Lady Hornets season ends with 64-55 loss to #18 Missouri Western

March 7, 2024-The Lady Hornets led top seeded and 18^th ranked Missouri Western for over 22 minutes before the Griffons pulled away late on the way to a 64-55 win.
 
The first quarter had two ties and four lead changes with Emporia State leading 13-11 after one.  Faith Paramore scored to start the second quarter and ignite a 6-0 run. Katie Horyna and Queen Ulabo both scored inside as the Lady Hornets led 19-11 with 6:31 left in the half. The Griffons would get back to within a point at 21-20 with 3:34 left.  Horyna hit a three-pointer with 1:10 left to make it 28-22 and Emporia State took a 30-25 lead into the half.
 
The Lady Hornets shot .481 from the field while holding the Griffons to .286 shooting in the opening 20 minutes and had a 20-6 advantage in paint points. 
 
Western tied the game at 24 on a pair of Connie Clarke free throws with 7:45 left in the third quarter but Emporia State responded with a 7-0 run to go up 41-34 on a layup from Horyna with 5:46 left. The Lady Hornets led 46-40 on a pull up jumper by Stevie Stinchcomb with 3:46 left before the Griffons went on a 12-0 run that lasted into the fourth quarter. 
 
After Western went up 52-46 to start the fourth ESU answered with a 5-0 mini run and got within 52-51 on a free throw from Paramore with 6:18 left. The Griffons broke the run with a free throw from Clarke at the 6:05 mark and went up two possessions on an old fashioned three-point play from Clarke with 5:19 left to make it 56-51.  A layup by Brionna Budgetts pushed the deficit to seven points with 4:52 remaining and the Lady Hornets called a timeout.  The teams traded scores for the rest of the game until Budgetts scored on a break away with under ten seconds for the final margin. The Lady Hornets were held to just two of 13 shooting in the fourth quarter and missed all six three-point attempts.   
 
Katie Horyna led Emporia State with 18 points, seven rebounds and five assists while Faith Paramore scored 14 points and Queen Ulabo had 11 points with nine rebounds.
 
The Lady Hornets finished the season 14-16 with only one player using up her eligibility.
 
NOTES:
Gracie Gilpen finished the season 74 of 227 from beyond the three-point arc to rank fourth on the Lady Hornet single season three-point attempts list.