After watching All-American Michelle Stueve break out of her mini-slump, Emporia State coach Brandon Schnedier said he might have found a new way to get all of his players shooting better.
Just send them to the Stueve family farm.
“She told me she fixed fence for three days,” ESU coach Brandon Schneider said, “so maybe that’s some sort of remedy.”
After using her vacation days for chores, Stueve played one of her best games of the season on Saturday, posting 28 points and 18 rebounds in No. 3 ESU’s 88-51 victory over Southwest Baptist.
The performance came after she struggled in the Northern Kentucky Classic, scoring 12 combined points in the two games against Grand Valley State and Northern Michigan while making just 3 of her 17 shots.
Against SBU, Stueve hit 9-of-20 shots and all eight of her free-throw attempts. She was 2-for-10 from three-point range.
“I still don’t feel like my shots are falling like they should, but there are other things I can do for the team,” Stueve said. “I think I need to focus on them right now and trust that I’m going to start hitting like I want to.”
Stueve focused in on those other things Saturday, with a special emphasis on crashing the boards.
She posted 17 rebounds in the first 25 minutes of the game, well on her way to a 20-20 game before she was taken out early because of the lopsided score.
“I don’t really feel like they focused in on me as a big rebounder,” Stueve said. “I just felt like I was running loose a lot.”
Schneider said he was pleased to see the rebounding effort from Stueve, especially after she came in not shooting her best.
“There’s lots of facets to this game,” Schneider said. “It’s not like you’re a kicker in football, and that’s all you do. You’ve got to play offense, defense and rebound.”
ESU controlled the game late after getting off to a slow start.
After not playing in 11 days, the Lady Hornets struggled offensively, scoring just 17 points in the first 10 minutes.
Still, ESU managed to take control by playing tough defense. The Lady Hornets held the Lady Cats scoreless between the 10-minute and 5-minute media timeouts in the first half, turning a 17-14 lead into a 31-14 advantage.
“Our defense needs to be our constant at all times — every game, no matter how our offense is playing,” ESU senior Casey Henningsen said. “It needs to be something we can rely on.”
ESU took a 37-23 lead into halftime, only extending that advantage after the break.
After trading baskets to start the half, Stueve’s seven points led ESU on a 13-0 run that pushed the score to 52-25.
Stueve scored 13 points and grabbed six rebounds in the opening 4:51 of the second half.
The 18 rebounds were a season-high for Stueve. Her previous best this season was 15 against Harris-Stowe on Nov. 28.
Henningsen added 13 points and seven blocks for ESU. Andrea Leiker (12) and Cassondra Boston (10) also hit double figures.
The victory was career win No. 214 for Schneider, tying him with Val Schierling for the most wins in ESU history. Schneider deferred credit for the milestone to those around him.
“Any time there’s any kind of accolades in coaching, those aren’t individual awards and honors,” Schneider said. “There’s lots of people involved to having success.”
ESU (9-2) will face No. 5 Washburn in the Turnpike Tussel on Wednesday in Topeka. It will be the first meeting between the two teams since ESU snapped Washburn’s 51-game winning streak with a 61-59 overtime victory in the Regional Championship last year.