Box Score WICHITA – The Newman women's basketball team opened its 2011-12 campaign in historic fashion Friday night, handing the Emporia State Hornets a 65-58 loss. Senior Satoria Bell led all scorers with 22 points, while leading the Jets to their first-ever win over the Hornets in front of nearly 1,000 fans inside Fugate Gymnasium.

The first half didn't exactly start the way the Jets wanted. Emporia State scored seven points in the first two minutes and took a 11-1 lead at the 12:00 mark of the first half. Tasha Cannon scored the first basket for Newman with a free throw at the 16:22 mark.  Then, the Jets did something spectacular.  In a four minute span, Newman made a dent in the Hornets' lead with a free throw followed by three consecutive lay-ups by Satoria Bell and Kianna Flannagan to narrow the ESU margin to 11-8.  But the Jets weren't done just yet.  Newman took their first lead of the half at the 6:20 mark when Alex Adekunle made a basket to take the Jets to a slim 15-14 lead.  Newman held a one-point advantage over Emporia State until the 1:02 mark of the first half when the Hornets made two free throws to take a 22-21 lead.  Tasha Cannon ended the half the same way she started it, carding a two-point basket at the 30 second mark followed by two free throws to give the Jets a 25-22 advantage after 20 minutes of play.

Newman fed off this momentum in the second half.  After back-to-back baskets, Emporia State answered with a two-point basket and free throw to cut the Jets' lead to 29-27 at the 18:11 mark in the second half.  Sam Soyez made the first three-point basket of the night for the Jets at the 16:23 mark.  The Jets gained their strongest lead of the night when Kianna Flannagan scored a trey at the 9:52 mark, taking the Jets to a 41-35 advantage.  In the next minute of play, Emporia State took away two points but was quickly followed by back-to-back baskets and a free throw from the Jets to make the score 48-37.  Newman took their biggest lead of the night, an 11-point edge, at the 5:38 mark when Satoria Bell made a free throw from the line.  Three lay-ups by the Hornets and two lay-ups by the Jets made the score 53-46 Newman at the 2:38 mark.  Emporia State spent the remaining two minutes of the ball game attempting to cut the Jet lead, sending the Jets to the free throw line a total of eight times.  The game was ended with a final free throw point by Ariella McGhee to make the score 65-55 Jets.

Bell's 22 points led all scorers in the contest. Tasha Cannon was the next highest scorer for the Jets with 15 points, and shot five-for-six from the free throw line.  Alex Adekunle carded her first double-double of the season, with 11 points and 10 rebounds.  Bell led the Jets with two steals in the game.  As a team, Newman shot .345 from the field (19-55) and hit 26 of its 37 free throw attempts, while out-rebounding Emporia state 43-41.

Heather Robben was the high scorer for Emporia State with 21 points.

With the win, the Jets rise to a 1-0 record on the season, 0-0 in Heartland Conference play.  The Jets return to action on November 11, hosting Midwestern State in a 5:30 p.m. match in Fugate Gymnasium on the campus of Newman University.