It didn’t matter that Brandon Schneider’s voice was fading fast in the second half.
The Emporia State coach was determined to use every bit of it to get his team to pick up the pace — and the intensity — after a lackluster start in a 90-56 victory over Southwestern Oklahoma on Saturday.
“Sometimes it takes some fear or someone to wake you up to know what you’re doing wrong,” ESU junior Michelle Stueve said. “He did a good job of it tonight.”
The Lady Hornets needed the spark. After trailing 29-23 at one point, ESU outscored Southwestern 56-27 in the second half to run away with the game.
Still, Schneider wasn’t pleased that he had to use his energy — and most of his voice — to urge his team to play harder.
“Those aren’t the kind of halftime discussions I like to have, and they don’t like to hear them,” Schneider said. “I like to be able to go into halftime and talk about X’s and O’s and execution and those things, and not challenge somebody’s courage and heart and pride and all those intangibles.
“We’d prefer not to have to coach effort.”
He was forced to do so after his team struggled in the first half.
ESU came out cold from the field, hitting just three of its first 16 shots (18.8 percent) in the opening 11 minutes and falling behind 16-12.
“We’re a very sometime-y team,” Schneider said. “That’s a word we need to avoid. They need to understand it’s our job to play hard all the time and execute all the time.”
The inconsistent play continued for five more minutes, as a steal and basket by Kelli Krows gave Southwestern its biggest lead, 29-23, with 4:07 remaining in the half.
It was then that Stueve played the part of All-American and also hero for the Lady Hornets.
After a Casey Henningsen free throw, Stueve knocked in a 3-pointer from the right side, following that with a pump-fake and drive for two on the next possession.
She made two more free throws, then drained another three on the right side for her own 10-0 run to end the half, giving the Lady Hornets a 34-29 advantage at the break.
The junior finished with a double-double at halftime, putting up 19 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. She had 16 of the final 17 ESU points in the half.
“I like that role for the team,” Stueve said. “I like to put up the shot, but there’s more work into it than just shooting it. There’s people screening, looking and passing.”
Schneider made sure his team stayed committed to pushing the ball and giving all-out effort after the intermission.
The coach didn’t sit down at the beginning of the second half, yelling at his players to sprint after each defensive rebound.
ESU responded, getting transition buckets from Carolyn Dorsey and Tegan Stuart during a 9-0 run to start the half.
“He just kind of picked it up and told us that we needed to shut the sometime off and play hard all the time,” Stueve said. “From then on, we tried to pick it up.”
The Lady Hornets did just that, adding another 9-0 spurt one minute later after Cassondra Boston, Stuart and Dorsey all contributed consecutive threes.
ESU put up 34 points in the first 8:22 of the second half after scoring 34 points in the entire first half.
“They were playing tough,” Boston said, “and we just knew we had to step up and play tougher than them.”
Stueve finished with 29 points and 13 rebounds, earning the Classic’s MVP award for the second consecutive season. Boston, who also was named to the six-person All-Tournament team, contributed 12 points and eight assists.
Lacy Corker added 11 off the bench, while Stuart hit double figures with 10.
Four former Lady Hornets were honored before the game in a jersey retirement ceremony. Aneta Kausaite, Jurgita Kausaite, Tara Holloway and Emily Bloss now have their numbers hanging from banners in the south rafters at White Auditorium.
Holloway and Bloss were both in attendance for the unveiling.
“It’s crazy. It’s really exciting,” Holloway said. “I feel very honored. There’s a lot of people that have helped me to get to this honor.”
Holloway will be starting her fourth season as girls head basketball coach at Garden City High School, while Bloss lives in Arkansas where she manages her own spa.
Both are married, and Bloss is pregnant with a child that is due in April.
Washburn 93,
Cameron 65
No. 6 Washburn used a 21-0 run in the second half to pull away from feisty Cameron in the 28-point victory.
Cameron actually led 44-43 with 17:38 to go after a jumper by Shantel Whitaker capped a 9-0 run.
Chelsea Turner’s layup cut Washburn’s lead to 54-53 before the Lady Blues put together 21 straight points.
Corkey Stiger came off the bench to lead WU with 17 points.