A Reel of Emotions
A look back at the Emporia State women's basketball team's 2006-07 season
By Jesse Newell
Thursday, March 22, 2007
When reflecting on the 2006-07 season, Emporia State women’s basketball coach Brandon Schneider won’t remember his team faltering against Texas A&M-Commerce in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Instead, he’ll remember the talented Lions taking that victory away from his team in a 81-77 decision.
“It’s always disappointing. I think, in hindsight, we probably lost to a pretty (darn) good team,” Schneider said. “I know I felt better about it after they went through Missouri Western and Washburn, too.
“They were a team that got really hot at the right time. That’s what March basketball is about.”
Commerce went on to defeat the other two MIAA schools later in the South Central Regional, advancing to its first Elite Eight before losing to Clayton State on Wednesday.
The season-ending loss for ESU still couldn’t dampen what was a season that contained many highlights.
Among them was the very first game of the season, when the Lady Hornets traveled to Manhattan to take on the reigning WNIT-champion Kansas State Wildcats for an exhibition game.
After falling behind 21-8, the No. 3-ranked Lady Hornets rallied for a 64-59 victory over the Division-I Wildcats at Bramlage Coliseum. In her first collegiate game, ESU point guard Cassondra Boston had 21 points, helping to end KSU’s 14-game exhibition winning streak.
The No. 3-ranked Lady Hornets already were creating buzz, and the regular season hadn’t even started yet.
“To me, that’s not as significant because it’s an exhibition game,” Schneider said. “It’s something that people like to talk about.”
Facing the toughest early-season schedule Schneider had ever put together, ESU found itself with an uncharacteristic two losses in non-conference play — with one coming at Metro State and the other coming to No. 3 Grand Valley State in the Northern Kentucky Classic.
The Lady Hornets had to go without forward Genae Glasper for the first half of the season, as she was declared academically ineligible until the second semester.
ESU — which was picked to finish first in the MIAA — started the conference season 8-2, with the first two losses coming to No. 3 Washburn and No. 3 Missouri Western on the road.
The Lady Hornets put together one of their best games on Feb. 3 when they took it to Missouri Western at White Auditorium.
Though the Griffons entered with an unblemished 21-0 record and No. 2 national ranking, ESU dominated in an 83-63 victory.
ESU later dropped consecutive games — including a 65-62 shocker to 10-12 Pittsburg State at home — before picking up its biggest win on Feb. 17.
In front of the third-largest crowd in school history, ESU completed a second-half rally to defeat Washburn, 74-67, in a game televised nationally on CSTV.
“I think the win at home and coming from 16 down against Washburn at home was the highlight of the season,” Schneider said.
ESU rode that momentum to win its next four games, including a 67-50 triumph over Central Missouri in the first round of the MIAA Tournament.
The Lady Hornets would lose their last two, however, falling to Washburn in the MIAA semifinals and Texas A&M-Commerce in the NCAA first round at St. Joseph, Mo.
Ultimately, ESU was beaten by Commerce’s nearly unstoppable guard duo of Britney Jordan and Kanani Marshal.
Jordan, who was a McDonald’s All-American out of high school, scored 17 of her 21 points in the second half.
Marshal, a two-time junior-college All-American, posted 27 points while making 5 of her 8 three-point attempts.
“I thought we guarded the action of what they did really well. What we couldn’t guard is just the one-on-one play,” Schneider said. “I don’t think that’s a criticism of our kids as much as it is a credit to how talented those two players are. Obviously Western has really athletic perimeter players and Washburn with (Corkey) Stiger has a great athlete, and they couldn’t guard them either.
“You’re talking about players that are probably going to be in the WNBA at some point.”
With the loss of six seniors — including key contributors Casey Henningsen, Carolyn Dorsey, Tegan Stuart, Denisa Svarova and Glasper — next season sets up to be an intriguing year for the Lady Hornets.
Michelle Stueve will be back for her senior season after earning her second consecutive Kodak All-American honor and averaging 18.2 points and 9.3 rebounds per game.
Another key returner will be Boston, who was the second-leading scorer with 12.1 points per game. Andrea Leiker will come back as well after posting 9.4 points per contest.
Schneider also is excited about Ida Edwards, a 6-foot post player who practiced with the team after transferring to ESU last year. She originally signed with Division-I Louisiana Tech out of junior college.
The Lady Hornets also will welcome six new players in next year’s recruiting class, which could be the best crop as a whole that Schneider has brought in at ESU.
Included in that group is Allie Renberg, a 6-foot-1 forward from Iowa Lakes Community College that averaged 15.3 points and 8.8 rebounds last season.
“We feel like she’s ready to come in,” Schneider said, “and be an impact player immediately.”
Schneider said a major challenge would be replacing the entire front line.
Though his post players would be a little smaller, Schneider said he believed they would make up for it in athleticism.
What does it all mean? Probably the same for the Lady Hornets next year as they are used to.
“I think the expectations,” Schneider said, “will be as high or higher.”