During Christmas break, Emporia State guard Andrea Leiker looked at the upcoming schedule, and she couldn’t believe what she saw.
The Lady Hornets play three games in six days, starting tonight at Truman. The schedule shocked Leiker and has displeased coach Brandon Schneider.
“I don’t necessarily like it, but everybody has to play the schedule that comes out,” Schneider said. “I just wish there was more opportunity to work the players back in a little bit slower. We’ll deal with it and go from there.”
While the schedule will challenge the Lady Hornets’ endurance, the opponents might be less of a challenge. Truman is 0-3 in the MIAA; Wednesday’s opponent, Nebraska-Omaha, is 1-2 and Saturday’s opponent, Southwest Baptist, is 0-2.
The toughest challenge for the Lady Hornets might be getting motivated for a road game against a team like Truman.
“The bus ride is not fun and you go there, and there’s maybe 20 people in the stands, not much of a crowd,” Leiker said. “It’s a tough place to play, to get yourself going.”
With Emporia State in a three-way tie with Washburn and Pittsburg State at 3-0 and Fort Hays State at 2-0, the Lady Hornets cannot afford to take a night off against teams in the bottom half of the conference if they want to win a conference title. “I think it’s probably the most important time right now of setting the tone of how we’re going to play in conference,” Leiker said. “I think it’s really important for us to play well.”
This week might be as good a time as any to play three games. Emporia State is on holiday break until Jan. 14, and for the Lady Hornets, that means basketball becomes their job.
“I remember what it was like as a player at this time,” Schneider said. "How can life be better than just playing basketball? They don’t have any other responsibilities. They don’t have jobs. They don’t have academic commitments. It’s really just practice and film sessions and playing games. I always felt like it was the closest anybody can get to living like a pro and experiencing what they go through on a daily basis.”
Schneider gave his team five days off last week to celebrate Christmas and rest up before entering the meat of the MIAA schedule. But this week it’s back to work, and it’s a chance to make progress toward an MIAA title.
“I think it’s an opportunity for your team to grow by leaps and bounds,” Schneider said, “if they approach it the right way.”