Lady Hornets Roll to 84-61 Win at Southwest Baptist

November 18, 2025-The Lady Hornets used a 12-0 run in the second quarter to pull away and give MJ Baker her first win as Emporia State defeated Southwest Baptist 84-61 in Bolivar, Mo. on Tuesday night.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Southwest Baptist scored the first five points of the game and led 17-13 after the first quarter.   The Bearcats took their biggest lead of the night at 19-13 on a Carolina Crawford lay-up to open the second quarter.  After a Macey Gandee putback made it 19-15, Gracie Gilpin would score 15 of the next 18 points for Emporia State in a span of just under three minutes. After a Kaitlyn Sanders old fashioned three-point play gave the Lady Hornets a 34-33 lead with 7:39 left in the period, Gilpin hit back to back to back threes to put ESU ahead 33-23 with 6:15 remaining. Vanessa Coleman scored inside with 2:23 left to give Emporia State a 44-29 lead before the Bearcats ended half on a 4-0 run.
The Lady Hornets continued to pull way in the third quarter with Kaylin Noonan scoring ther first six points of a 10-0 run to go up 59-36 with 2:50 left in the period.
Emporia State took their biggest lead of the night on a pair of Katiya Casey free throws with 6:18 left for a 73-44 lead.  A 15-3 run could only get the Bearcats to within 17 points with 1:47 remaining before the Lady Hornets closed the game on an 8-2 run.
 
A LOOK AT THE STATS
Gracie Gilpin tied her career high with six made three-pointers, all in the second quarter, to finish with 22 points.  Kaitlyn Sanders matched her for game high honors with 22 poitns on six of nine shooting from the field with five assists.  Macey Gandee had a double-double with ten points and a career high 11 rebounds.
After starting the season four of 29 from the three-point line and getting out rebounded by 14 boards a game, the Lady Hornets connected on nine of 26 from beyond the arc and outrebounded the Bearcats 48-30.
 
UP NEXT
The Lady Hornets will make their season home debut on Saturday, November 22 when they play host to Missouri S&T. Tip-off for the first game in White Auditorium for coach MJ Baker is set for 1:30 p.m.
 
NOTES
The 84 points are the most points by a Lady Hornet team against a Division II opponent since an 87-82 win against Wayne State on November 13, 2024 in White Auditorium and the most points scored on an opponents court since an 85-79 win at Rogers State on  December 8, 2022.