Lady Hornets fall to defending National Champions in Season Opener

November 8, 2024-The Lady Hornets led by one midway through the third quarter but defending national champion and #1 ranked Minnesota State used a 35-15 blitz in the fourth quarter to pull away in a 99-74 win by the Mavericks.
 
Emporia State started off quickly and led 15-8 with 6:10 left in the opening quarter to force a Minnesota State timeout.  The Mavericks used a 10-0 run to take an 18-15 lead with 2:00 left in the period. McKenna Clark hit a three with 51 seconds left to tie the game at 20 before Minnesota State scored the final four points to lead 24-20 after ten minutes.
 
Gracie Gilpin hit a three with 6:00 left in the half as the Lady Hornets regained the lead at 30-29. The margin would not exceed three points until the Mavericks hit six straight free throws to go up 43-36 with 34.1 seconds left in the half.  Faith Paramore hit two from the charity stripe with 24.8 left as Emporia State went to the locker room down 43-38.
 
Destinee Bursch scored all six points for Minnesota State during a 6-2 run to open the third quarter that gave the Mavericks a 49-40 lead with 8:42 left.  A pair of three-pointers from Gilpin got Emporia State back within 50-46 with 6:45 left in the quarter.  The Lady Hornets used a 7-1 run with the last four points coming from freshmen Amaya Blake and Elizabeth Tjaden to regain the lead at 53-52 with 4:19 left in the third quarter. Minnesota State then used a 9-1 run to take the lead for good. 
The Mavericks led 64-59 after the third quarter and then scored the first seven points of the fourth to take their first double digit lead at 71-59 with 8:48 left in the game.  The run would eventually reach 24-5 as they took a 88-64 lead with 3:50 left.
 
Gracie Gilpin led Emporia State with 18 points and four made three-pointers.  She was joined in double figures by Makenna Clark with ten points.
 
The Lady Hornets will be back in action on Saturday, November 9 when they take on Sioux Falls on the final day of the Central Regional Crossover Challenge at the St. Joseph Civic Arena. Tip-off is set for 5:15 p.m.
 
NOTES
Emporia State's 29 turnovers were the most since turning it over 31 times against Northwest Missouri on February 7, 2008.