Emporia State reaches NCAA Division II women’s basketball semifinals

Emporia State advanced to the NCAA Division II women’s basketball semifinals with a 62-50 victory over West Texas A&M on Tuesday afternoon.

The Hornets, 29-4, will make their fourth appearance in the national semifinals. They won the national title in 2010 — the last time they made the Elite Eight — and also reached the title game in 1998 and lost in the semis a year later.

Emporia will play California (Pa.) at 6 p.m. Wednesday for a spot in Friday’s 7 p.m. championship game. The Vulcans, 30-4, beat Nova Southeastern (Fla.) 84-79 in overtime in their first Elite Eight game since 2009.

The Hornets, meanwhile, beat West Texas A&M for the fourth straight time and snapped a 21-game winning streak by the Buffs, 30-3. Emporia led by six at halftime and extended the lead in the second half.

Hornets senior Merissa Quick, who received honorable mention on the WCBA All-America team, scored a game-high 17 points and also had seven rebounds.

Kathryn Flott, a redshirt sophomore playing in her first NCAA Tournament since 2012 after overcoming knee injuries, had a double-double with 12 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.

Emporia, which shot 44.2 percent from the field, held West Texas A&M to 30.6 percent shooting.

This story was originally published March 24, 2015 at 4:39 PM with the headline "Emporia State reaches NCAA Division II women’s basketball semifinals."