David Sheets reporter
Pittsburg State secured two convincing wins against the Emporia State Hornets this past Thursday, with both the women’s and men’s teams delivering strong performances. The women’s team cruised to their 20th victory of the season by a final score of 82-61, fueled by sophomore Macie Mays’ all-around performance of 20 points on 8-for-12 shooting, seven rebounds, two assists, two blocks, and three steals in 34 minutes. “I feel really good about our performance. We started out a little slow in the first half, but I think we changed our energy going into halftime. We talked about it, and then we came back and were able to pull away in the fourth and just be relentless. Emporia State is a pretty solid team, so to just come away with the win is always a good feeling,” said Mays.
Along with Mays’ performance, senior Karenna Garber contributed 16 points and seven rebounds. Junior Harper Schreiner and senior Grace Pyle each made a significant impact on both ends of the floor, with Schreiner recording 15 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists, and Pyle with 13 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and a block. With this win, the Pitt State women’s basketball team reaches a perfect 12-0 record within MIAA conference play.
“We’ve had our challenges outside of conference play, so I feel like that prepped us pretty well for this start. It’s going to get tougher. When we hit the road, it is going to be a battle, so we’re going to have to really play well. But so far, so good. It’s been a really good first half of the season,” said head coach, Amanda Davied.
As for the men’s side, the Gorillas staged an impressive comeback from an early 16-point deficit to defeat Emporia State 85-79. “We can’t come out starting the game like that,” said head coach, Jeff Boschee. “They had us on their heels on both sides of the basketball. We weren’t dictating anything, they were coming off the screens easily, shooting the basketball with ease. But I’m proud of the way our guys continued to weather the storm and were able to cut that deficit into single digits and then take and hold the lead,” said Boschee.
Sophomore, Jordan Frison, led the charge for the Gorillas with a standout 32-point performance on 13-for-20 shooting, adding four assists and four steals in 37 minutes. “I’m proud of the way we fought back,” said Frison. “They hit us in the mouth early, so just being able to fight back in that first half, get the score within five, and then come out the second half being able to make a run and take the lead. I’m just really proud of our team for that. As far as my performance, I was just playing off my teammates. Emporia State was worried about us on the shooting threes, so I was just trying to capitalize in the paint.”
Boschee added, “He’s a talented player. We found something that was working in the second half and we just kept going to it. Anytime we can get into the paint, he’s shooting. I think he’s shooting close to, you know, 53 percent right now, so we want the ball in his hands a lot. He’s the one that spearheaded everything for us tonight, especially on the offensive end of the floor. But defensively there for 15 minutes or so in the first, in the second half, I thought we did a really good job of just guarding them and kind of dictating a little bit more what they were doing offensively.”
Graduate student Avery Taggart filled his own stat sheet with 16 points, seven rebounds, and four assists, while redshirt senior R.J. Forney Jr. added another 13 points to the mix. Junior Tane Prictor made his presence known to the Hornets primarily on defense, securing nine rebounds and three blocks. The men’s basketball team now moves to an overall record of 13-9 with a 9-4 record within the MIAA.