The frustration T-shirts flew in every direction at White Auditorium, thrown milliseconds after the Emporia State Lady Hornets touched them.
The ESU players all knew the drill: Pound the non-conference opponent at home, then toss the shirts into the crowd before entering the locker room with a smile.
These shirts were different. Some banged hard against empty seats. One hit a man in the chest who wasn’t looking.
While Harris-Stowe of the NAIA jumped and screamed at mid-court with one fan following Saturday’s 58-51 shocker over ESU, the Lady Hornets were left to throw the shirts in a manner they hadn’t in quite a while.
Make it 12 years. Fifty-nine games.
That was the last time a Lady Hornet team had lost a non-conference game at home — Dec. 16 of 1995.
“It just shows you how basketball is,” said ESU forward Michelle Stueve, a towel wrapped around her neck. “You can be on top of the world, and on the next day, be on the bottom of the mountain.
“That’s kind of how it feels right now.”
Though the loss had many of the same feelings of last year’s home defeat to Pittsburg State, ESU coach Brandon Schneider said the two setbacks weren’t much alike at all.
“Pittsburg State’s an MIAA team. I think this is a little different,” Schneider said. “This is your Gardner-Webb (basketball beating Kentucky), Appalachian State (football beating Michigan) ... the list goes on how much it’s happened at the other level.
“I expected us to definitely be in a game, but I don’t think you expect to not play well enough to win.”
So where did it go wrong for ESU?
Simply put, the Lady Hornets couldn’t make any shots when they needed them.
Against a sagging Harris-Stowe defense — one that seemed to dare ESU to shoot from the outside — the Lady Hornets finished 2-for-25 from three-point range (8 percent). ESU was 0-for-14 from long range in the second half.
That wasn’t even the most surprising statistic. Stueve, a two-time All-American who is ESU’s career leader in 3-pointers, ended an unheard of 0-for-10 from beyond the arc.
“I don’t know what to say,” Stueve said. “Honestly, after this loss, I would take sole responsibility. My team would say otherwise.
“You can’t come out and not do what you do every game. I’m not saying I have to shoot 80 percent, but I’ve got to contribute what I bring to the table, and I didn’t do so.”
The 51 points was ESU’s lowest total since a 63-51 loss to Washburn in 2005.
The Lady Hornets’ shooting woes haunted them at the worst time on Saturday.
ESU closed the gap to 52-51 on a jumper by Lacy Corker with 5 minutes, 26 seconds remaining.
The Lady Hornets wouldn’t get any closer. That’s because they didn’t score any more points.
ESU missed its final 11 shots, also adding four turnovers in a final frustrating stretch — one where Stueve missed her last four shots.
“The law of gravity says it’s going to go in sometime,” Stueve said. “I don’t know what the deal was.”
Harris-Stowe (6-4) was led by feisty point guard Chanel Ross.
After struggling with her shooting early, Ross made nine of her final 18 shots to finish with 22 points.
That’s only where her impact started. The senior frequently beat ESU off the dribble, notching five assists, and her penetration also was the biggest reason the Lady Hornets were forced to switch to a zone defense for most of the night.
Ross also added five steals on the defensive end, which was one more than ESU had as a team.
It turned out to be a bad night for ESU to be missing point guard Cassondra Boston, who was sitting out her first full game because of an ankle sprain. The sophomore is the Lady Hornets’ second-leading scorer.
“Against their zone, we had a lot of people looking to pass, and to pass specifically to (Michelle),” Schneider said. “I thought we just passed it around the perimeter and waited for her to do something.”
Stueve’s 19 points and 12 rebounds were both team-highs for ESU.
The senior still took the loss hard.
“I feel very honored to be compared to players of the past like Emily Bloss and Tara Holloway, but I almost feel like sometimes I shouldn’t be compared to them because when the games were on the line, they stepped up and their teams won,” Stueve said. “Sometimes I feel like I fail to bring that to the table. That was definitely something that happened tonight.
“When your team is struggling and you’re the leading scorer and you need shots, you have to make a two-foot jumper in the lane. It didn’t happen.”
Allie Renberg contributed a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
ESU had 22 turnovers compared to Harris-Stowe’s 15.
It was the biggest coaching win for Chris Lewis, who is in his third season at Harris-Stowe after serving as an assistant coach for ESU’s men’s and women’s basketball teams during his time as a student.
Lewis, now 17-51 overall, is only a part-time coach at Harris-Stowe because of the school’s limited athletic budget.
The loss continued what has been a tough early season for ESU. On Nov. 24, the Lady Hornets fell to Central Oklahoma, losing for the first time in November since 2002.
“This year, we’ve kind of started out with a lot of firsts,” Stueve said, “and there are a lot of firsts that aren’t good things for us.”
Harris-Stowe women 58, Emporia State 51
Saturday at White Auditorium
Harris-Stowe 27 31 — 58
No. 7 ESU 28 23 — 51
Harris-Stowe (6-4)
Chanel Ross 10-26 1-5 22, Sheri Jones 4-10 2-2 10, Ca’Andra Davis 2-5 0-0 6,Erica Anderson 3-3 0-0 6, Marvis Jackson 2-4 1-2 5, Carmen Weaver 1-3 2-2 4, Keyuana Bradshaw 1-3 0-0 3, Erica Lee 1-3 0-0 2, Deanna Tidwell 0-1 0-2 0, Dionn Jackson 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 24-61 6-13 58.
Emporia State (4-2)
Michelle Stueve 8-22 3-4 19, Allie Renberg 4-8 2-3 10, Andrea Leiker 2-7 3-4 8, Alli Volkens 3-7 1-2 7, Lacy Corker 2-7 0-0 4, Bree Kisner 1-4 0-0 3, Brittney Miller 0-2 0-0 0, Becky Zabel 0-1 0-0 0, Jamie Augustyn 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 20-60 9-13 51.
3-point goals — Harris-Stowe 4-17 (Davis 2-4, Bradshaw 1-3, Ross 1-4, Jackson 0-1, Weaver 0-2, Lee, 0-2, Jones 0-1); Emporia State 2-25 (Kisner 1-4, Leiker 1-3, Corker 0-5, Zabel 0-1, Augustyn 0-2, Stueve 0-10). Fouled out — Harris-Stowe: None; Emporia State: None. Rebounds — Harris-Stowe 36 (Jackson 8), Emporia State 47 (Stueve 12). Assists — Harris-Stowe 17 (Ross, Jones 4), Emporia State 14 (Corker 5). Total fouls — Harris-Stowe 19, Emporia State 13. Att — 1287.