Lady Hornets right themselves thanks to hot outside shooting
By Jesse Newell
Thursday, February 28, 2008
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. — The Truman women paid a hefty price for doubling the post against Emporia State on Wednesday.
The Lady Hornets’ passes inside led to open shots outside, as ESU hit a season-high 14 3-pointers in an 80-54 victory over Truman at Pershing Arena.
“It was nice,” ESU senior Michelle Stueve said of the hot shooting. “It helped us get our confidence back a little.”
ESU was coming off a humbling 78-52 loss to Washburn on Saturday — one in which it made just 2 of 18 three-point attempts.
The Lady Hornets had no such problems Wednesday against Truman.
Helped by the unselfish play of its forwards, ESU made 14 of 31 shots from beyond the arc (45 percent).
“It definitely came because of our post players,” ESU guard Cassondra Boston said. “When they were trapped, they kicked it out.”
The Lady Hornets were especially hot in the final 20 minutes, knocking down nine of 17 long-range shots.
Eight of ESU’s final 10 field goals of the game were 3-pointers, with three each coming from Boston and Stueve.
Meanwhile, ESU coach Brandon Schneider also was pleased with his team’s ability to listen.
In the Washburn game, the coach was left frustrated after his team gave up easy layups off back-cuts — a play that had been discussed during practice earlier in the week.
“That was the big thing going into this game: Can we follow a plan? Can we follow a scouting report? Can we go into a game and execute what we talked about for two or three days?” Schneider said. “We did a better job of that tonight.”
ESU jumped out to a 40-33 first-half lead with good production on the offensive end.
Helped by nine offensive rebounds, the Lady Hornets had 40 shot attempts in the first half, making 17 of them (43 percent).
“This time of year, possessions are really important,” Schneider said. “You’ve got to get as many extra ones as you can.”
The Lady Hornets put the game away shortly after halftime.
Ida Edwards scored the first four points, helping ESU on a 14-4 run that extended the advantage to 54-37.
Consecutive threes by Stueve started a 14-0 spurt 7 minutes later, as the Lady Hornets pushed the lead all the way to 71-44 with 4:48 remaining.
Stueve led ESU with 24 points, making 8 of 16 shots.
Boston added 15 points and a 3-for-4 performance from the three-point line, while Andrea Leiker and Edwards both added 14.
ESU was aided by better defensive pressure, especially on the perimeter.
The Lady Hornets forced 21 turnovers and also made it tough for the Truman guards to get it inside cleanly to All-MIAA candidate Georgia Mueller.
The junior still finished with 25 points on 10-of-14 shooting.
“We made a couple of mistakes on Mueller, but I thought we slowed down their rhythm a little bit,” Schneider said. “I didn’t think she ever got to going where she’d score six or eight in a row.”
The Lady Hornets had 21 assists Wednesday after mustering just five against Washburn.
ESU (20-6, 13-4 MIAA) handed Truman its worst home loss of the year.
“I thought we were really focused,” Stueve said. “This is historically a tough place for us to play, and I thought we responded really well.”
Stueve honored as
Academic All-American
ESU’s Michelle Stueve was named an ESPN The Magazine Academic second-team All-American on Wednesday.
Stueve, who broke the MIAA’s all-time scoring mark earlier this year, has a 3.58 grade-point average in biology.
The senior from Olpe has already been named an All-American twice for her accomplishments on the basketball court by CoSIDA and the WBCA.
Stueve will be honored in a brief ceremony before her final home game at 1:30 p.m. Saturday against Southwest Baptist.
Emporia State women 80, Truman 54
Wednesday at Kirksville, Mo.
Emporia State 40 40 — 80
Truman 33 21 — 54
EMPORIA STATE (20-6, 13-4 MIAA)
Michelle Stueve 8-16 2-2 24, Cassondra Boston 5-11 2-4 15, Andrea Leiker 5-12 0-0 14, Ida Edwards 6-11 2-2 14, Alli Volkens 2-2 0-0 4, Allie Renberg 1-4 0-0 3, Bree Kisner 1-3 0-0 2, Becky Zabel 1-3 0-0 2, Jamie Augustyn 1-3 0-0 2, Tina Commons 0-1 0-0 0, Lacy Corker 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 30-70 6-8 80.
TRUMAN (14-12, 6-11 MIAA)
Georgia Mueller 10-14 5-7 25, Candace McGee 3-11 1-1 9, Laura Joya 1-3 2-2 5, Julia Montebello 2-5 0-0 4, Malorie Kiecker 1-6 1-2 3, Katie Fowler 1-8 0-0 3, Natalie Fleming 1-1 0-0 3, Sarah Seberger 1-1 0-0 2, Ashley Ward 0-0 0-0 0, Amanda Ward 0-0 0-0 0, Mindy Hutchcroft 0-0 0-0 0, Sarah Gordon 0-1 0-0 0, Carmen McGee 0-7 0-0 0. Totals 20-57 9-12 54.
3-point goals — Emporia State 14-31 (Stueve 6-13, Leiker 4-8, Boston 3-4, Renberg 1-1, Augustyn 0-1, Commons 0-1, Corker 0-3), Truman 5-24 (Can. McGee 2-8, Joya 1-2, Fleming 1-1, Fowler 1-5, Car. McGee 0-7, Montebello 0-1). Fouled out — Emporia State: None; Truman: None. Rebounds — Emporia State 41 (Edwards 8), Truman 36 (Mueller 9). Assists — Emporia State 21(Leiker 5), Truman 12 (Fowler 3). Total fouls — Emporia State 16, Truman 8. Att — 550.