December 19, 2016 - The #5 Lady Hornets finished 2016 in White Auditorium with an 85-51 win over Lidenwood Monday night to improve to 11-1 on the season, 3-1 in the MIAA. Kelly Moten had 25 points on the night, racking up 1,529 career points, to move into 8th place on Emporia State all-time scoring, passing Nicole Patry (2001-05) with 1,504 points. Moten also moved into 6th place with two steals, totaling 175 career steals, passing Deena Holloway (1998-2002) with 174 steals.
KEEPING IT CLOSE
After Lindenwood scored the first two points of the game, Emporia State went on a 9-0 run to lead 9-2 with 8:05 to play in the first quarter. The Lions answered with a 7-2 run that spanned about four minutes to close the gap 13-9 with 3:46 left in the quarter. There were only four more points scored the rest of the quarter, two for each team, for the Lady Hornets to lead 15-11 to finish the quarter.
OPEN IT UP
Emporia State started the second quarter on a 10-0 run in the first three minutes to open the game up and take a 25-11 lead. The Lady Hornets' largest lead of the quarter was 22 points at 43-21 with 38 seconds to play. Emporia State had ten points off turnovers in the second quarter. After two quarters, Moten was shooting 13 for 14 from the stripe and had 19 points. The Lady Hornets were shooting 17 for 20 from the free throw line as a team at the half and 48% from the field.
FINISHING STRONG
Emporia State did not let Lindenwood get any closer than 16 points the rest of the game which was at the 7:24 mark in the third quarter, Lady Hornets leading 47-31. Emporia State's largest lead of the game was with 1:16 remaining, a 35 point lead at 85-50 after two free throw shots from Brittany Kramer.
WELL BALANCED
Moten led all players with 25 points and four blocks adding four assists and two steals to her stat line. She also shot 15 for 16 from the stripe. Addie Lackey followed with 16 points. Shelby Baker joined Moten and Lackey in double digits with 11 points, snapping her streak of 12 straight field goals in the third quarter. Baker and Kyrstie Miller each had six rebounds to lead all players, Miller adding nine points and five steals. Emporia State out-rebounded Lindenwood 48-33 and shot 31 for 40 from the line. The Lady Hornets had 21 points off turnovers.
UP NEXT
The #5 Lady Hornets will take a ten day break from competition before returning to action on New Year's Eve at #3 Pittsburg State. The non-league match-up is set to tip at 1:00 p.m. at John Lance Arena. The game will be a re-match of the NCAA Central Regional Championship game from the 2015-16 season.
