MIAA Play Begins For Lady Hornets at Northwest Missouri

Women's Basketball | 12/3/2025 9:51:00 AM

GAME 7
Emporia State (4-2, 0-0 MIAA) at Northwest Missouri (6-3, 1-0 MIAA)
Thursday, December 4 • 5:30 p.m. • Maryville, Mo. • Bearcat Arena
Series Record: ESU leads 48-19 Last Meeting: at NWMSU 70, ESU 51 (March 1, 2025)
Radio: KFFX 104.9FM 
Internet Audio: kvoe.com | Television: None | Internet Video: The MIAA Network
Live Stats | Ticket Info | Complete Notes in pdf
Up Next: Missouri Western • 1:30 p.m. • December 6 • Emporia, Kan. • WL White Auditorium

THE FUN BEGINS
The Lady Hornets open MIAA play at Northwest Missouri. Emporia State is 28-6 in their previous 34 MIAA openers. This is the 11th time the Lady Hornets and Bearcats have opened MIAA play against each other with Emporia State holding an 8-2 advantage

ABOUT THE LADY HORNETS
Emporia State has won four straight to imrove to 4-2 on the season playing the second toughest schedule in the MIAA to date.  Kaitlyn Sanders is the  leading scorer for the Lady Hornets at 17.5 points per game while Gracie Gilpin is averaging 12.0 points per game.    

ABOUT THE BEARCATS
Northwest Missouri is 6-3, 1-0 in the MIAA and have won five straight games. Andrea Lopreato is their leading scorer at 15.3 points per game while Sadie Maas pulls down 7.1 boards per contest.

ABOUT THE COACHES
MJ Baker is 4-2 in her first season with the Lady Hornets and is 55-48 in her fourth year as a head coach at a four year institution. She has won 336 games as a collegiate coach and comes to Emporia State after an eight year run at Eastern Florida State College.  She went 183-58 with three conference championships and three trips to the NJCAA Division I National Tournament during her time.  This is her first meeting with Northwest Mo.
Austin Meyer is 102-106 in his eighth year at NWMSU. He is 5-8 against Emporia State.

SERIES HISTORY WITH THE BEARCATS
This will be the 67th meeting with Emporia State leading the series 48-19. After the two met in the 2011 MIAA Tournament Championship game, the Lady Hornets have won 17 of 21 games. 

LAST TIME AGAINST NORTHWEST MISSOURI
The Lady Hornets saw their regular season come to an end with a 70-51 loss at Northwest Missouri.
The Bearcats jumped out to an 8-0 lead before Macey Gandee scored to get Emporia State on the board with 6:59 left in the first quarter.   The teams played fairly even the rest of the quarter as NWMSU led 17-8 after one. Northwest used a 17-9 advantage in the second quarter to lead 34-17 at the break. A 10-0 run in the third quarter gave the Bearcats their biggest lead of the game at 50-22 with 4:06 left. A 6-2 run pulled the Lady Hornets within 52-28 after three quarters. An 8-0 run in the fourth got Emporia State within 14 points at 54-40 with 3:33 left in the game. A 13-4 by the Bearcats pushed the score back up to 24 before Jayla Cornelius scored the final five points of the game for the Lady Hornets.
Katie Horyna led the Lady Hornets with 16 points on six of ten shooting. She was joined in double figures by Jayla Cornelius with 11 while Macey Gandee and Gracie Gilpin each scored ten points.  Janiyah Alvarez had 12 rebounds.

LAST TIME OUT
Macey Gandee scored a career high 18 points to lead four Lady Hornets in double figures as Emporia State geared up for MIAA play with a 91-55 win over Saint Mary in White Auditorium on Sunday afternoon.
The Lady Hornets scored the first six points of the game and never trailed in the contest. They used an 8-0 run to take a 14-4 lead with 3:46 left and led 21-12 after the first ten minutes. Emporia State continued the pressure in the second quarter, outscoring the Spires 18-11 in the period.  The Lady Hornets used a 6-0 spurt to take their biggest lead of the half at 36-19 with 1:54 remaining before settling into a 39-23 lead at the break. For the second straight game Emporia State came out of the locker room on fire, scoring 30 points in the third quarter. The Lady Hornets went ten of 16 from the field as they outscored Saint Mary 30-14 in the period. A 7-0 run capped by a pair of free throws from Gracie Gilpin gave ESU a 67-35 lead with 3:19 to go in the quarter.
The Lady Hornets took their largest lead of the afternoon with 4:48 left on two free throws from Kaylin Noonan to go up 82-46. The teams traded scores the rest of the way with Addie Kirmer hitting a three-pointer with 36 seconds left for the final score of 91-55.
Macey Gandee had career highs in points with 18 and assists with four while adding nine rebounds.  She was joined in double figures by Gracie Gilpin with 14 points while Allison Reese and Makenzie McDaniel each scored ten points.  Every Lady Hornet either scored or had a rebound in the contest. Defensively the Lady Hornets held the Spires to just one of 15 shooting from beyond the three-point line.

UP NEXT
The Lady Hornets make their MIAA home debut on Saturday, December 6 against Missouri Western on Slams & Spurs Day. Tip-off from White Auditorium is set for 1:30 p.m. with a halftime performance by Dakota Bogan.