March 6, 2016-The #20 Lady Hornets made it four MIAA Tournament Championships in a row with an 80-66 win over #16 Pittsburg State on Sunday afternoon in Municipal Auditorium in downtown Kansas City, Mo. Emporia State became the first team to win four consecutive MIAA Tournaments in Kansas City and the first program to have two strings of at least four straight titles.
IN THE BEGINNING
Pittsburg State, who hit a tournament record 16 three-pointers in their semifinal win on Saturday, took a 6-0 lead on three-pointers from Cathy Brugman and Mikaela Burgess in the first 1:13 of play. Emporia State responded with a 10-4 run to tie the game at 10 out of the first media timeout with 4:48 left. Neither team would take more than a one possession lead the rest of the quarter the two were tied at 17-17 after the first period.
PULLING AWAY
Tournament Most Outstanding Player Kathryn Flott scored on a put back and Sandra Ngoie added two free throws to give Emporia State a 23-19 lead with 8:28 left in the half. After the Gorillas closed to within 23-21 Ngoie hit a three pointer to start a 7-2 run and give the Lady Hornets a 30-23 lead with 5:56 remaining. Shelby Baker nailed a three-pointer with 2:02 left to make it 37-29 before the Gorillas scored the final four points and the Lady Hornets led 37-33 at the break.
THIRD QUARTER
The Gorillas scored the first points of the third quarter to cut the Lady Hornet lead to 37-35, but Addie Lackey answered with a three-pointer and Kelly Moten went coast to coast to give Emporia State a 42-35 lead and force a Pitt State timeout with 8:14 left in the third. The two traded baskets until Burgess hit a three pointer to make it a one point game at 48-47 with 3:27 left in the quarter. Kelsey Barnwell then hit one of two free throws and nailed a three-pointer to get the lead back to five points with 2:40 remaining. Emporia State went on a 7-1 run to take a 59-51 lead with 26 seconds left before Burgess hit a layup to make it 59-53 going into the fourth quarter.
FINISHING IT OUT
Brugman scored a fast break layup with 6:22 left in the game to pull the Gorillas within nine at 66-57 when Emporia State went on a 10-4 run to take control. Lackey would score the first seven points of the run on a pair of free throws, a three-pointer and layup before Barnwell connected on her second three-pointer of the half to give Emporia State a 76-61 lead with 2:56 left.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Flott was named the Most Outstanding Player, the fourth straight time a Lady Hornet has earned the honor, and was joined on the All-Tournament team by Kelly Moten and Sandra Ngoie from Emporia State and Pittsburg State's Mikaela Burgess and Kylie Gafford.
THE NUMBERS
Kathryn Flott had her second straight double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds on the way to tournament Most Outstanding Player honors. She was joined in double figures by fellow All-Tournament team members Kelly Moten with 17 and Sandra Ngoie with 14 points while Addie Lackey chipped in 14 points. Moten had a game high six assists and three steals.
TOURNAMENT NUMBERS
This was the Lady Hornets 12th straight win in the MIAA Tournament. The MIAA record is 13 straight by Emporia State from 1998 through the 2002 semifinals.
Emporia State is now 40-13 (.755) and have the highest winning percentage in MIAA Tournament history.
Jory Collins is now 16-2 (.889) all-time in the MIAA Tournament and is now tied with former UCM coach Jon Pye for second in total tournament championships with four in his first six years.
Emporia State is the first team to win four straight MIAA Championships since the tournament moved to Kansas City in 2003 and are the only program with multiple streaks of four consecutive championships, having won four straight from 1998-2001 on campus.
UP NEXT
The Lady Hornets have secured the MIAA's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and will find out Sunday night at 9:00 p.m. (CT) where they will be playing the Central Regional.
