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University of Nebraska - Kearney Athletics

Corbey R. Dorsey
64
Winner Neb.-Kearney F-1156
62
Emporia St. F-1071
Winner
Neb.-Kearney F-1156
64
Final
62
Emporia St. F-1071
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Neb.-Kearney F-1156 22 12 16 14 64
Emporia St. F-1071 7 8 20 27 62

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Lopers Sting Hornets in Kansas for the First Time Since '89

Kearney, Neb. – Freshman post Brooke Carlson scored five late points to help Nebraska-Kearney stun Emporia State, 64-62, Sunday afternoon in Kansas.

This is the Lopers (11-6, 4-4) first win at White Auditorium since the 1988-89 season. At that time it was Kearney State College and both the Lopers and Hornets (12-5, 3-3) were members of the Central States Intercollegiate Conference (CSIC).

Emporia was coming off a last second 54-51 win over previously unbeaten Fort Hays State Wednesday night. UNK suffered a last second loss at Washburn that same evening and came out a bit angry today, jumping out to leads of 6-0, 12-4 and 20-7.

That lead only grew in the second quarter with Kearney up 34-15 at the break. Ahead by as many as 22 points, everything went right for the Lopers over the first 20 minutes. UNK was 14 of 29 from the field (48%), made 3 of 4 free throws, forced nine turnovers and held ESU to 6 of 27 (22%) shooting. For added measure, two key Hornet starters had two fouls apiece.

However, E-State started to warm up a bit in the third quarter, hitting 8 of 13 (3 of 5 threes) shots. The Lopers held off the Hornets a bit thanks to four threes but it was 50-35 entering the final quarter. That's when Emporia really made its move, starting the final 10 minutes on a 14-0 run.

UNK was just 2 of 19 (11%) from the field in the fourth but a three-point play from Carlson (Elkhorn H.S.) with 2:14 left erased a 54-53 deficit. Overall, ESU led for just 2:42 on the day. At the 1:37 mark UNK benefitted from a key call as junior guard Jessica Wayne was called for a flagrant foul while trying to steal the ball from Carlson. She promptly hit the two free throws and then sophomore guard Kelsey Sanger (Crofton) did the same six seconds later on the ensuing possession.

Now down 60-54, Emporia had a chance to tie things up at 60 but a three from grad transfer Emily Miller with 20 seconds left misfired and UNK went 4 of 6 at the line to salt things away. The Hornets also hit a meaningless three at the buzzer.

"With their rich tradition, they have like a 92 or 93 winning percentage in this building. For us to come in here against a well-coached team and win …. we're just proud of our girls. What a first half; I'm not sure I've ever been a part of a half like that," said Loper assistant coach Devin Eighmey. "They started to speed us up in the second half but we withstood that for the most part. We were aggressive against their pressure."

Another balanced Loper attack featured double doubles by freshman starting guard Klaire Kirsch (14 points, 11 rebounds & five assists) and freshman reserve forward Shiloh McCool (14 points & 12 rebounds) and a team-best 18 points from Sanger. Carlson managed seven points, six assists, four boards and two blocks battling 6-3 senior post Tiana Moala and 6-0 senior forward Tyra Jones.

This marked McCool's team-high fourth double double of the year and Kirsch's first.

"We're connected right now. You can't fake it and you can't make it up. Our kids like each other, they let us coach them and they are fun to be around," said Eighmey. "Credit our team for bouncing back and to come in here and win."

UNK had a 39-32 rebounding margin, had a 10-2 advantage in second chance points and a 20-6 advantage in bench points. Finally, 21 Lopers points came courtesy of 19 Hornet turnovers.

Emporia saw Jones get hot in the second half and finish with a double double (20 points, 10 rebounds, three assists & three steals) with two other starters combining for 25 points. The Hornets went 17 of 29 (59%) from the field after the break but also made just 8 of 14 free throws overall.

"We're going to celebrate this one a little bit longer than the 12-hour rule," said Eighmey. "And then we'll see if we can continue to this momentum, get better and protect our home court."

UNK hosts Northwest Missouri State (6-10, 2-5) and Missouri Western State (9-7, 4-3) next weekend.
 
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