BOLIVAR, Mo. — Call it a Bearcat trap.
Southwest Baptist implemented the full-court press for most of Saturday’s game against Emporia State.
ESU coach Brandon Schneider said the Lady Hornets did the rest of the work for the Bearcats in SBU’s 76-73 upset victory at the Meyer Sports Center.
“You press for two reasons: You press to create turnovers and you press to get the other team to take quick shots,” Schneider said. “We just walked right into it. We did exactly what they wanted us to do.”
Though the Lady Hornets struggled early, a late surge still gave them the opportunity to win it late.
ESU trailed 68-57 with 4:50 left before staging its comeback.
Helped by four Michelle Stueve free throws and a pair of Andrea Leiker threes, the Lady Hornets closed the gap to 71-68 with 2:11 left..1Cassondra Boston completed ESU’s 13-3 run, draining a 3-pointer from the top of the key to tie the game at 71 with 1:37 remaining.
It wouldn’t be enough.
After a free throw, Kelly Reinkemeyer’s turn-around jumper pushed SBU’s lead to three with 1:02 left.
Trailing 76-73 with 15.1 seconds remaining, ESU couldn’t get it tied.
Boston’s three from the right wing hit off the rim, and after Stueve picked off the offensive rebound, she shot an airball from the left side.
Ida Edwards got the final offensive rebound with no time left.
“Obviously we’re disappointed,” Leiker said. “We made a lot of mental mistakes. We just beat ourselves.”
That was especially the case in the first half, when SBU’s press sped up the Lady Hornets faster than they wanted to go.
ESU, bothered by SBU’s four-guard defensive lineup, had 16 first-half turnovers. The Lady Hornets trailed 35-33 at the break but were down by as many as 10 before a late run.
“We really lacked patience,” Schneider said. “We want to do it all right now. We want to do it all on the first pass.
“I’d venture to say any time that we move the ball and touch the three parts of the floor, I think we’ve got pretty good stuff.”
ESU ended the game with 25 turnovers. The Lady Hornets have now turned the ball over 20 or more times in seven games this season.
“We’re trying to get it fixed,” Leiker said, “but it definitely didn’t happen this game.”
The turnovers ruined what otherwise was a decent offensive performance for ESU.
The Lady Hornets were 24-of-52 from the field (46 percent) and 17-for-23 from the free-throw line (74 percent). Both numbers were right on ESU’s season averages.
“We just weren’t patient enough,” Schneider said, “to get them in a half-court game.”
ESU, which surrendered 11 offensive rebounds to SBU, had 15 fewer shot attempts than the Bearcats.
On defense, ESU once again struggled with a quick point guard causing problems with penetration.
SBU’s Erika Souza frequently used the dribble to get by ESU’s first defender, then passed to a teammate to get her team an open shot.
Souza finished with nine assists and just three turnovers, adding 15 points on 5-of-12 shooting.
“Sometimes we don’t guard things the way we’re supposed to,” Leiker said. “That allows them to execute their offense better.”
Stueve had a team-high 15 points for ESU, while Leiker and Edwards both contributed 14.
The Lady Hornets did see some positives from Boston, who played her best game since suffering an ankle sprain on Dec. 3.
The sophomore scored 10 points in 22 minutes. She played only 9 minutes Wednesday against Fort Hays State.
“My ankle’s starting to get better,” Boston said. “I think the adrenaline helped.”
It was ESU’s first loss to SBU since 2002 — a string of 11 games.
Southwest Baptist women 76, ESU 73
Saturday at Bolivar, Mo.
No. 13 ESU 33 40 — 73
Southwest Baptist 35 41 — 76
ESU (8-3, 1-1 MIAA)
Michelle Stueve 4-11 6-7 15, Andrea Leiker 4-11 2-4 14, Ida Edwards 5-11 4-6 14, Allie Renberg 3-4 3-4 10, Cassondra Boston 4-8 0-0 10, Alli Volkens 1-2 2-2 4, Bree Kisner 2-3 0-0 4, Becky Zabel 1-1 0-0 2, Lacy Corker 0-1 0-0 0, Jamie Augustyn 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-52 17-23 73.
Southwest Baptist (9-2, 1-1 MIAA)
Cortney Shewmaker 4-6 7-9 16, Erika Souza 5-12 4-7 15, Katelin Cutbirth 6-9 1-1 13, Kelly Reinkemeyer 5-11 0-0 10, Rachel Graves 3-11 2-2 10, Courtney Creed 3-6 0-1 6, Darla Gatschenberger 2-8 1-2 6, Courtney Heady 0-4 0-0 0, Erica Smith 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-67 15-22 76.
3-point goals — ESU 8-19 (Leiker 4-6, Boston 2-5, Renberg 1-1, Stueve 1-6, Corker 0-1), Southwest Baptist 5-13 (Graves 2-7, Gatschenberger 1-1, Souza 1-3, Shewmaker 1-1, Creed 0-1). Fouled out — None. Rebounds — ESU 37 (Stueve 13), Southwest Baptist 31 (Reinkemeyer 11). Assists — ESU 16 (Stueve 4), Southwest Baptist 17 (Souza 9). Total fouls — ESU 18, Southwest Baptist 20. Att — 721.