WICHITA - Women's Basketball defeated Emporia State on Saturday afternoon, stinging the Hornets 52-49 to give ESU their 2nd loss in the MIAA this season.
Newman was able to overcome their first quarter struggles after being down early 8-0, not scoring until 6 minutes into the quarter when Britney Ho sank both free throws to get Newman on the board.
The Jets would only score one more time heading into the 2nd and found themselves down 17-4. The Lady Hornets wouldn't let up in the 2nd as the 13 point lead would turn into a 17 point lead but Newman quickly flew to a 12-0 run off the backs of a 3 point parade involving Maddie Spagnola, Lauryn Dubbert, and Amiya Perez.
The Jets would finish the game shooting 39.1% from behind the arc and held ESU to 10.9% from three point land, the key to today's win over ESU.
"We had a very complete defensive performance. We guarded the 3 point line really well with active hands and hard closeouts. To me the difference in the game was the 3 point percentage." Head Coach Drew Johnson said of his team's performance on both sides of the court from behind the arc.
ESU would try to distance themselves from the Jets attack but Newman was poised to let the Lady Hornets move into 2022 with a with a loss.
The Jets would take the lead a few times in the game but the Lady Hornets would counter and tie the game each time. Newman wouldn't take the lead again until the final 25 seconds of the game when Lauryn Dubbert drained another 3 point shot with no time left on the shot clock to bring the home faithful to their feet as Emporia State saw themselves trailing with time not on their side and at risk of ending a 4 game win streak against the Jets. Dubbert's 3 was her 4th three of the game and 14th point and was the nail in the coffin that would ultimately send the Lady Hornets back to Emporia with a loss and give the Jets a huge win to end 2022 before hitting the road next week.
Emporia State's three point shot to tie the game with 4 seconds left bounced off the rim and went out of play but would be touched by a Jet to give ESU one final opportunity to tie the game with 0.4 seconds left but would be to no avail.
The win was the first time this season that Emporia State would be in the loss column after leading at half, and is Newman's first win over Emporia State since February 2020.
Coach Johnson praised his team's gritty performance, saying "I am so proud of the intensity and effort that we played with for 40 minutes. We have been looking for a complete performance and we achieved that today. Emporia is a great team and it took our best effort to get the win."
Johnson also gave praise to Dubbert who is starting to find her groove. "Is there a big time shot that Lauryn Dubbert can't make?In her young career that is the second late shot clock big time 3. She has worked so hard to be in the position she was in today and I am very happy for her."
Britney Ho would lead the Jets with 16 points, dominating in the paint and Carissa Beck would add 8 with 2 three's of her own.
Newman will enjoy the New Year holiday and be back in action next Thursday at Rogers State.
