All week, Brandon Schneider has had his Emporia State Lady Hornets focus on their one-on-one defense.
There’s a good reason. Harris-Stowe — along point guard Chanel Ross — is coming to White Auditorium on Saturday.
ESU needs only to look back to last year’s matchup to see how dangerous Ross and her Harris-Stowe teammates can be.
Just hours after learning they had moved up to No. 1 in the national rankings, the Lady Hornets squeaked out an 83-79 victory over the NAIA school after leading by as many as 23 points in the first half.
“It was a close game,” ESU guard Lacy Corker said. “They hustle really hard, and they’ve got some good players.”
One of those standouts was Ross, who often created her own shot off the dribble. She finished with 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting.
The senior has only gotten better this season.
Ross is averaging 17.1 points and 5.6 rebounds through 10 games and also is leading NAIA Division I in steals (8.0/game) and assists (9.6/game).
“She’s really fast,” Corker said. “That’s going to be a big challenge for us.”
It will become an even bigger challenge considering the Lady Hornets will be without their starting point guard.
Cassondra Boston will be held out with a sprained ankle she suffered in ESU’s last game against Evangel. The hope is that the sophomore will be able to return to the court sometime in the next couple weeks.
“It’s going to be a loss,” ESU guard Jamie Augustyn said, “but we have people that can step up into her position who will do a great job.”
One of those who should see increased minutes is Corker, who will most likely make the second start of her career on Saturday.
“I just need to step up and play more of my game,” Corker said. “I haven’t been playing it lately.”
The redshirt sophomore said she was working on being more confident to look for her shot when she was open.
She’s already started to make her mark in other areas, as she had a career-high eight assists against Evangel and has averaged 5.3 assists over her last three games.
Freshman Bree Kisner also should share time in the point guard position.
Harris-Stowe already has a big win this year, defeating the NAIA’s 12th-ranked team, Oklahoma City.
Corker said she was looking forward to the challenge.
“I’m sure they’ll still be good, but we have become a better team this year,” Corker said. “I’m hoping we can prove to everybody that we are a better team.
“I think it will be a good test for us to play them again and see how things turn out.”
ESU men travel to face No. 22 Nebraska-Omaha
The No. 7 Hornets won’t have much time to bemoan Wednesday’s loss to Newman, as they travel to face No. 22 Nebraska-Omaha on Saturday.
ESU will enter the top 25 matchup short-handed. Wes Book, who was averaging 17.4 points per game, will be out at least a few weeks after dislocating his thumb, while coach David Moe will not make the trip after receiving a one-game suspension for his actions in Wednesday’s game against Newman.
Assistant coach Ben McCollum will assume Moe’s head-coaching duties.
ESU rallied from seven points down with 54.6 seconds left to force overtime against Newman, but the Hornets couldn’t complete the comeback, falling 93-89.
“I think all of us kind of thought that one play, one step, one different pass, and that game’s going the other way,” ESU forward Caleb Tegtmeier said. “It’s a tough one to take.”
ESU hadn’t lost a home non-conference game since falling to Mesa State in 2002.
“We’re not going to let it break us,” McCollum said. “We’re going to move on from it and learn from it.”
UNO already has a marquee win this season, defeating then-No. 3 Northwest Missouri State, 80-66, in Maryville, Mo., last Saturday.
The Hornets defeated the Mavericks, 78-55, at White Auditorium last year.