January 20, 2018-The Lady Hornets hit just one of 13 field goal attempts in the third quarter on the way to a 62-55 loss at Missouri Southern on Saturday afternoon. The loss snapped a five game winning streak by Emporia State.
The Lady Hornets got off to a fast start on the day, scoring the first five points and taking an 11-4 lead with 5:48 left in the first quarter. Emporia State would hold Missouri Southern without a field goal over the final 5:07 of the period but only led 15-10 after the first quarter.
Emporia State led 18-12 with 8:10 left in the first half when Mo. Southern went on a 6-0 run to tie the game with 5:29 left. The Lady Hornets went back up by six at 28-22 with 1:18 left on a three-pointer from Madison Ralston. Chelsey Henry scored inside with 32 seconds left for the Lions to make it 28-24 at the break.
That would be the last field goal for either team until the 5:39 mark of the third quarter. Missouri Southern would go six of six and Emporia State four of four from the line as the Lady Hornets led 32-30 with 65:11 left. Chelsey Henry broke the field goal drought for MSSU with 5:39 left with a three-pointer and Desirea Buerge banked in a three from the top of the key to give the Lions a 36-32 lead. The Lady Hornets broke their own field goal drought of 6:53 with a three-pointer by Emily Miller with 4:25 left in the third. It would be the only field goal of the period for Emporia State and pulled the Lady Hornets within a point at 36-35. MSSU scored the next four points to go up 40-35 before Morgan Laudan and Jessica Wayne each hit two free throws to pull Emporia State within 40-39 going to the fourth quarter.
The Lions started the fourth quarter with a 7-1 run to take a 48-41 lead with 6:58 left in the game. The Lady Hornets responded with a 10-0 run of their own to take a 51-48 lead with 3:28 remaining. Wayne started the run with a put back at the 6:27 markd and Laudan hit a pair of free throws on the next possession. Tiana Moala scored inside with 5:16 left to bring Emporia State within a point. Wayne gave the Lady Hornets the lead with a layup with 4:07 left and Moala scored inside to end the run and give ESU a three point lead.
Missouri Southern retook the lead on a pair of free throws from Henry with 2:33 left, but Wayne answered with a layup 12 seconds later to put Emporia State ahead 53-52. Maydew scored with 1:23 left to give the Lions the lead back and Dru Clark had a steal and break away layup with 1:00 left to give MSSU a 56-53 lead. Moala was fouled with :50.6 left and missed both free throws. Clark was fouled with :40.9 remaining and hit one of two to make it a two possession game. Miller scored inside for Emporia State with :29.9 left to bring the Lady Hornets within two. The Lions then hit five of six free throws in the final :28.7 to ice the win.
Emily Miller had her first career double-double with 13 points and a career high 13 rebounds, but was just one of seven from the three-point line. Tyra Jones had 12 points and Jessica Wayne scored ten for Emporia State.
The Lady Hornets outscored the Lions 39-34 from the field hitting 18 of 58 shots and going three of 19 from behind the arc, but Missouri Southern was 28 of 36 from the free throw line while Emporia State was just 16 of 22 from the stripe.
Emporia State returns to White Auditorium on Wednesday to take on #10 Central Missouri. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m.
NOTES
This is the second straight loss in the Leggett & Platt Center to Missouri Southern for the Lady Hornets. Emporia State is 10-7 against Missouri Southern in the Leggett & Platt Center.
