(EMPORIA, Kan.) — The sixth-ranked Jennies had their seven-game win streak snapped by the No. 3 Emporia State Lady Hornets 80-67 Saturday night at the William L. White Auditorium.

The Jennies (12-2, 6-2 MIAA) started out fast, jumping to a 15-8 lead 5:15 into the game and stretching the lead to as many as 10 over the Lady Hornets (16-0, 7-0 MIAA) in the opening half.

However, UCM’s lead quickly evaporated over the next 7:02 as Emporia State’s Laura Patrick, Amber Vandiver and Merissa Quick combined for 15 points en route to a 17-5 run to knot the game at 26-26.

The two teams exchanged leads two times before Emporia State ended the half scoring four unanswered points, taking a 35-31 lead into halftime. The Jennies were outscored 10-2 in bench points and 11-6 in points off turnovers in the first 20 minutes.

Emporia State’s Desiree Wylie scored four points in under a minute to help increase the Lady Hornets’ lead to 10 at 43-33 with 15:40 remaining. ESU maintained their offensive intensity, outscoring UCM 9-4, reaching their biggest advantage of the game at 52-37.

The Jennies battled back courtesy of a pair of three-pointers from Quinnecia Twine and Justina Prairie Chief to cut Emporia State’s lead to eight with 10:10 left in the game.

Six unanswered points by the Lady Hornets over the next minute and a half kept the Jennies behind by 14, but eight straight points from BreAnna Lewis and Keuna Flax pulled UCM to within 62-56 with seven and a half minutes to go. The six-point margin was as close as the Jennies would come for the rest of the game, as the Lady Hornets outlasted UCM 18-11, giving UCM its first loss since Nov. 29.

Lewis led Central Missouri in scoring for the second straight game with 22 points on 7-of-17 shooting from the floor. Flax was the only other Jennie to reach double-figures with 19 points. She added five rebounds and was 6-of-6 from the free-throw line.

The Jennies are 5-2 away from the Multipurpose Building for the third-consecutive season.

UCM will be back at home on Jan. 15 to host Missouri Western for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff.