March 12, 2016-The #18 Lady Hornets had four players in double figures as they defeated #7 Winona State 66-62 on Saturday night to advance to the NCAA Sweet 16 for the fifth straight year and 13th time in school history.
PLAYING WITH THE LEAD
Emporia State jumped out to a 13-5 lead midway through the first quarter with eight of the points coming from Addie Lackey. The Lady Hornets would push the lead to 13 points at 26-13 with 5:29 left in the first half. Winona State used an 11-2 run in the final 4:21 of the half to cut the lead to 28-24 at the break.
THIRD QUARTER ACTION
After a Sandra Ngoie layup to open the second half, the Warriors scored five straight to cut the Lady Hornets lead to 30-29 with 8:25 left in the period. Emporia State responded with an 11-2 run, capped by a Kelly Moten steal and score to go back up by ten at 41-31 with 3:31 left.
FINAL QUARTER
The Lady Hornets began the fourth quarter with a 47-39 lead and went up 50-39 on an Ngoie three-pointer to start the period. Emporia State still led by ten points with 3:28 left when Winona State went on an 8-0 run to cut the lead to two at 61-59 with 1:01 remaining.  Moten found Kelsey Barnwell in the corner for a three-pointer with 40.6 seconds left to give the Lady Hornets a 64-59 lead. The Warriors answered with a three-pointer from Tara Roelofs with 30.4 seconds remaining to cut the lead to 64-62. Kyrstie Miller grabbed a rebound off a missed layoff by Alexis Foley and Lackey scored with 1.1 left for the final margin of 66-62.
THE NUMBERS
Sandra Ngoie led Emporia State with 17 points and nine rebounds. She was joined in double figures by Kelsey Barnwell with 13, Kelly Moten with 11 and Addie Lackey with ten points. Moten had a double-double with 11 points and ten assists. Kathryn Flott had ten boards to go with seven points.
UP NEXT
The Lady Hornets will play Pittsburg State on Monday, March 14 at 7:00 p.m. in John Lance Arena for the right to advance to the Elite Eight. It will be a rematch of the 2012 regional final between the Lady Hornets and Gorillas that Pittsburg State won 79-67 in Topeka, Kan.
