Lady Hornets remain perfect in MIAA with win at Central Missouri
By C.J. Moore
Monday, December 15, 2008
WARRENSBURG, MO. — It was a win in December, but this one felt like a lot more on Saturday at Central Missouri.
The Emporia State women withstood the UCM crowd, physical play and whistles galore in a 77-64 win to move to 3-0 in the MIAA.
“I think it’s pretty typical of MIAA play,” ESU coach Brandon Schneider said. “This was maybe a little bit more of a February game in terms of that because it feels like it just gets more and more physical as the year goes along.”
As the year goes along, this win could be more and more significant for the Lady Hornets. Both teams came into the game 2-0 in the MIAA, their only losses on the season coming to the same team — Texas A&M-Kingsville. The Jennies were picked to finish third in the league, while the Lady Hornets were picked to finish second. With Washburn coasting to a 3-0 start in conference, the winner of this game was in the driver’s seat to contend with the Lady Blues for the conference title.
“Any win on the road in our league is special, but I think at Central Missouri is definitely one of the tougher places to play,” Schneider said. “From what I’ve seen, they’re one of the tougher teams in the league and it’s a really good win for us.”
It wasn’t easy for the Lady Hornets, who labored through the first half offensively, turning the ball over 12 times.
“We’ve been a better first half team and we told them, ‘look, we didn’t play very well the first half, but we’ve always had at least one good half in us and we definitely need to have it the second half,’” Schneider said.
Cassondra Boston and Sophia Lenard helped the ESU offense respond with a 50-point second half. Both were held to four points in the 27-point first half. Boston finished with a game-high 20 points, and Lenard, playing in her first MIAA road game, scored 15.
“The first half, I got a feel for how the game was going,” Lenard said. “Second half, it was better for me because I knew what to expect.”
Boston and Lenard were instrumental in sparking an ESU 19-2 run that blew the game open.
After Melia Pence cut the ESU lead to 47-41 with a 3-pointer, Boston drove to the basket on the next possession, missing a runner but drawing the defense over, allowing Allie Renberg to get an easy putback.
Boston followed with a 3-pointer. Ida Edwards got a steal on the ensuing possession and dribbling along the sideline, she fell out of bounds. Schneider pleaded for a foul during the media timeout, but instead of pouting, the Lady Hornets continued to pull away.
Lenard scored four straight points out of the timeout to extend the ESU run to 11-0.
The Jennies finally scored after Lenard’s basket, but instead of starting a run of their own, they started to let the whistles and physical play bother them.
On their next possession, ESU’s Alli Volkens drew a charge in the post, which UCM coach Dave Slifer was none too pleased with. Then on the following possession, ESU jumped on a loose ball in the middle of the court and Schneider called timeout from the sideline. Slifer wanted a jump ball and continued to complain throughout the timeout. After telling the official, “That absolutely sucks,” Slifer was given a technical.
It only got more physical from there, with 24 fouls called in the second half, but it didn’t seem to faze Emporia State.
“There’s not many whistles in our practices,” Schneider said. “They’re pretty physical and I don’t think our kids mind playing that way.”
Emporia State made 15-of-20 free throws in the second half after making only 3-of-7 in the first half. Guards Andrea Leiker and Boston shot a majority of the free throws down the stretch, and Leiker made all six of her attempts and Boston was 5-for-8.
“I didn’t like how we shoot our free throws in the first half, but I felt a little bit better about it in the second half,” Schneider said.
The Lady Hornets have to like where they sit now in the conference race. They are at the top of the standings with Washburn and Pittsburg State at 3-0. Emporia State is the only team at the top with a win over a winning team in the MIAA. The Gorillas have played three winless teams thus far, and the Lady Blues have played two winless teams and one-win Nebraska-Omaha.
“It’s definitely a big win for us,” Boston said. “To be able to win a conference championship, you’ve got to be able to win conference road games.”
Saturday at Warrensburg, Mo.
Emporia State 27 50 — 77
Central Missouri 24 40 — 64
EMPORIA STATE (8-1, 3-0 MIAA)
Boston 6-14 5-8 20, Leiker 5-11 6-6 17, Lenard 7-11 0-0 15, Edwards 5-9 2-2 12, Renberg 2-6 3-5 7, Miller 1-3 1-2 3, Corker 1-2 1-4 3, Volkens 0-2 0-0 0, Kisner 0-0 0-0 0, Augustyn 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-59 18-27 77.
CENTRAL MISSOURI (5-2, 2-1 MIAA)
Roberts 6-11 1-1 13, Fleming 4-10 3-6 13, Davenport 3-7 5-10 11, Slifer 3-4 0-0 8, Dace 3-6 1-2 7, Shippy 3-6 0-0 7, Pence 1-11 0-2 3, Waggoner 1-10 0-0 2, Blakemore 0-0 0-0 0, Hanson 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 24-68 10-21 64.
3-point goals — Emporia State 5-13 (Boston 3-6, Lenard 1-2, Leiker 1-3, Miller 0-1, Corker 0-1), Central Missouri 6-25 (Fleming 2-5, Slifer 2-2, Pence 1-7, Shippy 1-2, Hanson 0-3, Waggoner 0-3, Dace 0-1, Davenport 0-2). Fouled out — Emporia State: Volkens, Lenard; Central Missouri: Fleming. Rebounds — Emporia State 49 (Renberg, Edwards 8), Central Missouri 36 (Davenport 11). Assists — Emporia State 8 (Lenard, Boston 2), Central Missouri 13 (Waggoner 4). Total fouls — Emporia State 19, Central Missouri 17. Att. — 1,100.