February 25, 2026 – The Lady Hornets trimmed a 23-point third quarter deficit to four points in the final minute before falling 72-67 on the road against Missouri Western on Wednesday night.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Missouri Western scored the first 12 points of the game, which forced Emporia State to call a timeout at the 7:21 mark of the first quarter. After the timeout,
Gracie Gilpin hit two threes on the next two possessions to trim the deficit in half. The Griffons led 14-8 at the 5:06 mark before outscoring the Lady Hornets 10-3 to end the quarter.
In the second, Emporia State went 0-6 from three and were outscored 16-10 as they trailed Missouri Western 40-21 at the halftime break.
Emporia State shot 9-30 in the first half while the Griffons should north of 50%.
Following the break, Missouri Western outscored the Lady Hornets 10-6 over the first four and a half minutes, as the Griffons took a 50-27 advantage, their largest of the game. On the ensuing possession,
Gracie Gilpin made her third three of the game, giving her 13 points in the game to move into 32nd on the Lady Hornet career scoring list.
The Gilpin three jumpstarted the Lady Hornets, as they outscored the Griffons 16-6 to end the third quarter, trimming the deficit to 56-43.
In the fourth, the momentum carried over, as Emporia State scored 12 of the first 16 points in the frame, cutting the deficit to 60-55 with 5:41 remaining. Missouri Western's advantage stayed at two possessions through the next five minutes, before a step-back three by Gilpin, her fourth of the game, trimmed the score to 70-67 with 7.9 seconds remaining.
However, the Griffons sinked their ensuing two free throws as the Lady Hornets fell 72-67.
A LOOK AT THE STATS
Emporia State shot 27-64 (42.2%) in the game but made 15 of their final 26 shots dating back to the Gilpin three in the middle of the third quarter. The Lady Hornets were outscored 38-18 in the paint.
Gracie Gilpin led all scorers with 22 points on 8-18 shooting, including 4-9 from beyond the arc, her sixth game with four or more threes.
Macey Gandee was the other Lady Hornet in double figures, scoring 16 of her own while adding nine rebounds.
UP NEXT
The regular season finale for Emporia State will be on Saturday, February 28 against Northwest Missouri. The Lady Hornets and Bearcats are set to tipoff from White Auditorium at 1:30 p.m.
NOTES
Gracie Gilpin's 22 points passed Casey Cookson (1990-94) for 32nd in career scoring for the Lady Hornets as she now has 1,027 in her career.
