Hornet men, women face tall order in Fort Hays State in MIAA-opening play
By Jesse Newell
Saturday, December 9, 2006
Emporia State women’s basketball coach Brandon Schneider already has seen his Lady Hornets lose this season to a good Metro State team.
He’s also seen enough tape to know Fort Hays State might be better.
“They’re good, and they’re well-coached, and they’re very committed to playing solid man-to-man defense,” Schneider said of FHSU. “We’ve really got a challenge.”
Both the ESU men and women should receive their greatest challenges of the year today, as they each take on Fort Hays State in the MIAA opener. This will be FHSU’s first-ever conference doubleheader as a member of the MIAA.
Both games have the potential to come down to the final minutes. The four teams have combined for a total of two losses this season.
The twinbill will start with the women’s matchup, where FHSU enters with an unblemished 7-0 mark. The fast beginning is somewhat of a surprise, as the Lady Tigers were picked to finish in a tie for eighth in the MIAA preseason coaches’ poll.
“They’re going to be a really good team,” Henningsen said. “It’s the first conference game, obviously, and both of us will be fired up to play it. We need to make sure we’re ready to go and not take them lightly at all.”
The Lady Tigers have been impressive in their wins as well. Six of their seven victories have come by 12 points or more. In addition, the team has averaged 79.6 points per game, good for third in the MIAA behind ESU (89.8 ppg) and Washburn (88.2 ppg) .
Senior forward Ashlee Gustin leads FHSU, averaging 17.7 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.
Meanwhile, ESU comes off an impressive 104-37 victory over St. Gregory’s on Wednesday. In that game, the Lady Hornets showed much better intensity on defense, forcing 37 turnovers that led to 53 points.
“We wanted to pressure the ball — that was the main thing,” ESU guard Jamie Augustyn said. “We wanted to get up the floor and deny the passes.”
Augustyn was a pleasant surprise for ESU, scoring 15 points in her first start for ESU. Her appearance in the opening lineup along with Lacy Corker marked a shake-up from previous games when Cassondra Boston and Tegan Stuart started.
Schneider also expanded his bench to 10 players during the contest, and on a few occasions subbed players in four and five at a time.
“I felt like they were playing really hard,” Schneider said, “so I felt like people were going to need a breather every three or four minutes.”
On the men’s side, ESU has the chance to prove it belongs with the big boys in the MIAA in its game against FHSU. The Tigers were ranked No. 2 in the preseason coaches’ poll and are currently ranked No. 15 in the nation.
“It’s our first league game. We haven’t done anything in league yet,” ESU guard Wes Book said. “It’s definitely a big game for us.”
Though a victory could open some eyes in the MIAA and potentially give the Hornets a ranking in the Top 25 poll, coach David Moe refused to put too much significance on a single game.
“They’re probably the best team we’ve played, but win or lose, this game’s not going to make our season or break our season,” Moe said. “It’s the first conference game, and there’s still a lot of games to be played.”
Many of the Hornets, however, seem to still be searching for some respect. ESU forward Ed Desir said the team would like nothing more than to show that its undefeated start was not a fluke.
“Everybody was after us, saying that we were ninth in the conference and everything. Now, we’re 7-0,” Desir said. “Right now, I know Fort Hays knows that we’re a team to come up against.”
FHSU is led by 6-foot-10 forward Jeff Pruitt, who averages 16 points, 9 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game.
ESU guard Dustin Andrews will perform double-duty for the Hornets on Saturday. The freshman will compete in the high jump at the KSU All-Comers Meet in the morning before coming back to Emporia to suit up against FHSU in basketball.