On Another Level
Stueve’s late run helps Lady Hornets stomp out Central Missouri
By Jesse Newell
Monday, February 18, 2008
Michelle Stueve didn’t even wait for her teammates.
When the Emporia State senior received the ball in the deep corner — 5 minutes left, her team needing a basket — it didn’t matter that there weren’t any Lady Hornets under the basket to rebound, or that the shot clock still read 27.
“I was open, and I just didn’t think about it,” Stueve said. “I shot it.”
It ended up being the beginning of the end for Central Missouri.
Stueve’s 3-pointer from the side was perfect, starting a 160-second stretch when the senior scored 14 straight ESU points in an 83-65 Lady Hornets victory on Saturday.
“She just took her game to another level,” ESU coach Brandon Schneider said, “and made sure that we weren’t going to let them back in it.”
It couldn’t have come at a better time for ESU.
Sparked by a 14-3 run, Central cut the Lady Hornets’ lead to 65-56 with 5:04 left and looked to be gaining confidence late.
Stueve put to rest any thoughts of a comeback.
Her quick three from the corner was followed by another trey from the same spot a minute later.
The senior followed with a bank shot, a three-point play and then another 3-pointer from the side, putting up the first 14 points in an 18-4 spurt that stretched ESU’s advantage to 83-60.
“The last few shots I took, I kind of got in a little streak there,” Stueve said. “I wish it would have been like that the whole game, but I guess it came at a time we kind of needed it.”
The final minutes put the finishing touches on what had already been an impressive day for Stueve.
The Olpe native finished with 27 points on 9-of-12 shooting to go along with a season-high 16 rebounds.
“I thought she played really determined,” Schneider said. “She was very aggressive on the offensive end, and she wasn’t going to let anybody else get any defensive rebounds.
“She just showed a lot of leadership through her play.”
ESU executed well all day against Central’s man-to-man defense.
The Lady Hornets made 30 of 53 shots (57 percent) and also hit 7 of 16 three-point attempts (44 percent).
Much of ESU’s early offense came from point guard Cassondra Boston, who was able to make plays by using the dribble-drive.
The sophomore had 11 first-half points, going 5-for-6 from the floor in the first 20 minutes.
“I just felt like they were trying to get up and pressure us, so we just had to be aggressive,” Boston said. “If they’re going to get up and come up into us, we might as well be aggressive and go around them.”
Boston finished with 21 points, making 7 of 10 shots.
ESU established itself as the tougher team inside, out-rebounding Central 40-29.
The Lady Hornets also held down UCM forward Jojuana Jones, keeping her to just seven points on 3-of-14 shooting.
Ida Edwards added 12 points for ESU, while Andrea Leiker contributed 10.
ESU (18-5, 11-3 MIAA) has won seven in a row and remains in a tie with Washburn for the top spot in the MIAA.
The Lady Hornets and Lady Blues are set to meet in Topeka on Saturday, three days after ESU’s next game at Pittsburg State on Wednesday.
ESU women 83, Central Missouri 65
Saturday at White Auditorium
Central Missouri 28 37 — 65
No. 20 ESU 40 43 — 83
CENTRAL MISSOURI (11-12, 6-8 MIAA)
Dominica Blakemore 6-10 0-1 16, Lindsey Maple 4-10 6-6 15, Kara Fleming 4-9 4-6 12, Jojuana Jones 3-14 1-2 7, Kelce Goebel 2-9 2-2 7, Stephenie Cook 2-5 0-0 5, Deidra Dace 1-6 1-2 3, Rachel Cutts 0-0 0-0 0, Stephanie Hicks 0-0 0-0 0, Meila Pence 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-63 14-19 65.
EMPORIA STATE (18-5, 11-3 MIAA)
Michelle Stueve 9-12 5-6 27, Cassondra Boston 7-10 5-6 21, Ida Edwards 5-8 2-4 12, Andrea Leiker 4-12 1-2 10, Allie Renberg 2-3 3-4 7, Lacy Corker 2-3 0-0 4, Jamie Augustyn 1-2 0-0 2, Alli Volkens 0-0 0-0 0, Bree Kisner 0-2 0-0 0, Tina Commons 0-1 0-0 0, Becky Zabel 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-53 16-22 83.
3-point goals — Central Missouri 7-17 (Blakemore 4-5, Maple 1-4, Cook 1-4, Goebel 1-2, Dace 0-1, Fleming 0-1), Emporia State 7-16 (Stueve 4-6, Boston 2-4, Leiker 1-4, Augustyn 0-1, Kisner 0-1). Fouled out — Central Missouri: None; Emporia State: None. Rebounds — Central Missouri 29 (Jones 12), Emporia State 40 (Stueve 16). Assists — Central Missouri 12 (Cook 4), Emporia State 18 (Leiker, Boston, Corker 4). Total fouls — Central Missouri 20, Emporia State 17. Att — 2,684.
emporia (anonymous) says...
My goodness, Michelle...you are an amazing gal!
February 18, 2008 at 9:59 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )