas were 23 of 53 from the field with six three-pointers.  Pittsburg State was 26 of 31 from the free throw line with Brugman going ten of ten from the line while Emporia State was 14 of 19 from the stripe.  Brugman was 26 of 26 from the free throw line in the regional.
 
NOTES
With her 25 points Kelly Moten moved past Jurgita Kausaite (1,305 pts from 1997-99) and Amy Redmon (1,323 pts from 1988-92) into 16^th on the Lady Hornets all-time scoring list.
The Lady Hornets finished the season 28-6, which is tied for the seventh most wins in a season in school history.  The 34 games played are tied for the second most played in a season behind the Lady Hornets 30-5 season in 2010 when they won the National Championship.
This was the fifth straight regional championship game for the Lady Hornets, the longest active streak in the country.
The Lady Hornets are now 6-7 all-time in NCAA Regional Championship games.
The Lady Hornets are 38-17 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
The Lady Hornets were the #1 seed in the regional but were not able to host the tournament due to a conflict with the Kansas State High School Activities Association State Tournament in White Auditorium.
 
UP NEXT
The Lady Hornets return ten of their 12 players from this year's team, including All-MIAA and All-Region performer Kelly Moten along with starters Addie Lackey and Kathryn Flott.