No Trickery Here
Monday, March 5, 2007
By Jesse Newell
newell@emporiagazette.com
Washburn coach Ron McHenry didn’t have any tricks up his sleeve for Emporia State in the teams’ third meeting of the season on Saturday.
He did, however, have a pair of players in Amanda Holmes and Corkey Stiger that wouldn’t let his team lose in a 73-61 Lady Blue victory in the semifinals of the MIAA Tournament.
“We have (ESU’s) plays, and they have our plays. It really comes down to players playing well,” McHenry said, “and those two players played awfully well.”
Washburn went on to defeat Missouri Western, 71-70, to win the MIAA Tournament Championship on Sunday.
Holmes didn’t just perform well, she had her best game as a Lady Blue.
The 6-foot-2 junior scored a career-high 22 points against ESU, taking advantage of good post position inside against ESU’s Casey Henningsen, who had to play timid with constant foul trouble.
“I thought the difference was they won the battle in the paint, especially in terms of post play,” ESU coach Brandon Schneider said. “Their post players finished a little better than ours around the basket.”
Stiger added 21, as Washburn jumped out to an early 19-11 lead and never trailed the rest of the way.
Just a day after dominating Central Missouri and resting its starters through most of the second half, ESU looked lethargic early against Washburn’s aggressive defense.
The Lady Hornets scored just 11 points through the first 11 minutes, turning the ball over six times during that span. Washburn had just five turnovers in the entire game.
ESU fell in the semifinals of the MIAA Tournament for the second consecutive season.
“It’s an old feeling after awhile,” ESU junior Michelle Stueve said. “You just get tired of it.”
The Lady Hornets cut the first-half lead to 26-22 with 4:41 left before Stiger took over for Washburn.
The 5-foot-9 junior hit three consecutive 3-pointers in the next 1 minute, 45 seconds to push the Lady Blue lead to 35-24.
“I started getting a little hot,” Stiger said, “so they kept coming to me.”
Stueve brought ESU back with her own run, hitting two treys of her own to close the gap to 37-32, but Stiger connected on a guarded step-back three with seven seconds left in the half to give Washburn a 40-32 halftime lead.
“Stiger is a player who hasn’t been shooting the ball particularly well,” Schneider said, “but she was so open on the first two or three three-point attempts that she knocks them down and then she’s Miss Feel-Good.”
The Washburn guard finished the first half with 16 points, making 6 of 11 shots and 4 of 6 three-point attempts.
“Corkey’s first half — I’ve only seen it by a few players,” McHenry said, “and they’re All-Americans.”
Carolyn Dorsey scored three points in a 7-0 ESU run that cut the lead to 50-45, but Holmes responded with six points in a 9-0 WU spurt that pushed the advantage back to 59-45.
Stueve’s 3-pointer with 7:40 left made it 59-52, but the Lady Hornets wouldn’t come any closer.
Washburn took advantage of its opportunities at the free-throw line, hitting 20 of 22 attempts.
ESU finished just 4-of-7 from the line.
Stueve led the Lady Hornets with 17 points, hitting four 3-pointers to break Andi McAlexander’s school record of 196 threes. Stueve now has 197 treys.
Dorsey added 14 points and eight rebounds, making 6 of 8 field-goal attempts.
WASHBURN women 73, EMPORIA STATE 61
No. 11 Emporia State 32 29 — 61
No. 6 Washburn 40 33 — 73
EMPORIA STATE (22-7)
Stueve 6-15 1-2 17; Dorsey 6-8 1-2 14; Boston 4-13 2-2 13; Henningsen 3-7 0-0 6; Stuart 2-7 0-1 5; Corker 1-2 0-0 2; Glasper 1-3 0-0 2; Leiker 1-2 0-0 2; Svarova 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 24-61 4-7 61.
WASHBURN (26-3)
Holmes 6-16 10-11 22; Stiger 7-14 2-2 21; Ubelaker 4-9 4-4 13; Aebi 2-8 2-2 8; Mainz 2-4 2-3 7; Sullivan 1-6 0-0 2; Holmes 0-1 0-0 0; Keeley 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-58 20-22 73.
3-point goals — Emporia State 9-21 (Stueve 4-7; Boston 3-6; Dorsey 1-2; Stuart 1-4; Leiker 0-1; Corker 0-1); Washburn 9-19 (Stiger 5-7; Aebi 2-4; Mainz 1-1; Ubelaker 1-6; Holmes 0-1). Fouled out — Emporia State: None; Washburn: None. Rebounds — Emporia State 39 (Dorsey 8), Washburn 34 (Ubelaker 6; Holmes 6; Sullivan 6). Assists — Emporia State 14 (Boston 4), Washburn 13 (Aebi 3; Holmes 3). Total fouls — Emporia State 20, Washburn 13. Att — 2051.