With about five minutes left in Saturday’s game, and the Emporia State women having just hit a basket to go up by 72 points, Harris-Stowe inbounded the ball, and all five players walked slowly up the court, trudging like they’d just got done downing a massive Christmas dinner and were battling the early onset of a food coma. In reality, it was Emporia State that was getting some early holiday feasting in.
Six Hornets scored in double figures, including a 20-point, 19-rebound effort from Ida Edwards, and ESU didn’t let up, cruising to a 119-35 win over a Harris-Stowe team that suited just six players — and ended the game with four. Emporia State got some emphatic holiday revenge on a team that beat the Hornets last season, and now the Hornets can rest for a bit before the schedule gets grueling.
“I think that the five days that they’re gonna have off is really important for ’em,” Hornets coach Brandon Schneider said. “I mean, they deserve it. They worked really hard, physically and mentally, on the academic side. They need a break, they deserve it.
“I don’t necessarily like the fact that we have to come back and play three games right away. I don’t think our league scheduled that with much intelligence or any type of consideration for the players. You shouldn’t have to come back and play three games when you’ve been off. That sometimes can be a little bit of a recipe for an injury.”
Alli Volkens and Sophia Lenard each added 18 points, and Volkens joined Edwards as Hornets to register a double-double, as Volkens also grabbed 12 boards. Andrea Leiker had 17 points, Cassondra Boston had 14 and seven assists and Brittney Miller had 11 off the bench.
ESU forced 16 turnovers in each half and, from the opening tip, ran at will after steals and misses. The lead was 56-16 at halftime, and Volkens had 12 points and five rebounds at the break. Edwards sniffed a first-half double-double, putting up nine points and nine boards in the opening 20 minutes. The only thing Emporia State didn’t do in the first half was hit its 3-pointers — ESU knocked down just 2-of-13 from behind the arc.
In the second half, not only did Emporia not lose the killer instinct it showed in the first, but the shots started falling from the outside. With the Hornets’ feet planted firmly on the gas, the score quickly went from lopsided to ridiculous.
“When we come back from break, we have big games,” Lenard said. “So we have to be prepared. We have to stay ready and disciplined, and we have to (be) just ready for the other games.”
A short jumper by Edwards, a runner by Boston, two threes by Leiker and another by Boston gave ESU 10 straight points in the first two minutes of the half and a 66-16 lead. Two more threes by Sophia Lenard made it 76-18 before Harris-Stowe called timeout — with 15:16 stil left in the game. Coming out of that timeout, Lenard buried yet another three, this one from the left corner, to give Emporia State a 61-point lead.
Jessen Tucker got ESU over 80 points with yet another 3-pointer from the left side, and Jamie Augustyn then added her second three of the game to make it 85-21. Another Tucker three pushed the lead to 88-23, and an Ida Edwards layin underneath off a draw-and-dish bounce pass from Corker got the Hornets to 90.
Volkens’ stickback off a Miller 3-point miss put ESU at the century mark — and 6:08 still remained in the game.
Did the Hornets let up? Not exactly.
The lead reached 78 at 110-32 after Edwards netted a post basket. Then she made it an 80-point game with a rebound-stickback off Brittney Miller’s 3-point miss.
The Hornets continued to fight in the closing minutes, playing a 2-3 zone in the final two minutes and battling for every rebound. When Harris-Stowe’s Traniece Venable fouled out with 1:31 remaining — the second Harris-Stowe player to be disqualified — it left the visiting team, also nicknamed the Hornets, with just four players. ESU ended the game with its biggest lead.
“I don’t think I have (played five-on-four),” Leiker said. “I’ve seen it, but I don’t think I’ve ever played against it. It’s kind of crazy.”
Lacy Corker scored just four points but handed out 11 assists for the Hornets.
Emporia State will travel to Truman on Dec. 29, then host Nebraska-Omaha on New Year’s Eve.
“We’ve had a pretty good semester,” Schneider said. “Obviously, we had the hiccup in Kingsville, where we didn’t play as well as we would’ve liked. But this team, we think, has a lot of potential, and I like the fact that they appear to work really hard every day and continue to get better.”
Saturday at White Auditorium
Harris-Stowe 16 19 — 35
Emporia State 56 63 — 119
Harris-Stowe (1-8) — Houston 1-4 0-1 2, Jackson 1-7 4-4 6, Venable 1-3 0-0 2, Davis 4-5 0-0 10, Bradshaw 2-9 0-0 4, Jones 4-14 3-6 11. Totals 13-52 7-11 35.
Emporia State (9-1) — Edwards 9-12 2-4 20, Volkens 6-9 6-7 18, Boston 6-9 0-0 14, Leiker 5-10 5-6 17, Lenard 6-8 3-4 18, Tucker 3-6 0-0 9, Augustyn 3-7 0-0 8, Corker 1-7 2-2 4, Miller 5-12 1-2 11, Krueger 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 44-83 19-25 119.
3-point goals — Harris-Stowe 2-15 (Davis 2-10, Jackson 0-3, Bradshaw 0-2), Emporia State 12-31 (Lenard 3-5, Tucker 3-5, Boston 2-4, Leiker 2-5, Augustyn 2-5, Miller 0-4, Edwards 0-1, Corker 0-1, Krueger 0-1). Fouled out — Harris-Stowe: Houston, Venable. Rebounds — Harris-Stowe 26 (Jackson 6), Emporia State 54 (Edwards 19). Assists — Harris-Stowe 5 (Venable, Jones 2), Emporia State 29 (Corker 11). Turnovers — Harris-Stowe 32, Emporia State 10. Total fouls — Harris-Stowe 20, Emporia State 13. Att. — 1,419.