Women's Basketball | 1/2/2012 4:50:00 PM
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
The #23 Lady Hornets will close out 2011 with a New Year's Eve game at Southwest Baptist. This will be the third New Year's Eve game in the last four years for ESU.
LAST TIME OUT
Merissa Quick recorded a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds as the #23 Lady Hornets defeated Truman 70-49 in White Auditorium. Both teams started out sluggishly with ESU holding a 2-1 lead at the first media time out. The Lady Hornets would go on an 11-1 run to take a 15-5 lead with 7:58 left in the half. The Lady Hornets pounded the ball inside on their way to a 34-20 halftime lead thanks to 20 points in the paint. The Lady Hornets would take the first of three 21 point leads at 50-29 with 11:36 remaining. Four different Lady Hornets would score during the run. Kelsey Balcom scored 16 points to lead four Lady Hornets in double figures. Quick added 12 points while Rachel Hanf and Sarah Wood each scored ten points. Heather Robben scored nine points with a team high five assists.
THE COACHES
Jory Collins is 28-10 in his second year as the head coach of the Lady Hornets and is 4-2 vs. Top 25 teams. This is his 11th season on the Lady Hornet coaching staff and ESU has advanced to the NCAA tournament in eight of his ten previous seasons. He is 1-1 against SBU.
Todd Voss is 5-5 in his first year at SBU and is 113-37 in his fifth year as a head coach.
SCOUTING THE BEARCATS
Southwest Baptist is 5-5 on the season and 1-4 in the MIAA. They have won two in a row after a four game losing streak to open MIAA play. Guard Brittney Dukes leads SBU in scoring at 15.3 points per game but has not started since Dec. 10 against Pittsburg State. Chasity Prince leads the MIAA in three point percentage at .630, going 17 of 27 from behind the arc.
THE SERIES
The Lady Hornets lead the all-time series 29-12 and has won 18 of the last 21 match-ups. The Bearcats snapped ESU's 16 game home court winning streak in 2009 and broke ESU’s 62 game home-court winning streak with a 65-62 win on January 17, 2001.
LAST TIME VS. SW BAPTIST
Emporia State allowed Southwest Baptist to score 56 points on .682 shooting from the field in the second half of a 75-67 loss to the Bearcats in Bolivar. The Lady Hornets led 30-19 at the half after holding the Bearcats to just .231 shooting in the opening frame. The Bearcats went on a 9-3 run to open the second half and took the lead for good at 42-41 with 10:07 left. The lead would reach ten points at 60-50 with 4:08 remaining before ESU went on a 9-3 run to cut the lead to four at 63-59 with 2:13 left on a pair of Alli Volkens free throws. SBU hit nine of ten free throws in the final minute to secure the win. Volkens led ESU with 20 points and 13 rebounds.
UP NEXT
The Lady Hornets open 2012 on January 4 at Missouri Southern. Tip-off from Leggett & Platt Center in Joplin, Mo. is set for 5:30 p.m.
