Sunday, January 22, 2017

Emporia State women use late run to defeat Missouri Southern

(From MSSU Lions Athletic News)

Emporia, Kan. – The Missouri Southern Lions held the lead for most of the game, but the ninth ranked Emporia State Lady Hornets proved too strong as ESU came away with the 74-65 win Sunday afternoon at the William L. White Auditorium.

Missouri Southern (10-9, 5-5 MIAA) was led by junior Julianna Wadsworth with a career high 18 points. Sophomore Desirea Buerge added 13 and senior Deb Holcomb chipped in 12 for the Lions. Ninth ranked Emporia State Lady Hornets (16-2, 7-2 MIAA) were led by Kelly Moten with 25 points and Kyrstie Miller added 11.

Southern got out to the quick 3-0 lead on a three pointer from junior Jasmine Green on the opening possession. The Lions extended their lead to 5-0 on a jumper from junior Jenson Maydew at the 6:36 mark. Emporia finally got on the board on the next possession on a pair of free throws from Megan Holloway. Southern put together a 7-0 run in the middle of the quarter, two layups from Holcomb and an old fashioned three-point play Wadsworth. Emporia State closed the first quarter on a 6-0 run after the Lions led 19-10 with 1:01 left in the opening frame.

The Lady Hornets opened the second quarter with a layup from Kathryn Flott and extended their run to 14-2 to take their first lead at 24-21 with 7:46 left in the half. The Lions answered with a 5-0 run, all from Wadsworth, to regain the lead at 26-24 with 6:38 left in the half. The next four minutes saw four ties before a layup from Green sparked a 6-0 run highlighted by a pair of free throws from Buerge and four points from Wadsworth to go into the locker room with a 40-34 lead over the ninth ranked Lady Hornets.

Wadsworth was two points shy of her career high in the opening half with 14 points and Holcomb added six points for the Lions in the first half. Emporia was led by Moten with 15 points.

Addie Lackey knocked down a three for Emporia coming out of the locker room to cut the Southern lead to three, 40-37, but the Lions answered with a pair of buckets from Holcomb and sophomore Chelsey Henry to go back up seven, 46-39. After trading buckets on their next possessions, Emporia State went on an 8-2 run to pull within one point at 48-47. The Lady Hornets then went on another run, 7-0, to close the quarter with a 54-40 lead.

The Lady Hornets extended their 7-0 run at the end of the third with the first two buckets of the fourth to make it an 11-0 run and take a 58-50 lead with 9:27 to play. A 4-0 run, all from Buerge, forced an Emporia State time out as their lead was cut down to four, 58-54 with 7:01 left to play. ESU's Miller drained back-to-back threes and a pair of free throws from Kathryn Flott gave Emporia their biggest lead of the game at 12, 66-54 with just over five and a half minutes to play.

Wadsworth hit a pull up jumper for her 16th point, to tie her career high, to cut the Lady Hornets lead to 66-56. A layup from Holcomb and a jumper in the middle of the lane from Maydew cut it down to 66-60 with 3:22 to go before a layup from Moten extended the Lady Hornets lead back to eight, 68-60, before a Southern foul to send Moten to the line for two charities. After the pair of free throws made it 70-60, Maydew drained a three from the top of the key to make it 70-63. After the Missouri Southern time out Wadsworth came up with the steal and was sent to the free throw line, where she set a new career high, to make it 70-65. A pair of free throws from Moten with just over 42 seconds left made it 72-65. Southern fouled with 29 seconds left and Megan Holloway knocked down the free throws for the 74-65 win.

Southern finished the game shooting 43.3 percent, 26-for-60, from the field while the Lady Hornets finished 25-for-57, 43.9 percent. The Lions forced Emporia State into 20 turnovers while committing just 15. ESU won the rebound battle 43-26 and led in steals 7-4.

Southern will be back in action on Wednesday January 25 as they host the RiverHawks of Northeastern State University. Tip-off from Robert Corn Court inside The Leggett & Platt Athletic Center is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

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