November 10, 2023 - The Lady Hornets fell to Henderson State 80-67 on Friday afternoon in their season opener in the MIAA-GAC Challenge.
Emporia State struggled offensively, managing just 38.1% from the floor and 5-23 from three.
Early in the game, neither team was able to find their footing as Henderson State scored the lone basket in the first five minutes for either team. Following the first quarter media timeout, the Hornets found their way onto the scoreboard with a layup from
Tylieea Wallace at the 4:09 mark of the first quarter.
The Hornets managed just three more points in quarter, a trio of free throws from
Queen Ulabo as Emporia State trailed 9-5 through one quarter.
Faith Paramore and
Macy Smith connected on the opening possession of the second quarter as Smith knocked down a corner three to trim the Reddies' lead to 9-8.
After the Smith three, Henderson State put together a 15-7 scoring run to build their largest lead of the first half, a 24-14 advantage over the Hornets.
Following the Henderson State scoring run, the Hornets scored on four straight possessions, book ended by pair of
Tylieea Wallace layups as Emporia State trimmed the Reddies lead to 24-23 with just over three minutes remaining in the first half.
Nearly a minute later, a jumpshot from
Katie Horyna gave the Hornets their first lead of the game, 27-26 over the Reddies.
The largest advantage in the first half for Emporia State would come with ten seconds left as an
Aliyah Bello made a layup to put the Hornets ahead 32-26 before a last second three from Henderson State sent the game into the halftime break with Emporia State leading 32-29.
In the first half, the Hornets shot 13-31 and 12-17 shooting in the second quarter. Emporia State also knocked down just one of their eight three-point attempts in the first half.
Opening the second half, the Hornets scored seven of the first nine points, building a 39-31 lead, their largest of the game over Henderson State. The Reddies outscored Emporia State 22-11 over the final seven plus minutes of the third quarter, reclaiming a 53-50 lead entering the final quarter.
Henderson State opened the fourth quarter with an 8-0 scoring run in the first two minutes, forcing Emporia State to call a timeout with 8:21 remaining trailing the Reddies 61-50.
After the timeout,
Katie Horyna made a pair of free throws before a three by the Reddies returned their lead to double-digits.
Emporia State was only able to get as close as seven points for the remainder of the game as a free throw from
Stevie Stinchcomb with 5:36 remaining cut the Reddies lead to 67-60.
The Hornets managed just seven more points over the final five minutes of the fourth quarter as Emporia State fell 80-67 against Henderson State.
As a team, Emporia State shot 24-63 from the field, 5-23 from beyond the arc and 14-27 from the free-throw line.
Queen Ulabo led the way for the Hornets with 15 points on 4-8 shooting and 7-10 from the free throw line while adding nine rebounds.
Katie Horyna also recorded ten points and seven rebounds.
Emporia State will return to action on Saturday, November 11 as they take on Harding. The game is scheduled for 1:15 p.m. from White Auditorium.
