The Missouri Western women’s basketball team played hard in a losing effort 69-52 against #3 Emporia State. The Griffons were led by Quenisha Lockett and Jallisa Lewis with 14 and 10 points respectively. The Griffons fall to 5-6 overall and 1-5 in MIAA play.

The Griffons battled the Lady Hornets in the first half but an 11-0 run by Emporia State put the Griffons down by 15, 41-26 at the half. The Hornets opend up a 17-9 lead with 13:12 to play after two Amber Vandiver free throws. The Griffons stayed calm using an 11-0 run tying the score at 17 after a jumper by Lockett with 10:07 to play in the opening frame.

Emporia State pushed its lead back to seven at 28-21 but once again the Griffons closed the lead to four after a three by J. Lewis with 3:06 to play in the half. The rest of the half belonged to the ESU taking the big halftime lead.

Eight different Griffons scored in the half with J. Lewis leading the way with 10 points on 4-of-6 sooting and making 2-of-3 long range shots. Lockett dumped in six points and led the Griffons with three rebounds. The Griffons shot 45.8-percent (11-24) from the field but got outrebounded 17-11.

The Lady Hornets shot 57.1-percent (16-28) from the field and made 8-of-9 free throws. Kionna Kellog scored 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting while Kelly Moten ahd seven points and four rebounds. ESU had 30 points in the paint to the Griffons 12 and had 13 points off nine Griffon turnovers.

The Griffons opened the second half on a 7-2 run cutting the ESU lead to 43-33 after a Lockett free throw with 17:04 to play. The Griffons kept the spread around 10 until ESU went on a 10-0 run opening up their largest lead of the game at 57-37. Missouri Western played hard the rest of the way in the losing effort. The Hornets improve to 15-0 overall and 6-0 in MIAA play.

The Griffons shot 37.3-percent (19-51) from the field but made just 3-of-14 three point shots and 11-of-18 free throws. Lanicia Lawrence finished with seven points while Tiara Hall had six points and four rebounds. Lockett finished with seven rebounds for the Griffons.

The Lady Hornets shot 44.8-percent (26-58) from the field and made just 1-of-13 three point shots. The Lady Hornets made 16-of-22 free throws and outrebounded the Griffons 39-33. ESU had three players score in double figures with Kellog finishing with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

The Griffons return to action on Saturday, January 11 with a road contest agaisnt the Pittsburg State Gorillas in Pittsburg, Kan. Game time is set for 1:30 pm in John Lance Arena.

— MWSU Sports Information —