November 25, 2016-Leading by two points at half time, the second ranked Lady Hornets hit 16 of 24 shots in the third quarter to blow open the game in an 89-68 win over Truman in the Drury Thanksgiving Classic in Springfield, Mo.
Emporia State scored the first six points of the game, only to see Truman answer with a 12-2 run to take a four point lead with 4:00 left in the opening frame. The teams traded runs the rest of the period with the Lady Hornets using a 10-0 run to take an 18-12 lead with 2:31 left before the Bulldogs finished the quarter with a 9-0 run for a 21-18 lead after the first. Emporia State would then use an 8-2 run over the final 2:39 of the half to take a 38-36 lead into the locker rooms.
A three-pointer from Megan Holloway gave the Lady Hornets their first double digit lead of the night at 54-42 with 6:13 left in the third. After a jumper by Truman's Cassidy Clark cut the lead back to ten points with 5:17 left, Emporia State blew the game open with a 19-4 run. They hit eight of ten shots in a 3:25 span to take a 75-50 lead with 1:00 left in the third period. The lead would reach 29 points twice in the fourth quarter before the Lady Hornets settled for the 21 point win at 89-68.
Addie Lackey scored 18 points to lead four Lady Hornets in double figures. She was joined by Kelly Moten with 17 points, Kyrstie Miller with 14 and Jacee Kramer with 11 points. Moten led Emporia State with seven rebounds and five assists and moved into 13th in career scoring as a Lady Hornet. She passed Judy Becker (1,388 from 1977-81) and now has 1,395 points.Â
The #2 Lady Hornets will take on tournament host and 18th ranked Drury on Saturday night in the "championship" game of the Thanksgiving Classic. Tip-off is at 5:30 p.m. in the O'Reilly Family Events Center in Springfield, Mo. This is just the second time Emporia State and Drury have met in women's basketball, with the then #7 Lady Hornets coming from 18 points down in the second half to steal a 78-73 win over then #1 Drury in overtime in the semifinals of the 2005 NCAA South Central Regional in Springfield.
