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PITTSBURG —
The Pittsburg State Gorillas survived a defensive struggle for their school record 23rd win, outlasting the Hornets of Emporia State 49-42 in front of 2,000-plus rowdy fans Wednesday night at John Lance Arena.
"Just an unbelievable defensive effort by both teams," Pitt State head coach Lane Lord said. "Points were hard to come by, but we made a couple big plays down the stretch and that was the difference in the game, I think big plays offensively and defensively.”
In a key sequence of plays, Pitt State bench players Lauren Brown, Amanda Orloske and Courtney Tate helped the Gorillas regain the lead for good with 9:39 left in the game. Brown dove on the floor two straight possessions (one Emporia State, one Pitt State) and helped Pitt State gain or regain possession of the ball, including a possession that resulted in a go-ahead 3-point shot by Orloske, 37-34. Tate assisted on Orloske's only shot attempt of the game.
“I thought Lauren played great,” Lord said of Brown. “When you see 6-6 just lay out across the floor, isn’t that cool? It’s like her feet are on the free-throw line and she’s almost to halfcourt. It was kind of cool that she held that possession for us and had a couple nice blocked shots.
“Amanda’s, I thought was the biggest,” Lord said of Orloske’s 3. “That’s a senior that’s played her role for four years and we trust her in crunch time because she’s smart and she knows what to do. That’s a 22, 23-year-old kid that has the confidence to knock it down in crunch time.”
Emporia State made only 7 of its 33 shot attempts in the second half, shooting 21.2 percent after halftime and 27.4 percent for the contest. Three starters — Kelsey Balcom 1-10, Rheanna Egli 1-9 and Heather Robben 3-12 — combined to shoot 5-31 for the Hornets.
“Absolutely,” Lord said when a reporter asked him if Emporia State shooting 27 percent was the key statistic of the game. “We didn’t shoot it much better, but you’ve got to give Emporia a lot of credit. They came in here and they were physical. That was the most physical team we’ve played for 40 minutes and I really liked the way the game was called because both teams were allowed to be physical.
“To hold that team to 18 points in the second half is an unbelievable effort by our team. I thought it all started with on-ball defense with Alexa (Bordewick) and Courtney. I thought Courtney just played her guts out on (Heather) Robben, who’s just a great player. You can’t foul her, it’s an automatic two points. We fouled her twice late, but other than that, she didn’t get to the line. That was huge for us.”
The Pittsburg State Gorillas survived a defensive struggle for their school record 23rd win, outlasting the Hornets of Emporia State 49-42 in front of 2,000-plus rowdy fans Wednesday night at John Lance Arena.
"Just an unbelievable defensive effort by both teams," Pitt State head coach Lane Lord said. "Points were hard to come by, but we made a couple big plays down the stretch and that was the difference in the game, I think big plays offensively and defensively.”
In a key sequence of plays, Pitt State bench players Lauren Brown, Amanda Orloske and Courtney Tate helped the Gorillas regain the lead for good with 9:39 left in the game. Brown dove on the floor two straight possessions (one Emporia State, one Pitt State) and helped Pitt State gain or regain possession of the ball, including a possession that resulted in a go-ahead 3-point shot by Orloske, 37-34. Tate assisted on Orloske's only shot attempt of the game.
“I thought Lauren played great,” Lord said of Brown. “When you see 6-6 just lay out across the floor, isn’t that cool? It’s like her feet are on the free-throw line and she’s almost to halfcourt. It was kind of cool that she held that possession for us and had a couple nice blocked shots.
“Amanda’s, I thought was the biggest,” Lord said of Orloske’s 3. “That’s a senior that’s played her role for four years and we trust her in crunch time because she’s smart and she knows what to do. That’s a 22, 23-year-old kid that has the confidence to knock it down in crunch time.”
Emporia State made only 7 of its 33 shot attempts in the second half, shooting 21.2 percent after halftime and 27.4 percent for the contest. Three starters — Kelsey Balcom 1-10, Rheanna Egli 1-9 and Heather Robben 3-12 — combined to shoot 5-31 for the Hornets.
“Absolutely,” Lord said when a reporter asked him if Emporia State shooting 27 percent was the key statistic of the game. “We didn’t shoot it much better, but you’ve got to give Emporia a lot of credit. They came in here and they were physical. That was the most physical team we’ve played for 40 minutes and I really liked the way the game was called because both teams were allowed to be physical.
“To hold that team to 18 points in the second half is an unbelievable effort by our team. I thought it all started with on-ball defense with Alexa (Bordewick) and Courtney. I thought Courtney just played her guts out on (Heather) Robben, who’s just a great player. You can’t foul her, it’s an automatic two points. We fouled her twice late, but other than that, she didn’t get to the line. That was huge for us.”
Pitt State senior post Larissa Richards fell three blocks short of a triple-double, recording a night of 10 points, 10 rebounds (9 defensive), seven blocked shots and one steal balanced against one personal foul in a very physical contest.
Since returning to the starting lineup Saturday against Lincoln, Richards has blocked 13 shots, averaging 6.5 blocked shots her last two games.
Freshman Lizzy Jeronimus led Pitt State with 12 points — including 6-7 at the foul line — and mixed in four rebounds and four assists.
Drew Roberts shot 3-3 from 3-point range and 0-5 elsewhere on the court; she made a 3 that followed Orloske's and gave Pitt State a 40-34 lead.
Brooke Conley played through foul trouble (four personal fouls) and her own shooting woes, contributing eight points, eight rebounds and two assists.
Freshman post Merissa Quick led Emporia State with a game-high 15 points, a game-high 12 rebounds and four blocks. Robben finished with 11 points, aided by 4-4 shooting at the foul stripe.
Pitt State (23-2, 17-1 MIAA) found out about its No. 1 ranking in the South Central region Wednesday; Lord waited to inform his players after the Emporia State win.
Northeastern State and Washburn are ranked second and third — both upcoming opponents for Pitt State — and Emporia State and Central Missouri round out four MIAA schools ranked in the South Central top 10.
The Gorillas play No. 15 Washburn on the road Saturday. In other games Wednesday, Truman blew out Northwest Missouri 79-52, Lincoln handled Missouri Western 68-56 and Washburn edged Missouri Southern 75-69. Pitt State leads Washburn by 1 1/2 games in the standings.
No. 8 GORILLAS 49, No. 20 HORNETS 42
EMPORIA STATE (42) — Merissa Quick 7-17 1-2 15, Heather Robben 3-12 4-4 11, Jocelyn Cummings 2-5 0-0 4, Rachel Hanf 1-5 0-0 3, Kathryn Flott 1-2 1-2 3, Kelsey Balcom 1-10 0-0 2, Rheanna Egli 1-9 0-0 2, Sarah Wood 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 17-62 6-8 42.
PITTSBURG STATE (49) — Lizzy Jeronimus 3-9 6-7 12, Larissa Richards 5-7 0-0 10, Drew Roberts 3-8 0-0 9, Brooke Conley 3-13 2-4 8, Amanda Orloske 1-1 0-0 3, Courtney Tate 0-3 3-5 3, Lauren Brown 1-1 0-0 2, Alexa Bordewick 0-3 2-2 2, Morgan Westhoff 0-3 0-0 0. Totals: 16-48 13-18 49.
Halftime — ESU 24, PSU 20. 3-point goals — ESU 2-10 (Hanf 1-3, Robben 1-3, Egli 0-2, Balcom 0-1, Cummings 0-1), PSU 4-10 (Roberts 3-3, Orloske 1-1, Conley 0-3, Bordewick 0-2, Westhoff 0-1). Rebounds — ESU 41 (Quick 12), PSU 39 (Richards 10). Assists — ESU 5 (Cummings 2), PSU 9 (Jeronimus 4). Turnovers — ESU 15, PSU 17. Steals — ESU 6, PSU 9 (Tate 5). Blocked shots — ESU 9 (Quick 4), PSU 12 (Richards 7). Personal fouls — ESU 16, PSU 12. Fouled out — none. Technical fouls — none. Attendance — 2,316.
