After a pair of tough road wins, all the pieces seem to be in place for a breakout performance from the Emporia State women’s basketball team.
Now, the players know, the rest is up to them.
“We’re kind of hoping for that game sometime,” Leiker said. “I think we’re starting to click. It’ll happen in these next couple games, I hope.”
ESU’s next chance will come on Wednesday, with the Lady Hornets playing host to Missouri Southern at 5:30 p.m. The men’s game will follow at 7:30.
It’s not that the Lady Hornets are disappointed with their last two victories — a 75-56 win over Pittsburg State and a 64-57 triumph at Truman. Both games were necessary to keep pace in a loaded MIAA conference.
Still, ESU had to grind things out in both, getting wins in what turned out to be ugly games.
Against Truman, the worst came in the second half, when ESU went 10 minutes, 16 seconds without scoring a field goal. During the stretch, the Lady Hornets were 0-of-14 from the floor with six turnovers.
“It’s kind of scary. Once you get playing against some of the better teams in the conference, you can’t go that long without scoring from the field,” Leiker said. “We’ve been trying to get things figured out.”
ESU should definitely be challenged Wednesday, taking on a surprising Missouri Southern team that is 10-3 overall and 3-2 in the MIAA conference.
The Lions lost their last game to Northwest Missouri State, but before that won convincingly at Pittsburg State (83-59) and at home against Central Missouri (79-61).
“They’re one of the better teams in our conference,” Leiker said. “We’re going to have to play really good, execute everything, and hopefully come out on top.”
Southern has three players that score 12-plus points per game. Six-foot forward Dana-Mae Robbs leads the way, averaging 13.7 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. Joining her in the post is Division-I transfer Fatai Hala’Api’Api, who has posted 12.7 points and shot 55.6 percent from the floor since becoming eligible in the second semester.
Guard Robin Kantin contributes 13.2 points per game.
ESU and Southern enter as the top two teams in the MIAA in shooting percentage. The Lady Hornets are shooting 47.3 percent, while the Lions are converting at a 46.5 percent clip.
On the men’s side, ESU will look to keep its undefeated season intact against a 6-8 Southern squad.
The Hornets enter the game somewhat let down after their showdown with undefeated Central Missouri on Saturday was canceled because of the icy conditions.
“I was disappointed for our guys because we’d been looking forward to that one for one or two weeks,” ESU coach David Moe said. “We did what we had to do to make that a great matchup.”
The Central game has been rescheduled for Feb. 19, meaning the two teams will now play first on Feb. 10 in Warrensburg.
Despite what the records might say, ESU will have to come out with a strong performance to knock off Southern.
Though the Lions are only 2-8 in their last 10 games, they have a tendency to play their best against good opponents. Southern knocked off No. 22 West Texas A&M on Nov. 18, and last Saturday handed No. 11 Northwest Missouri State its first conference loss with a 59-57 overtime victory.
Meanwhile, ESU has had each of its last four games come down to the wire, winning by an average of 6 points during that stretch.
“We’re still not good enough,” Moe said, “to overlook anybody.”
Southern is led by 6-8 Deonte Cox, who averages 13.0 points per game off the bench. Guard Stanley Titsworth is also in double figures with 10.9 points per game.
ESU enters the game with three of the top seven scorers in the league. Donta Watson leads the conference with an 18.5-point-per-game average, with Wes Book (16.7 ppg) following in sixth and DeAndre Townsend (15.6 ppg) in seventh.
ESU’s Stueve wins
player of the week
For the second time this season, ESU’s Michelle Stueve earned the Wilson/MIAA women’s basketball player of the week award.
This time, she shared the honor with Washburn’s Brooke Ubelaker.
The 6-foot-2 Stueve posted her league-best eighth double-double of the season on Wednesday, scoring 22 points and grabbing 16 rebounds as ESU took a 64-57 victory. It was the third time this season Stueve has reached 20 points and 15 rebounds in a game.
Stueve, an Olpe High graduate, has now moved into the No. 8 position on ESU’s all-time scoring list. She is also second in career 3-pointers with 158.
The junior previously won the award on Nov. 10.