Emporia State had a relapse on Saturday at Texas A&M-Kingsville — at least that’s how coach Brandon Schneider defined it.
The Lady Hornets lost their first game this season, 79-70, by resembling a different team than the one that started the season 5-0 and winning by an average of margin of 43.8 points.
“I kind of liken it to an addict relapsing,” Schneider said. “We really established some really good habits and were headed in the right direction and just out of nowhere we had that kind of performance.”
Emporia State crashed with 15 minutes left in the game. The Lady Hornets led 46-27 and the Javelinas went on a 26-6 run to take the lead. With Ida Edwards on the bench in foul trouble, Emporia State had five turnovers during the run and made only 1-of-7 field goals.
The Lady Hornets struggled in the areas where they have been successful this year. The Javelinas tracked down 10 loose balls, while the Lady Hornets got only three. They committed 27 turnovers in both games at the tournament, and they were also outrebounded, 45-36, for the first time this season against Kingsville. On Friday, Emporia State outrebounded Texas A&M-International 64-34 in a 115-63 win.
Edwards and sophomore center Alli Volkens both had strong games against Kingsville. Edwards scored 13 points, going 5-for-5 from the field and 2-for-2 from the free throw line, and Volkens scored 17, missing only one shot. But the Lady Hornets abandoned their post players when they fell behind.
“We just really played poorly on the offensive end the whole night, made poor decisions and didn’t do a very good job of taking care of the ball,” Schneider said. “We didn’t do a good job of establishing a low-post game and just missed way too many perimeter shots. I thought we settled for jump shots entirely too much, especially when they had the momentum.”
Settling for jump shots did not help the Lady Hornets, as they made only 5-of-23 3-pointers.
Emporia State built its lead early by playing well defensively. The Lady Hornets forced 17 turnovers in the first half and had nine steals, holding TAMK to 23 points. The second half was a different story. Emporia State forced only five turnovers after halftime.
“We were playing so poorly on offense that it really began to affect our defense,” Schneider said.
While the Lady Hornets took a step back on Saturday, they at least had a bright spot in Volkens. She had 10 rebounds and four blocks to go along with her 17 points, and averaged 17.5 points per game in the two-game tournament.
“She had a great tournament and an outstanding game on Saturday,” Schneider said. “I really think she took some big steps up forward. We still have to remember she’s pretty young, just six games into her sophomore year, and I really think she took some big steps and would anticipate her confidence really growing as a result of it.”
The Lady Hornets have some time to recover from their first loss, opening the MIAA season on Wednesday at home against Northwest Missouri.
“Our level of competition is drastically going to increase starting Wednesday,” Schneider said. “We’re definitely going to have to be better or we won’t be in games in the MIAA.”
Saturday at Texas A&M-Kingsville
Emporia State 32 38 — 70
Texas A&M-Kingsville 23 56 — 79
EMPORIA STATE (5-1)
Boston 6-17 2-2 17, Volkens 7-8 3-4 17, Edwards 5-5 2-2 13, Leiker 1-13 5-7 7, Lenard 2-11 1-1 6, Kisner 2-3 0-0 4, Corker 1-3 2-2 4, Renberg 1-2 0-0 2, Augustyn 0-1 0-0 0, Tucker 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-63 15-18 70.
TEXAS A&M-KINGSVILLE (2-3)
Jones 8-14 7-8 23, Soza 5-9 5-6 17, Franklin 6-12 3-4 15, Hill 3-8 4-4 11, Mitchell 2-9 0-0 4, Sutton 1-2 1-2 3, Smith 1-5 0-0 2, Garza 1-1 0-0 2, Bullinger 1-6 0-0 2, Thering 0-0 0-0 0, Bastow 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-67 20-24 79.
3-point goals — Emporia State 5-23 (Boston 3-9, Lenard 1-3, Edwards 1-1, Kisner 0-1, Corker 0-1, Augustyn 0-1, Leiker 0-7), Texas A&M-Kingsville 3-9 (Soza 2-2, Hill 1-3, Mitchell 0-1, Bullinger 0-2, Bastow 0-1). Fouled out — Emporia State: Leiker; Texas A&M-Kingsville: None. Rebounds — Emporia State 36 (Volkens 10), Texas A&M-Kingsville 45 (Jones 9). Assists — Emporia State 8 (Lenard, Boston 2), Texas A&M-Kingsville 11 (Hill 5). Total fouls — Emporia State 21, Texas A&M-Kingsville 16. Att. — 176