26 January 2023
EMPORIA (KSNT) – Emporia State men’s and women’s basketball swept their doubleheader for the first time since Dec. 17.
The men beat Northeastern State, 69-60. The women also beat the Riverhawks, 72-53.
Men’s recap:
The Hornets turned up the defensive pressure in the second half.
ESU (16-4, 10-4) scored first on an Alijah Comithier layup, but the RiverHawks scored the next five points. Emporia State and Northeastern State went shot-for-shot, run-for-run for the rest of the half. The Hornets trailed by one, 35-34, at the half.
The second half started the same way. Owen Long’s turnaround jumper made it 43-39, but the Hornets still trailed. After his shot, both teams went more than three minutes without scoring. Kaden Evans broke the drought with a 3-pointer to give the Hornets their first lead since the first minute, 44-43, with 13:39 left.
It was back and forth again for the next five minutes. With 8:53 left, the Hornets went on a 7-0 run to take the lead for good. Long started the run with a pair of layups following Peyton Rogers-Schmidt’s and Evans’ steals. Evans passed to Comithier with 5:32 left and was fouled. Comithier’s free throw gave ESU a 56-51 lead with 5:32 left.
ESU held its gap with a couple of stop-and-scores. The Hornets iced the game, going 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the final minute for the season sweep of the Riverhawks.
Long scored an Emporia State career-high 34 points. Comithier join him in double figures with 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting with three blocks. Evans was 3-of-5 from beyond the three-point line for nine points, while Rogers-Schmidt had a game-high seven rebounds and three blocks.
Women’s recap:
The Lady Hornets’ 20 turnovers proved to be the difference-maker in Wednesday’s win.
Northeastern State jumped out to a 7-4 lead through the first three minutes. However, ESU (10-10, 5-9) responded with an 11-0 run, including five points from Victoria Price. During the final 3 1/2 minutes of the first quarter, Emporia State outscored Northeastern State 7-3. That gave the Lady Hornets a ten-point lead, 23-13, into the second quarter.
ESU’s offense struggled in the second quarter. It shot just 4-14 in the whole period. The Lady Hornets had just a three-point lead with less than a minute left in the half. However, they weathered the Riverhawks’ offensive storm. Emporia State countered with a perfect 7-7 from the free throw line to take a 39-32 lead into halftime.
Emporia State opened the second half on an 8-0 run that lasted until there was 6:03 left in the third quarter. Northeastern State responded with a 10-2 run of its own that lasted more than three minutes.
The Lady Hornets sparked another 8-2 run, which expanded their lead to 13 points. They led 57-44 entering the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, Emporia State retained its momentum. It built on the lead, scoring the first 11 points during the first 3 1/2 minutes of the fourth quarter. The Lady Hornets led 68-44, their largest lead of the game.
Through the third and fourth quarters, the Lady Hornets’ scoring run totaled 21-2 and lasted 6:26. Emporia State maintained a 20-point lead until the closing seconds, as they completed the season sweep against the Riverhawks. The win snaps an eight-game losing streak for ESU.
Tre’Zure Jobe and Faith Paramore led the Lady Hornets with 22 points each, which is a career-high for Paramore. Victoria Price added 14 points.