EMPORIA, Kan. -- The Pitt State Women's Basketball team took their recent success on the road and came home with a 74-66 win over the No. 16 Emporia State Lady Hornets on Saturday (February 6). 

Pitt State trailed by as many as 17 in the first half, but used a 15-0 third quarter run to take the lead. Though Emporia State took the lead back once, the Gorillas quickly responded with a 13-2 run late in the fourth quarter that put them up 66-56. 

Mikaela Burgess led all scorer and three Gorillas in double figures with 24 points. Hadyn Herlocker scored 12 and Cathy Brugman, 10. Burgess and Brugman each pulled down five rebounds. The Gorillas tallied 10 blocked shots in the game, including five from Brugman and three from Kylie Gafford. 

As a team the Gorillas shot .365 from the floor over all and .353 from three-point range. Emporia State shot .385 overall, but only 12 percent from three. The Lady Hornets made only two threes in the game and were 0-for-9 from three in the second half. Pitt State also took care of the ball well, committing only 10 turnovers in the game and only two during its second half run. 

Emporia State started the game hot and used 10-0 and 8-0 runs to take a solid 31-14 lead after the first quarter. 

Pitt State began to chip away at the lead in the second quarter. Back-to-back threes by Mikaela Burgess cut the Lady Hornet lead to single digits, 38-31, with 41 seconds remaining in the half. The second quarter would be a sign of the good things to come, as Pitt State outscored Emporia, 14-9.

The Lady Hornets extended their lead to double digits again, for the final time, on a Addie Lackey layup with 7:47 to go. That would be the last time the home team would score for over five and a half minutes. 

Burgess started the Gorilla run with three free throws. In fact, eight of the points in Pitt State's 15-0 run came from the charity stripe. A Brugman free throw with 2:36 to go tied the game at 44-44. Herlocker capped the Pitt State run with a three for her 10th point of the game and a 48-44 Gorilla lead. PSU held the Lady Hornets to only 10 points in the third quarter. 

Emporia State stole the lead one more time, on two free throws by Sandra Ngoie, with 8:35 remaining in the game. Paige Lungwitz answered with two free throws of her own to give the Gorillas the lead for good. Pitt State used one more big run, 9-0 to extend their lead to 10, 66-56, with 4:01 to go. The Gorillas scored eight more points in the final four minutes of the game, all from the free throw line for the 74-66 win.

There will be no time to rest for the Gorillas as No. 7 Fort Hays State comes to John Lance Arena on Thursday, February 11 for a 5:30 p.m. game. Thursday night is Family Night! For those that RSVP for the Family Day event, hosted by PSU Alumni & Constituent Relations, you will get a game ticket, drink, chips, hot dog, cookie and a chance to win one of two bicycles. To register, please visit  http://www.pittstate.edu/alumni.