December 17, 2018-The #24 Lady Hornets forced 25 turnovers with a season high 19 steals on the way to a 67-39 win over UPR-Rio Piedras to start the Puerto Rico Clasico on Monday afternoon in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Emporia State used a 9-0 run to turn a tie game into a 15-6 lead with 3:30 left in the first quarter. Emily Miller scored eight points in the first quarter but a three-pointer from Rio Piedras guard Paola Maldonado with six seconds left made it 19-13 after the first ten minutes. Miller hit a three pointer to start the second quarter and a Tiana Moala layup gave Emporia State a 24-13 lead with 8:44 left in the half. That would be the margin at the break as the Lady Hornets took a 36-25 lead to the locker rooms.
The Lady Hornets then scored the first 11 points of the third quarter and took a 47-25 lead on a Miller trey with 5:38 left in the period. After a pair of free throws by UPR-RP's Alicia Penzo snapped a 13-0 run, Emporia State got back to back three-pointers from Miller and Addie Lackey to take a 26 point lead with 4:13 left in the third. The Lady Hornets led 55-29 to start the fourth period and used an 8-2 run to take their biggest lead of the day at 63-31 with 5:24 left before settling for the 67-39 final score.
Emily Miller was five of nine from the three-point line nad finished with a game high 17 points for Emporia State. Jessica Wayne had 14 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and four steals while Tyra Jones added ten points and eight rebounds.Â
The Lady Hornets will wrap up the two day classic on Tuesday afternoon. Emporia State is scheduled to play UPR-Bayamon at 3:00 p.m. (CT) in San Juan on December 18 in their final game before the NCAA D2 Life in the Balance Break.
NOTES:
Emporia State was originally scheduled to play UPR-Mayaguez but were notified of the change just four hours prior to game time.
Â
