Emporia State women’s basketball coach Brandon Schneider didn’t just prepare his team to play against the Missouri Southern Lions on Wednesday.
He prepared his team to battle against them.
“They’re a team that’s really done a good job of dominating in the paint,” Schneider said. “We were going to have to play with our hard hats on.”
The Lady Hornets did just that, jumping out to an early lead and staying strong in an 82-61 victory over Southern on Wednesday.
“I really liked our toughness,” Schneider said, “and the energy we played with on the defensive end.”
That energy came through early, as the Lady Hornets held the Lions to six points in the first 11 minutes, 40 seconds to build a lead.
Meanwhile, All-American Michelle Stueve paced the offense, scoring 12 points during that stretch — including a pair of threes — to help ESU grab a 22-6 advantage.
“When you get on a roll, it just feels like you’re playing better,” Stueve said. “You just try to get in a rhythm as a player, and I tend to play better when I’m feeling it.”
Stueve continued to find that rhythm at the end of the half. She hit a layup on an alley-oop with 24 seconds to go, then came behind a screen to drain a 23-foot jumper at the buzzer to give the Lady Hornets a 44-22 lead at break.
The junior had 20 points in the first half, making 4 of her 6 three-point attempts.
“It did feel nice — that’s about all I can say about it,” Stueve said. “Some of them didn’t look like they should go in, but somebody wanted them to, so I’ll take it.”
ESU maintained the advantage in the second half, never letting the lead slip below 18 points.
Cassondra Boston also stepped up offensively, making 6 of 7 shots from the floor in the game and both of her free-throw attempts.
“People on the team were setting good screens and getting me open off of that,” Boston said. “I just felt like I had the open shots, so I took them.”
Her perfect night was snapped in the second half when, after driving the lane, her shot was swatted by Southern’s Fatai Hala’Api’Api.
“I thought it was going to go in,” Boston said with a smile.
After struggling with turnovers in the last few games, Schneider was pleased with his team’s effort Wednesday. ESU finished with 13 turnovers, while forcing 21 Southern miscues.
The Lady Hornets had 21 turnovers in their last game against Truman.
“As fast as we play, 13 is a really good number,” Schneider said. “We made pretty good decisions for the most part.”
Stueve led all scorers, contributing 26 points and eight rebounds in 31 minutes. She finished 6-of-9 from the behind the three-point line.
Boston and Andrea Leiker both added 16 points.
ESU will face perhaps its toughest test of the season on Saturday, taking on undefeated and No. 3-ranked Missouri Western in St. Joseph, Mo.
There is a slim possibility that ESU guard Carolyn Dorsey might be able to return for that game. She received a knee brace for her torn PCL on Tuesday and went through a light practice with the team.
Schneider said if Dorsey’s knee could handle a full-contact practice, there was a chance she could play as soon as Saturday.