Casey Henningsen had her emotions in check while being honored Wednesday on Senior Night.
There was one problem: Her family wasn’t quite as composed.
“I only about cried when my Mom was crying,” Henningsen said. “It’s always the parents that get you to tear up.”
On an emotional night that honored six Lady Hornets in their final game at White Auditorium, No. 11 ESU overcame a slow start in a 77-62 triumph over Truman.
With the victory, the Lady Hornets notched their 10th 20-win season in the last 11 years. Both Henningsen and senior Carolyn Dorsey won 20 games in each of their four years at ESU.
“This group’s done such a good job of representing themselves the way we’d like our whole team to,” ESU coach Brandon Schneider said. “We perform well in the classroom, and I can’t remember the last time we had an off-the-court incident with a player. That’s due to the kind of people you have in your program and seniors setting the example.”
After the pre-game ceremony that honored the seniors, it took a little while for ESU to get itself going.
Led by seven early points from Georgia Mueller, Truman jumped out to a 10-2 lead.
“It’s hard to really focus in on the task at hand when you know that a certain chapter of your life is coming to an end,” Schneider said. “You can’t help but think about that.”
Still, it didn’t take long for the Lady Hornets to get back on track.
After pull-up jumpers from Andrea Leiker and Cassondra Boston, Michelle Stueve hit a 3-pointer from the corner to cut the deficit to 10-9.
Leiker added a pair of free throws 20 seconds later, completing a 9-0 run to give ESU its first lead at 11-10.
The rest of the half was all Lady Hornets.
After Truman regained a brief 19-18 advantage, ESU had six different players score in a 15-2 spurt that built a 33-21 lead.
The Lady Hornets tacked on the final 12 points of the half, pushing the score to 47-26 at break.
“You just want to come out and give (the fans) one last show and make it memorable so you don’t feel too bad walking out of here for good,” Henningsen said.
After scoring no field goals in the opening 4 minutes, 14 seconds, ESU exploded for 45 points over the final 15:46 of the half.
Many of those came on layups, as Henningsen and Glasper often found each other on interior passes after recognizing double teams in the post.
“We knew coming into the game this is a team that doubles and sometimes even triples the post. They’re really good at it, so we were prepared for that,” Henningsen said. “Genae did a fantastic job of biting to the rim every time they threw the ball into me.”
Glasper had eight points and eight rebounds at halftime, and her numbers only improved from there. She finished with a career-high 13 boards in 24 minutes of action.
“I was just moving and trying to get rebounds,” Glasper said.
ESU led by as many as 27 in the second half before an 11-1 Truman run cut the lead to 64-47 with 10:39 left.
The Lady Hornets allowed just three field goals the rest of the way to secure the victory.
With the game well in hand, Dorsey added a final highlight to her career at the 3:59 mark.
After getting fouled on a drive, the senior landed hard on her knees, struggling to shake off the injury.
“It was quite painful. I’m not going to lie,” Dorsey said with a smile.
With a substitute waiting at the scorer’s table, Henningsen told Dorsey not only that she had to shoot the two free throws, but also that she wasn’t hurt that bad.
“I just wanted to show her I could tough it out,” Dorsey said, “and make them (the free throws) and step up when I needed to.”
The senior did just that, draining both free throws before hobbling to the ESU bench at White Auditorium for the last time.
Andrea Leiker led the Lady Hornets with 17 points, making 3 of 7 three-point attempts. Stueve added 16, while Dorsey contributed nine.
Glasper finished a perfect 4-of-4 from the field for her eight points. The senior has hit eight consecutive shots and has not missed since the ESU-Washburn matchup two games ago.
Mueller had an impressive game for Truman, finishing with 25 points and 13 rebounds.
In addition to Henningsen, Dorsey and Glasper, it also was the final home game for Denisa Svarova, Tegan Stuart and Shelby Chilson.
EMPORIA STATE women 77, TRUMAN 62
Truman 26 36 — 62
No. 11 Emporia State 47 30 — 77
TRUMAN (8-18, 3-14 MIAA)
Mueller 9-17 6-6 25; Schupbach 3-7 4-5 10; McGee 2-12 4-6 10; McGee 2-3 0-0 5; Guinn 1-2 0-0 3; Montebello 1-11 1-1 3; Joya 0-0 2-2 2; Fowler 1-6 0-0 2; Seberger 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 20-62 17-20 62.
EMPORIA STATE (20-6, 13-4 MIAA)
Leiker 5-11 4-4 17; Stueve 6-13 2-3 16; Dorsey 3-3 3-3 9; Glasper 4-4 0-0 8; Boston 2-8 2-2 7; Henningsen 3-6 1-2 7; Stuart 2-8 2-3 7; Svarova 2-4 0-0 4; Corker 1-2 0-0 2; Chilson 0-1 0-0 0; Commons 0-1 0-0 0; Augustyn 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-61 14-17 77.
3-point goals — Truman 5-18 (McGee 2-7; McGee 1-1; Mueller 1-4; Guinn 1-2; Fowler 0-2; Montebello 0-1; Schupbach 0-1); Emporia State 7-20 (Leiker 3-7; Stueve 2-5; Stuart 1-2; Boston 1-3; Svarova 0-1; Corker 0-1; Chilson 0-1). Fouled out — Truman: None, Emporia State: None. Rebounds — Truman 33 (Mueller,Georgia 13); Emporia State 41 (Glasper,Genae 13). Assists — Truman 14 (Montebello 6); Emporia State 20 (Leiker 4). Total fouls — Truman 16, Emporia State 18. Att — 2265.