#25 LADY HORNETS HOLD ON FOR 92-86 VICTORY OVER LINCOLN

February 11, 2021-Playing their seventh game in 15 days the #25 Lady Hornets got out to a 16 point lead in the third quarter and held on for a 92-86 victory over Lincoln in Thursday night in White Auditorium.
 
Daley Handy gave Emporia State a 3-0 lead to start the game but over the first five minutes they would go almost as cold as the below zero wind chill outside White Auditorium.  The Blue Tigers led 12-5 with 5:13 left in the first quarter when the Lady Hornets finally heated up.  Fredricka Sheats scored five straight points to start an 11-0 run and Tre'Zure Jobe hit back to back threes to cap the run and give Emporia State a 16-12 lead with 2:34 left in the period.  Lincoln would tie the game at 18 on a Haylie Holloway pull up jumper but Sheats converted the hoop and the harm on a put back with 40 seconds left to give Emporia State the 21-18 lead after one.
 
Holloway hit a three-pointer at the 9:24 mark to start the scoring in the second quarter and tie the game at 21-21.  Just 18 seconds later Emily Weathers scored on a turnaround jumper in the paint to give Emporia State the lead for good.  The Lady Hornets were up 31-28 with 4:40 left after a Niyah Jackson steal and score for the Blue Tigers.  Ehlaina Hartman then went on a personal 5-0 run to give Emporia State a 36-28 lead with 3:32 to go in the half.  The Lady Hornet lead was still just five points with under two minutes left in the half when the freshman duo of Weathers and Hartman scored the final six points of the period to send Emporia State to the locker room with a 46-35 lead.
 
Lincoln opened the second half on a 9-2 run to pull within 48-44 with 7:39 left but the Lady Hornets responded with a 14-4 run of their own to take their biggest lead of the night.  Jobe got things started with a driving layup at the 7:23 mark followed by Karsen Schultz grabbing a rebound and taking it coast to coast just 28 seconds later.  Jobe then forced a jump ball and Schultz converted a three-pointer off the turnover to Emporia State a 55-44 lead with 6:34 left.  AJ Bradley scored on a floater in the paint to break up the run before Jobe hit a three-pointer to make it 58-46 with 5:39 left.  Out of the third quarter media timeout Hartman scored off a pass from Handy and then converted a layup to give Emporia State a 62-46 lead with 4:10 left in the period.  The Blue Tigers cut the lead back to ten with 25 seconds left by Sheats converted an old fashioned three-point play with 1.7 seconds left to give the Lady Hornets a 67-54 lead going to the fourth quarter.
 
Emporia State led 81-66 with 4:28 left in the game on a Jobe fast break but a pair of turnovers and a missed shot allowed Lincoln to go on a 9-0 run as Ashtin Ingram hit her first three of the night to make it 81-75 with 3:06 left.  Hartman hit her second three-pointer to stop the run and put the Lady Hornets back up by nine with 2:52 left.  Bradley hit two free throws to pull Lincoln within five at 86-81 with 43.9 seconds left but Emporia State would convert six of six free throws in the final 30 seconds to seal the 92-86 victory.
 
Tre'Zure Jobe had 29 points with five steals, four rebounds and three assists to lead four Lady Hornets in double figures.  Karsen Schultz added 19 points, nine rebounds and five assists while Fredricka Sheats recorded her fourth double-double in the last five games with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Ehlaina Hartman rounded out the double figure scorers with 16 points.
 
Emporia State will turn around and travel to Jefferson City on Saturday to take on the Blue Tigers again.  Tip-off in Jason Gymnasium is set for 1:00 p.m.  It is the first time since the 1990-91 season that the Lady Hornets will play an opponent in back to back regular season games.
 
NOTES:
This was the first time Emporia State has had nine players suit up and play in a game since January 4, a span of 11 games in which they had eight or fewer players available.
The 32 points allowed in the fourth quarter are the most given up by the Lady Hornets in the fourth since allowing 33 in a 76-71 loss at Neb.-Kearney on January 18, 2020.