Women's Basketball | 2/10/2012 1:09:00 PM
TURNING PINK
The #21 Lady Hornets take on Missouri Southern in the second to last regular season game at White Auditorium. It will also be the final "Pink Game" of the year as ESU will don pink uniforms to raise awareness of breat cancer.
LAST TIME OUT
Heather Robben scored 22 points on seven of eight shooting from the field as the #21 Emporia State Lady Hornets defeated Southwest Baptist 70-57 on Wednesday night in White Auditorium. ESU shot .536 from the field in the win. SBU had a 5-4 lead with 16:58 left in the first half when ESU went on a 9-0 and would not trail the rest of the game. A Robben three pointer made it 25-11 with 8:17 left for the largest lead of the half for the Lady Hornets. A Kathryn Flott layup with 11:01 remaining in the game gave ESU their biggest lead of the night at 57-38. SBU would cut the lead to eight at 63-55 with 2:18 left but Robben connected on five of five free throws in the final 50 seconds to secure the win. Robben was joined in double figures by Sarah Wood with 12 points. Flott led ESU in rebounding with seven boards off the bench.
THE COACHES
Jory Collins is 36-14 in his second year as the head coach of the Lady Hornets and is 5-4 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 2-1 against Missouri Southern.
Maryann Mitts is 174-129 in her 11th year at Missouri Southern and 257-185 in her 16th year overall. She is 5-18 against ESU at MSSU and 5-22 against ESU overall.
SCOUTING THE LIONS
Missouri Southern is 7-15 overall and 3-13 in the MIAA. They have lost 11 of their last 13 games and are just 2-7 away from the Leggett & Platt Center. Erin Rice is the only player in double figures for MSSU at 15.0 points per game and scored 28 points against ESU earlier this season.
THE SERIES
The Lady Hornets lead the overall series 48-22, and have won 16 of the last 19 meetings overall. ESU has won 16 straight against MSSU in White Auditorium dating back to the 1995-96 season by an average margin of 24.2 points per game.
LAST TIME VS. MISSOURI SOUTHERN
Kelsey Balcom was eight for eight from the field for 21 points to lead four Lady Hornets in double figures as #19 Emporia State defeated Missouri Southern 74-55 in Joplin, Mo. The Lady Hornets jumped out to a 17-4 lead and never trailed in the contest. ESU shot a blistering .583 in the first half while holding MSSU to just .273 shooting from the field. Balcom was joined in double figures by Merissa Quick and Jocelyn Cummings with 11 points and Rachel Hanf with ten points. Sarah Wood had a team high seven rebounds while Heather Robben bettered her career high for assists in the third straight game, finishing with seven assists.
UP NEXT
The #21 Lady Hornets travel to #10 Pittsburg State for a key MIAA and South Central Regional game. Tip-off for the Top 25 match up from John Lance Arena is set for 5:30 p.m.
