Lady Hornets Drop Heartbreaker To Missouri Western 69-67

February 26, 2025-In a game that saw ten ties and 17 lead changes Missouri Western came away with a 69-67 victory over Emporia State on Wednesday night in White Auditorium.
 
The Griffons led 12-6 with 6:00 left in the first quarter when the Lady Hornets went on a 7-0 run and took the lead on a Gracie Gilpin free throw at the 4:30 mark.  The teams would go back and forth the rest of the period with Kassandra Caron hitting two free throws with 27 seconds left to give Missouri Western a 20-19 lead after one quarter.
 
The teams continued slugging it out over the first seven and a half minutes of the second period and were tied at 34-34 with 2:22 left in the half. Jayla Cornelius scored to start a 5-0 mini run for Emporia State and a Macy Smith free throw gave the Lady Hornets a 39-34 lead with 1:14 remaining in the half. Western got a pair of buckets around a Macy Smith three-pointer for Emporia State as the Lady Hornets took a 42-40 lead into the half.
 
Gilpin hit a three-pointer 1:09 into the third and Cornelius hit one of two free throws with 8:09 left to give Emporia State a 46-42 lead.  It would be the last time the Lady Hornets scored until Gilpin hit a three with 1:47 left in the period, however the Emporia State defense was able to limit the Griffons to just nine points in that span.  Katie Horyna drove inside for a layup with 19 seconds left to send the game to the fourth quarter tied at 51.
 
The Lady Hornets used an 8-0 run capped by an Allie Ostermann three-pointer to go up 64-55 with 5:01 left in the game. Cornelius scored on a layup with 4:12 to make it 66-57 but it would be the last field goal for Emporia State.  Caron would score the final five points of an 8-0 run to get Western within 66-65 with 2:32 left. Cornelius hit one of two free throws with 1:21 remaining to put the Lady Hornets up by two. Caron then hit a three-pointer with 1:10 left to give the Griffons a 68-67 lead.  Marie Sepp left the door open for Emporia State when she hit just one of two free throws with 13.2 seconds left.  After a timeout the Lady Hornets had the ball in the front court but had trouble getting control of the ball and Cornelius was forced to take a deep three pointer that bounced off the rim as time expired.
 
Katie Horyna led Emporia State with 22 points and four assists. She was joined in double figures by Jayla Cornelius with 19 points while Gracie Gilpin added 13 points. 
 
The Lady Hornets will play their final game of the regular season on Saturday at Northwest Missouri.  Tip-off from Bearcat Arena in Maryville, Mo. is set for 1:30 p.m.