Emporia State coach Brandon Schneider wasn’t about to let Ida Edwards’ epiphany moment pass.
Shortly after ESU’s 79-46 victory over Missouri Southern, Edwards was asked if she noticed that players were passing it to her more often inside.
She nodded.
“I think they looked at me more,” Edwards said, “because I actually posted up harder.”
With that, Schneider softly hit the table, then rolled his eyes as if to say, “Finally.”
After pestering Edwards for so long, perhaps the coach’s message had finally gotten through.
“I thought she said it pretty well,” Schneider said. “We’ve told our guards, ‘Do not throw it to Ida if she’s not posted up strong.’
“I think Ida knows that she’s a versatile player. She can do a lot of things for this team. It’s nice to see her post up strong and want the basketball.”
The Lady Hornets proved to be a much better team when she did just that.
Edwards scored 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting, with most of her looks coming right under the basket after getting good position inside.
“It’s nice to see her recognize that when she does do that,” Schneider said, “we’ll do everything we can to get it to her.”
The Lady Hornets will look to extend a season-high six-game winning streak on Saturday against Central Missouri.
ESU, however, will be facing a better Jennies team than it saw just a month ago.
“I’ve heard some people say we’re a hot team,” Schneider said, “but I’m not so sure Central Missouri is not playing as good, or better, than anybody.”
After the two teams matched up in Warrensburg. Mo., on Jan. 19 in a 73-63 ESU victory, Central was still winless in the conference with an 0-6 record.
Since then, the Dave Slifer-led Jennies have gone 6-1 in MIAA play, winning their last five contests.
“Dave’s a really good coach. That’s a program with a lot of tradition and heritage,” Schneider said. “I don’t think anyone expected them to keep going that way. They’ve really righted the ship.”
ESU has done the same since its 90-71 loss at Missouri Southern on Jan. 23.
It was then that Schneider implemented a new approach with his basketball team, choosing to focus on the now instead of worrying about the past or future.
“We put ourselves in that predicament,” Schneider said. “We got off to a 1-2 start. You can really make a mistake when you look at league standings and say, ‘Where’s everybody at?’ and ‘Who’s beating who?’
“When you’re behind in the standings, all you can do is try to win the game that’s in front of you and hopefully work your way back up that ladder.”
Now, the Lady Hornets are atop the MIAA standings, tied with Washburn for first place with a 10-3 league record.
Central is led by guard Lindsey Maple, who is averaging 18.3 points per contest and is shooting 40.3 percent from three-point range.
Hornets look for season sweep against Mules
With five games left and an 11-11 record, the Emporia State men know they might be down to two objectives this season.
One, secure a spot in the conference tournament, and two, do everything to win three games in a row once getting there to earn a place in the NCAA Tournament.
“As a history, we haven’t done well there (in the MIAA Tournament), but I feel like we have a team that likes to go out and play and have fun and play for each other,” ESU forward Jordan Fithian said. “With a team like that, you’ve got a chance.”
For now, the Hornets would take any sort of win to build some confidence and help get them out of a three-game skid.
ESU already has one season-changing win against Saturday’s opponent Central Missouri: The Hornets upset the Mules, 84-75 in overtime, on Jan. 19, breaking up UCM’s 31-game home-court winning streak.
After that, ESU won three of its next four games before falling into its latest slide.
Central has won four of its last five games and is led by guard Joe Young, who averages 13.2 points per game.
The Mules have five players who average at least 8 points per contest.
ESU, meanwhile, will try to get a home victory before playing its next three games on the road against Pittsburg State, Washburn and Truman.
“Everybody’s capable of making a run, we just don’t know at what point,” ESU guard Marvin Lee said. “We’ve just got to keep fighting hard and just make our run whenever we can.”