The Emporia State women’s basketball team had a lot to live up to when I first moved to Emporia.
I was told over and over again about the successes of the Lady Hornet teams of the past, and this town certainly has no reservations when discussing its love for coach Brandon Schneider and the ESU women’s team.
To be honest, I knew very little about the program before my move to Emporia last July. I knew that the Lady Hornets were the ones who ended Washburn’s 51-game winning streak, but that was about the extent of my knowledge of the team.
However, when I moved here, I was told over and over about how rich the winning tradition was at ESU, chock full of big-time victories, NCAA tournament runs and All-Americans galore.
I didn’t really experience that mystique until Saturday night when the Lady Hornets smashed Missouri Western — the previously undefeated and No. 2-ranked Missouri Western.
The Lady Hornets were obviously having a nice season before their 83-63 victory over the Lady Griffons. Entering the game, ESU was 15-4 and had put together a nice three-game winning streak. But I never got that “special feeling” about this year’s team, seeing as how it had come so very close in the huge games — on a neutral court against Grand Valley State, at Washburn, at Missouri Western — only to fall just short.
As a women’s basketball fan, I was slightly disappointed that the ESU women, in the eyes of some, weren’t living up to the dreaded “high expectations.”
However, Saturday night took it to a completely different level and showcased the type of incredible basketball I had been told of since arriving in Emporia six months ago.
The Lady Hornets were simply amazing against a Missouri Western team that had already beaten them once this year. ESU clearly dictated the tempo from start to finish, running up and down the court in a fast-paced game that saw Missouri Western lag further and further behind as the seconds wore on.
Behind the strength of another monster performance by All-American Michelle Stueve — 26 points and 17 rebounds — plus an electric White Auditorium crowd, the ESU women ran a buzzsaw through the Lady Griffons, and it wasn’t even close.
It was the statement game of all statement games, seeing as how it was a 20-point victory over a team Schneider had voted at No. 1 in the nation for several weeks now.
The high expectations that follow the Lady Hornet program everywhere it goes have to wear on the players and coaches, and a victory like Saturday’s can have a way of easing the pressure that is constantly heaped on the team.
Even the players agreed, the win was big in more ways than a tick in the left-hand margin of the win-loss column.
“I think it’s more of a statement to ourselves,” Stueve said. “We were trying to make a statement to ourselves and to each other that we could do it.”
There’s no doubt that the Emporia State women’s team has and will continue to be a force in the MIAA Conference and nationally.
I’m just glad I finally got to see the magic in action.
For more sports commentary by Michael and Gazette sports reporter Jesse Newell, watch the Emporia Sports Buzz online at www.emporiagazette.com.