January 1, 2026 - The Lady Hornets opened 2026 with a road trip to Warrensburg and nearly mounted a second-half comeback before falling against Central Missouri 70-61 on Thursday night. 

Both the Lady Hornets and Jennies scored on their first attempts of the game in the opening minute, but the score slowed over the next seven minutes with Emporia State holding a 12-10 lead at the 2:37 mark of the first following a pair of free throws by Kaitlyn Sanders. Central Missouri would flip the script over the final two minutes, putting together an 8-1 scoring run to take an 18-13 lead into the second quarter.
 
Emporia State made just four field goals in the first, and the trend continued into the second with the Lady Hornets shooting just 4-11 from the floor in the second ten minutes. The score from the second was nearly identical to the first, with the Jennies outscoring the Lady Hornets 18-14, which included a 10-0 scoring run by Central Missouri to take a 24-21 lead to 34-21 with just over a minute left until halftime. The Lady Hornets scored six of the final eight points but trailed 36-27 heading into the break.
 
The Lady Hornets shot just 8-24 from the floor and 1-4 from beyond the arc in the first half.
 
Following the break, Central Missouri was able to expand on their lead throughout the quarter, building a 51-34 advantage over the Lady Hornets which proved to be their largest lead of the game. However, Emporia State closed the quarter with seven straight points, trimming the deficit to ten entering the fourth.
 
Emporia State opened the final frame scoring seven of the first nine, expanding their scoring run to 14-2 as a Kaitlyn Sanders three with 7:05 remaining made the score 53-48.
 
A LOOK AT THE STATS
Kaitlyn Sanders led the Lady Hornets with 26 points, her sixth game with 20 or more points this season, as she was 9-14 from the floor and 3-4 from three. Gracie Gilpin joined her in double figures with 13 points of her own.

As a team, the Lady Hornets shot just 37.5% from the floor and 11-26 on layups in the game. Central Missouri held a 35-26 rebounding advantage in the game over Emporia State.

UP NEXT
Emporia State will be back in action on Saturday, January 3 as they travel up I-35 for the first edition of the Turnpike Tussle this season. Tipoff between the Lady Hornets and Ichabods is set for 1:00 p.m. from Lee Arena in Topeka.