 |  |
Emporia State Wins National Championship
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (ESU Media Relations) -- Elite Eight Most Outstanding Player Alli Volkens had 16 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks to lead Emporia State to its first-ever women's basketball national championship with a 65-53 victory over Fort Lewis Friday night at Civic Arena.
Cassondra Boston got ESU on the board first with a jumper before FLC went on an 8-0 run to take an early six-point lead. The Lady Hornets responded with a 14-2 run to go up 16-10 with 9:06 remaining. ESU would hold the Skyhawks without a field goal for 10:39 at one point. The Lady Hornets would take a 23-21 lead into the locker room.
There were seven ties in the first 10:35 of the second half, with the Skyhawks taking a brief 36-34 lead with 11:05 remaining. After Katie Mackey tied it at 38 with 9:25 left, the Lady Hornets went on a 13-4 run to take command. Rachel Hanf hit three straight three pointers for ESU during the run, the last with 5:10 left to give the Lady Hornets a 51-42 lead.
Volkens would trade baskets with the Skyhawks to keep the lead at nine with 3:07 left. The Lady Hornets would then hit eight-of-eight free throws, with Boston going six-of-six with a layup in the final 1:49 to secure the first national championship as a Division II school for Emporia State.
Volkens was joined on the all-tournament team by Boston and Brittney Miller from ESU. Boston ended with 12 points, while Miller added eight points and eight rebounds in the championship game. Hanf had 15 points, going three-of-three from behind the arc and six-of-six from the free throw line. Laura Haugen and Alison Rosel represented FLC on the All-Tournament Team.
The Lady Hornets are expected to be back in Emporia at approximately 11:30 a.m. Saturday. They will travel through town along Sixth Avenue to Commercial Street with a police escort and will get off the bus at the HPER Building on the ESU campus.
NOTES:
This is ESU's first national championship in any sport since
winning the 1984 NAIA Softball Championship.
It breaks a string of six losses in national championship games for ESU, beginning with the 1987 NAIA National Championship game in baseball and including the 1989 NAIA Football, 1998 NCAA Division II women's basketball, 2006 and 2008 Division II softball and 2009 Division II baseball championship games.
Boston finished with 12 points to move into fourth place in career scoring at ESU with 1,844 points.
Volkens' five blocks ties her career high and is the second most in an NCAA Tournament game for a Lady Hornet.
Volkens' 15 rebounds are one shy of her career high and ranks fourth on ESU's list of NCAA tournament performances.
All-Tournament team:
Laura Haugen, FLC; Alison Rosel, FLC; Cassondra Boston, ESU;
Brittney Miller, ESU, Alli Volkens, ESU - MOP.
