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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Laura Kinderknecht scored her 1,000th career point and moved to 20th in scoring at Washburn but the Lady Blues couln't overcome a quick Emporia State start as they fell 61-54 Saturday evening in the MIAA tournament semifinal in Municipal Auditorium.

No. 9 Washburn fell to 23-5 and will now await the NCAA tournament announcement Sunday at 9 p.m. in a live webcast. The Lady Blues have been the No. 1 team in the Central Region in every poll this year and are looking to host the regional for the second straight year and make their 12th straight trip to the NCAA tournament.

Emporia State improved to 20-8 and will play in the MIAA championship game Sunday while looking to improve its NCAA resume. The Lady Hornets were 10th in the latest poll and the top eight in the region advance.

Washburn trailed the entire way after a slow start but was within four points with 2:35 to play. The Lady Hornets finished the game making 9 of 10 free throws after that to hold on and beat Washburn in the MIAA tournament for just the second time.

Emporia State jumped to a 9-0 lead then led 15-2 at the 14:46 mark of the first half. Kinderknecht entered the game needing seven points to get to 1,000. She scored first for Washburn then hit a 3-pointer at 12:13 that cut Emporia State's lead to 19-9.

Rheanna Egli answered with her own 3-pointer to put the Lady Hornets back up by 13. Washburn responded with a 7-0 run to get within six points. That run ended with a layup by Kinderknecht that made her the 22nd Lady Blue to reach 1,000 points in a career.

Kinderknecht went on to score 20 points to lead all scorers and move to 20th in career points at Washburn, now with 1,013. She hit four 3-pointers and now needs three more to become the first Washburn player to score 1,000 points with 200 3-pointers and 300 assists.

Tiara George had 10 points for Washburn off the bench and Lavonda McCall led all players with eight rebounds while she added seven points and four steals.

The Lady Blues shot 31 percent in the first half while Emporia State was 48 percent. Washburn entered the second half down six points and cut it to four points four minutes in. The Lady Hornets responded by pushing their lead to a game-high 14 points at the 11:10 mark and then again with 6:26 to play.

A 10-0 run got Washburn within four, 52-48 with 2:35 to play. Kinderknecht scored seven straight points during that stretch for Washburn and George ended it with a layup.

Jocelyn Cummings hit two free throws with 24 seconds remaining to put the game out of reach as ESU went up by 10.

Laura Patrick led the Lady Hornets with 14 points as she hit four 3-pointers. Merissa Quick had 12 points and four steals.

Washburn shot 35 percent in the game while ESU was 43 percent. The Lady Hornets shot 62 percent from 3-point range and Washburn was 39 percent. Washburn won the rebound battle 39-25 and had 21 turnovers while ESU had 17.


Notes:
- Washburn moved to 37-14 all-time in the NCAA tournament and 25-4 since it moved to Kansas City.
- This will be just the fourth time since the tournament moved to Kansas City in 2003 that Washburn did not win it.
- Kinderknecht passed Kristy Chapman (1999-03) and Brenda Soldani (1980-84) to move to 20th in career scoring at Washburn. She needs 17 points to move to 18th.