The Emporia State women’s basketball team had its lengthy November run halted on Saturday.
The No. 3 Lady Hornets’ string of 26 consecutive November victories snapped as they fell, 71-66, to Central Oklahoma in the Cameron Thanksgiving Classic in Lawton, Okla.
ESU never could recover from a slow start.
The Lady Hornets started just 1-for-5 from the field with eight turnovers in the opening 6 minutes, 30 seconds, falling behind 19-4.
All-American Michelle Stueve did all she could to try to bring ESU back.
The senior had the Lady Hornets’ next nine points — all coming on 3-pointers — to bring ESU to within eight.
The Lady Hornets would get the deficit down to four with 2 minutes left in the half, but the Bronchos took a 38-30 lead into the break. It was the first time all season ESU faced a halftime deficit.
Stueve scored ESU’s first eight points of the second half, but she picked up her fourth foul with 12:57 remaining with the Lady Hornets down nine.
Andrea Leiker and Brittney Miller combined on an 8-1 run with Stueve on the bench to close the gap to 48-46, but UCO followed with an 8-0 run of its own.
ESU couldn’t get closer than five points the rest of the way.
It was the first November defeat for ESU since a 73-59 loss to South Dakota on Nov. 29, 2002.
Stueve finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds to lead ESU. The senior now has 1,824 points, needing just 15 points to move in front of Tara Holloway and into the top three in ESU history.
Stueve’s 12 boards also pushed her over the 800-rebound plateau. She is only the sixth Lady Hornet ever to reach that mark.
Leiker was the only other Lady Hornet in double figures with 14 points.
Stueve, Cassondra Boston and Alli Volkens all fouled out. Boston, who had averaged 20 points per game coming in, had just two points on 1-of-4 shooting.
ESU fell despite posting a pair of impressive statistics. The Lady Hornets made 10 of their 15 three-point attempts (67 percent) and also outrebounded UCO 42-24.
The Bronchos (3-1), however, forced 19 ESU turnovers and had 16 more field-goal attempts than the Lady Hornets.
ESU (3-1) will have a full week off before taking on Evangel at home next Monday.
Cameron Thanksgiving Classic
Saturday at Lawton, Okla.
Central Oklahoma 71, ESU 66
UCO 38 33 — 71
No. 3 ESU 30 36 — 66
UCO (3-1)
Cassidy Pillow 7-12 5-8 21, Lizzie Brenner 5-12 1-2 11, Micha Hester 3-13 3-6 10, Mallory Markus 3-8 1-2 10, Taylor Allen 3-5 2-2 8, Ashley Beckley 2-4 2-4 6, Karlie Free 1-4 2-2 4, Courtney Owens 0-1 1-2 1, Antonia Smith 0-1 0-0 0, Jessica Ramy 0-0 0-0 0, Kasey Tweed 0-0 0-0 0, Cristina Yarbrough 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-61 17-28 71.
EMPORIA STATE (3-1)
Michelle Stueve 7-12 3-4 24, Andrea Leiker 2-8 10-10 14, Alli Volkens 2-4 3-6 7, Jamie Augustyn 2-5 0-0 6, Brittney Miller 1-6 4-6 6, Allie Renberg 0-2 4-4 4, Bree Kisner 1-3 0-0 3, Cassondra Boston 1-4 0-0 2, Becky Zabel 0-1 0-0 0, Lacy Corker 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-45 24-30 66.
3-point goals — UCO 6-21 (Markus 3-5, Pillow 2-3, Hester 1-9, Free 0-1, Owens 0-1, Allen 0-1, Brenner 0-1); Emporia State 10-15 (Stueve 7-9, Augustyn 2-4, Kisner 1-2). Fouled out — UCO: Brenner; Emporia State: Boston, Stueve, Volkens. Rebounds — UCO 24 (Brenner 4), Emporia State 42 (Stueve 12). Assists — UCO 16 (Markus 6), Emporia State 9 (Corker 4). Total fouls — UCO 26, Emporia State 27. Att — 350.