Official home of the Emporia State University Hornets

November 11, 2022-The Lady Hornets forced 31 turnovers on the way to a 58-57 win at Harding on the first night of the MIAA-GAC Challenge in Searcy, Ark.
 
Emporia State scored the first points of the season on a three-pointer from Victoria Price 58 seconds into the game. They would not get another field goal until less than a minute remained in the quarter.  Faith Paramore hit a three with 55 seconds left to give the Lady Hornets and 10-9 lead and Ehlaina Hartman followed with a steal and layup as Emporia State took a 12-9 lead  after a quarter.
 
Tre'Zure Jobe grabbed a defensive rebound and went coast to coast to give the Lady Hornets a 20-12 lead with 6:58 left.  Jobe hit a three-pointer with 5:57 left in the half to give Emporia State their biggest lead of the night at 23-14.  The Bisons would end the half on an 8-3 run as the Lady Hornets led 26-22 at the break.
 
Harding scored the first four points of the second half to tie the game at 26 just 90 seconds into the third quarter.  Sage Hawley hit two free throws with 6:39 left in the quarter to give Harding a 31-30 lead.  They would take their biggest lead of the game with 3:51 left in the third on a put back by Hawley to make it 40-36 Harding.  The Lady Hornets ended the quarter on a 6-2 run with Jobe scoring with 21 seconds left as the teams went to the fourth quarter tied at 42.
 
The Lady Hornets extended the run to 13-4 to start the fourth quarter as Maary Lakes scored inside to give ESU a 49-44 lead with 6:10 left in the game.  Hartman hit a free throw with 4:53 left to put Emporia State up by eight at 55-47. The Bisons scored the next six points to pull within 55-53 with 2:05 left. Price hit one of two free throws with 1:27 left to make it 56-53.  Hawley was fouled as she grabbed her 21^st rebound and hit both free throws with 58.0 seconds left to pull Harding within 56-55.  With the shot clock running down Faith Paramore missed a three-pointer for the Lady Hornets but Price grabbed the rebounds and scored with 29.1 seconds left to give ESU a three point lead.  Emporia State played strong defense on the three point line and Jacie Evans drove to score on a layup with 2.4 seconds left to pull Harding within 58-57.  The Lady Hornets called timeout to advance the ball to the front court. Jobe was fouled with 0.5 seconds left but it was just the fourth of the period on Harding. Emporia State inbounded the ball as the clock ran out to secure their 40th season opening win I 49 seasons of competition.

Tre'Zure Jobe led Emporia State with 18 points and five steals while Victoria Price had 17 points, five rebounds and a career high seven steals.  Emporia State forced 31 Harding turnovers and had a 26-4 advantage in points off turnovers.

Emporia State will be back in action on Saturday morning when they take on Henderson State in their second game of the MIAA-GAC Challenge. Tipoff from Rhodes-Reaves Fieldhouse in Searcy, Ark. is set for 11:00 a.m.
 
NOTES
With five steals Tre'Zure Jobe passed Kelly Moten (214 steals from 2013-17) for sixth in career steals for the Lady Hornets.
With two made three pointers Tre'Zure Jobe moved into a tie with Amy Redmon (153 3FGM from 1988-92) for ninth in career three-pointers for the Lady Hornets.
The Lady Hornets are now 40-9 all-time in season opening games.