February 3, 2024 – The Lady Hornets shot over 50% from the floor as they closed out their road trip with a 79-77 win against Rogers State.
Rogers State got the game started with a 6-2 lead over Emporia State and eventually led 16-8 against the Hornets at the 5:23 mark of the first quarter. The largest advantage for the Hillcats came with under a minute to go in the quarter as the hosts led the Hornets 25-14 before taking a 26-17 lead into the second.
Emporia State allowed the Hillcats to shoot 10-15 from the floor in the opening period.
With the Hornets trailing 30-23 at the 8:19 mark, Emporia State put together an 11-3 scoring run that was capped off by a three from
Faith Paramore with 4:16 remaining in the first half.
Emporia State and Rogers entered the halftime break tied 38-38.
In the first half, the Hornets shot 12-23 and 6
-11 from three.
Following the halftime break, Rogers State put together a 9-1 scoring run over the first two and a half minutes, taking a 47
-39 lead over the Hornets. Emporia State responded to the scoring run from the Hillcats, putting together a 22-7 scoring run of their own to close the quarter and take a 61-54 lead into the fourth.
Emporia State scored the first basket of the fourth, taking a 63-54 lead before Rogers State scored nine unanswered to tie the game 63-63 with 7:02 remaining. The Hornets kept the Hillcats from taking the lead, scoring seven of the next nine points and holding a 70-65 lead with 3:26 remaining.
Over the final 3:26, Emporia State kept Rogers State from closing the deficit below two points and used a pair of
Gracie Gilpin free throws with three seconds remaining to take a 79-74 lead and despite a final three from the Hillcats, Emporia State clinched a 79-77 road win.
As a team, Emporia State shot 54.2% from the floor and 52.9% from three.
Faith Paramore had a team-high 21 points on 7-11 shooting and 6-6 from the free throw line.
Gracie Gilpin had 18 points on 3-4 from three and 7-8 from the free throw line.
Stevie Stinchcomb and
Tylieea Wallace each had 12 points while
Queen Ulabo scored 11.
Emporia State will return home to take on Northwest Missouri on Wednesday, February 7. Game time from White Auditorium is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
