Emporia Knocks Off UNK Women, 78-75

Kearney, Neb. – Sophomore guard Micah Hannah posted a double double and four others scored in double figures to help Emporia State hold off Nebraska Kearney, 78-75, Saturday afternoon at the Health & Sports Center.
On “Senior Night” the Hornets (13-12, 7-9) sweep the season series from Lopers (13-14, 6-10). UNK is 10th in the MIAA standings with Missouri Western a half game back and Rogers State a half game ahead. The top 10 teams make the league tourney the first weekend in March.
Today UNK went 13 of 30 from behind the arc to hang around all afternoon. Leading for just 5:30 overall, the Lopers had a chance to force overtime, but junior forward Jordan Sears (McPherson, Kan.) saw her left wing three hit iron with five seconds to go. E-State grabbed the rebound and ran the clock out. They had led 73-67 with 42 seconds left but missed a late free throw while UNK hit two threes.
“You always like to win them, especially on Senior Night. It’s a special opportunity to take of some people that have put a lot of time and effort into the program,” said UNK head coach Drew Johnson. “They always don’t go your way and it’s frustrating in the moment but celebrating your senior was important today.”
Hannah was a tough matchup (14 points, 12 rebounds, six assists) as was senior guard Gracie Gilpin (19 points; played all 40 minutes. Off the bench, graduate guard Kaitlyn Sandes had 11 with big 6-1 post Makenzie McDaniel at 15 points and five boards in only 21 minutes.
Emporia shot 51 percent from the field, was plus eight on the glass, and went 19 of 22 at the line. UNK countered by having its fourth game with a double-digit triple total. Lincoln junior Brinly Christensen (5 of 6) and Kansas senior reserve point guard Saniya Simmons (3 of 3) had the hottest hands.
“If they are going to shoot 50 percent or better from the field, it’s going to be hard to win,” said Johnson. “With no timeouts left at the end, we were able to get a couple of looks. We didn’t get the steal on the sideline out of bounds play but I thought Jill (Aschoff) got downhill and found Jordan there.”
Diller freshman Myleigh Weers had 15 of her game-high 24 points in the fourth quarter. She is just the third Loper true freshman to reach 400 points (404) in a single season. Weers made eight freebies and seven buckets to have her 10th 20-point effort to date. Next, Christensen tallied 15, Simmons was at nine with Lincoln senior point guard Jillian Aschoff at nine points, seven boards and five assists. She needs eight points Thursday at Pittsburg State be the 30th Loper to reach 1,000 for a career. Finaly, Serbian junior post Tara Biocanin (eight points, seven boards) was close to a double double.  
Pitt (18-6, 11-4) has been nationally ranked for much of the season with Missouri Southern (17-7, 11-4) having dropped two in a row.