Late Scoring Drought Costs Lady Hornets in Loss at Missouri Southern

February 8, 2025-The Lady Hornets were held to two field goals over the last 4:51 of an 85-68 loss at Missouri Southern on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Lions jumped out to a 10-1 lead to start the game with all ten points coming from Ryan Franklin.  Emporia State would outscore Southern 14-13 the rest of the period to trail 23-15 after one quarter. 
 
Missouri Southern would use a 6-0 spurt to start the second quarter to go up 29-15 with 8:06 left.  The Lady Hornets answered with a 7-0 run of their own to get within 29-23 with 5:09 left in the half. Kennady Roach hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Lions a 40-28 lead at the break.
 
Both teams scored 25 points in the third quarter as the Lady Hornets trailed 65-53 headed into the final period. Jayla Cornelius scored back to back lay-ups to bring Emporia State to within 71-63 going into the final media timeout.  Her score off an Addie Kirmer steal would the Lady Hornets last bucket for nearly four and a half minutes as the Lions went on a 10-0 run to take an 81-63 lead with 1:44 left to seal the game.
 
Jayla Cornelius had a team high 20 points while Makenzie McDaniel scored 16 points with nine rebounds.
 
The Lady Hornets return to White Auditorium on Wednesday, February 12 when they play host to #8 Fort Hays State.  Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. and members of the ESU Athletic Director's Honor Roll will be recognized at halftime.