ESU Athletics
Don Weast, Associate Athletic Director
EMPORIA – The No. 23 Lady Hornets jumped out to a 13-2 lead and never looked back on their way to an 84-54 win over Baker to wrap up the 2018 portion of the schedule on Sunday evening in White Auditorium.
Baker, ranked No. 23 in the latest NAIA Division I national poll, scored the first points of the game on layup by Julia Bannister with 8:04 left. Emporia State then scored the next 13 points, capped by Tiana Moala’s layup with 6:10 left in the first quarter. Caitlin Modesetti would break the run when she was fouled on a three-point attempt and hit all three charities with 5:56 left to cut the lead to 13-5. That would be the last time the Wildcats would be within single digits as Emily Miller scored inside with 5:11 left and then hit a three-pointer off the fast break with 4:50 left to give Emporia State an 18-5 lead. The Lady Hornets would end up taking a 29-13 lead at the end of the first period after shooting .588 from the field in the opening ten minutes.
The second quarter saw Emporia State cool off percentage wise but they still outscored Baker 23-14 while shooting just .389 from the field. The Lady Hornets used a 9-3 run to open the period and took a 38-16 lead with 7:52 left on a three-pointer from Miller. The lead would not drop below 20 points the rest of the night and Emporia State took a 52-27 lead to the locker rooms at the half.
Baker again scored the first points of the second half but Tyra Jones scored the next six for Emporia State to push the lead to 58-30 with 6:16 left in the third. Kali Martin hit a three-pointer with 48 seconds left in the period to cap a 10-1 run and give the Lady Hornets a 73-40 lead with 48 seconds left. Jessica Zweifel scored inside with 12 seconds left to break the run, but Addie Lackey took the inbounds pass coast to coast to score at the buzzer as Emporia State led 75-42 headed into the fourth quarter.
Lackey gave the Lady Hornets their biggest lead of the night at 84-49 on a steal and layup with 3:24 left, but that would be the last points of the game for Emporia State. Baker could only muster five points the rest of the way as the Lady Hornets improved to 10-2 with the 84-54 victory.
Tyra Jones led five Lady Hornets in double figures with 17 points. Jessica Wayne recorded a double-double with 13 points and a career high 14 rebounds while Emily Miller added 16 points and eight rebounds. Addie Lackey scored ten points with six assists while Morgan Laudan had season highs of 14 points and eight rebounds.