One doesn’t have to tell Emporia State coach Brandon Schneider how good of a team No. 3 Missouri Western is.
The Griffons have been No. 1 in his submitted WBCA rankings for a few weeks now.
“They’re awfully good,” Schneider said. “We told our team it’s going to take a really good effort and a well-prepared effort to go in there and be competitive.”
In a matchup of two top-10 teams, the seventh-ranked Lady Hornets will travel to face undefeated Western on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. at the MWSU Fieldhouse in St. Joseph, Mo.
The No. 3-ranked Griffons enter 17-0 and a perfect 7-0 in the MIAA.
“We knew coming into the season that Western was going to be a good squad,” ESU forward Casey Henningsen said. “They’ve proven that so far.”
The game will be significant on many levels for ESU. Not only will the Lady Hornets have a chance to pick up their first win against a ranked Division-II opponent, they also will have the opportunity to improve their standing in the competitive MIAA.
Western sits atop the standings, followed by Washburn and 5-1 ESU.
“It’s a really important game,” ESU guard Tegan Stuart said. “It could decide who wins the conference.”
Missouri Western has been especially good as of late, winning nine of its last 10 games by double digits.
The Griffons actually trailed, 61-60, with six minutes to go in their last game before ending on a 20-6 run to defeat Pittsburg State.
Western junior Yanique Javois admitted to the St. Joseph News-Press after the game that the team was guilty of looking forward to the ESU game.
“I’m sure,” Henningsen said, “they feel the same way we do.”
Meanwhile, the ESU women come in with some momentum after posting a convincing 82-61 victory over Missouri Southern on Wednesday.
The Lady Hornets built a 44-22 halftime lead and never let the advantage dip below 18 after that.
“I think the players ought to feel good about their performance,” Schneider said. “It’s nice to have some momentum, feeling like you played well.”
“We needed a confidence-booster,” Stuart said, “and I think that’s what we got in that game.”
Six-foot-3 forward Inga Buzoka enters as Western’s leading scorer and rebounder, averaging 17.4 points and 9.8 boards per game. Transfer Ashleigh Curry, who became eligible at semester, has posted 17.2 points per game and is already second on the team with 20 3-pointers.
All-American Michelle Stueve has been on a roll for ESU, averaging 20.5 points and 11.7 rebounds per game in conference play. She had 26 points and eight rebounds against Southern on Wednesday, knocking in 6 of her 9 three-point attempts.
The Lady Hornets have historically had good success against undefeated conference teams. In the last 10 years, 12 MIAA teams have opened the season with 10 consecutive wins, and ESU has delivered the first loss in four of those games.
ESU also has been the undefeated team five of those times.
On the men’s side, ESU will look to improve to 5-0 on the road against Western (9-7, 2-5 MIAA).
The Hornets come off arguably their best half of the year, scoring 67 points in the second half of their 105-67 victory on Wednesday.
ESU guard Donta Watson was especially hot, scoring 17 points in the first 5:12 of the second half and finishing 6-of-6 from three-point range in the final 20 minutes. His 33 points tied for the conference-high this season.
“When you start hitting shots like that, you can take bad shots and Coach won’t get mad at you,” Watson said with a smile.
Amazingly, Watson is not only leading the league in points per game (19.5), he is also tops in 3-pointers made (56) and three-point percentage (.479).
“Once he heats up,” ESU forward Jordan Fithian said, “he’s almost unstoppable.”
Western is led by 6-foot-5 guard J.R. Reed, who averages 17 points per game, good for fifth in the conference.
The Griffons are 4-2 at home this season, with one of those losses coming to No. 21 Armstrong-Atlantic.
The ESU men and women are one of only four tandems in the NCAA to have both their basketball teams ranked in the top 10. The other three are Clayton State (Division II), North Carolina and Ohio State.