The Emporia State Lady Hornets have discovered a simple way to win even with their turnover problems.
Just make a ton of shots.
ESU literally couldn’t miss to start off Saturday’s game, making its first nine shots on the way to a 92-62 victory over Pittsburg State.
“If we just push our tempo and run the floor like we know how and play our game,” ESU forward Allie Renberg said, “then things just go better for us.”
The hot shooting didn’t stop early.
The Lady Hornets, urged by coach Brandon Schneider to “Push! Push!” the ball all game, created easier scoring opportunities against an unset PSU defense.
ESU made 17 of its 26 shots in the first half (64 percent) and was 35-for-66 (53 percent) in the game.
“I think our team enjoys playing at a quicker pace,” Schneider said. “I think we’d been walking the ball up too much on makes and misses.”
The shooting wasn’t the team’s only area of improvement.
ESU (9-4, 2-2 MIAA) used its depth to its advantage, with Schneider oftentimes substituting 5-for-5 to make sure his players were rested.
“I don’t go into a game really thinking about that,” Schneider said of the substitution pattern, “but I thought with the tempo the way it was, we were going to need to try to keep people a little bit fresher.”
The change effectively wore down PSU (8-5, 2-2 MIAA) in the second half, as the Lady Hornets went on an 18-2 run to build their lead to 80-45 with 8:06 left.
Four minutes later, after consecutive fast-break lay-ups by Andrea Leiker, ESU had its largest lead at 92-53.
“I think we were in a little better shape than they were,” Renberg said. “They seemed a little tired.”
The Lady Hornets stayed in control after their fast start, keeping a lead of at least 11 points the whole way after their 21-8 game-opening run.
It wasn’t just a few players contributing, either.
ESU had perhaps its most balanced effort, as nine Lady Hornets played 15 minutes or more.
In addition, nine ESU players scored, and five of them were in double figures.
Schneider also shuffled his starters, making Renberg and Bree Kisner part of his first rotation.
The coach couldn’t argue with the results.
Renberg made 5 of 7 shots for 13 points — her most in four games — and Kisner had seven points, five rebounds, three assists and just one turnover in 19 minutes.
“I was nervous to start,” Kisner said, “but I know my role, and I think I did it pretty well tonight.”
ESU was led by Michelle Stueve, who reached another milestone with her first 3-pointer of the game.
Stueve eclipsed the 2,000-point mark, becoming just the second Lady Hornet to do so. The senior trails only Carolyn Richard, who had 2,378 points in her ESU career.
“When you hear those kind of numbers, the word that comes to mind for me is consistency. You have to be consistently good to get 2,000 points,” Schneider said. “Obviously, since she was a freshman, she’s been very consistent in her ability to finish plays and make shots.”
Leiker added 15 points for ESU, while Cassondra Boston (11) and Ida Edwards (11) also had double figures.
Lacy Corker contributed eight assists in just 16 minutes.
ESU also improved its bench scoring, getting 27 points from its reserves. The Lady Hornets had just two bench points Wednesday against Washburn.
Though ESU didn’t completely solve its turnover problem, the Lady Hornets at least forced more (23) than they committed (20).
“We’re not going to get our turnovers down overnight,” Schneider said. “It’s going to take some time, but I think we need to look for opportunities to force more (turnovers).”
The blowout victory came at a welcome time for ESU, which had lost its last two games and stumbled to a 1-2 start in MIAA play.
“We really needed that,” Renberg said with a smile. “It was a lot of fun.”
Emporia State women 92, Pittsburg State 62
Saturday at White Auditorium
No. 16 Pittsburg State 31 31 — 62
Emporia State 45 47 — 92
PITTSBURG STATE (8-5, 2-2 MIAA)
Brianna Buchanan 8-16 4-4 23, Laura Glenn 2-7 7-8 11, Katelyn Hinkin 3-8 1-2 9, DePrice Taylor 2-10 1-2 5, Caitlin Demarest 1-4 2-2 4, Samantha Troutman 0-0 4-7 4, Emily Sloan 1-1 0-0 2, Bailey Waugh 1-1 0-0 2, Victoria Martin 0-2 2-2 2, Marissa Poppe 0-5 0-0 0, Linda Igbinigie 0-0 0-0 0, Liz Witte 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 18-57 21-27 62.
EMPORIA STATE (9-4, 2-2 MIAA)
Michelle Stueve 7-13 0-0 19, Andrea Leiker 6-11 1-4 15, Allie Renberg 5-7 3-4 13, Cassondra Boston 5-12 0-0 11, Ida Edwards 5-7 1-2 11, Bree Kisner 3-5 0-2 7, Jamie Augustyn 2-4 0-0 6, Alli Volkens 0-4 5-6 5, Lacy Corker 2-2 0-0 5, Kayla Krueger 0-0 0-0 0, Becky Zabel 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 35-66 10-18 92.
3-point goals — Pittsburg State 5-14 (Buchanan 3-5, Hinkin 2-5, Demarest 0-1, Poppe 0-1, Witte 0-2), Emporia State 12-22 (Stueve 5-7, Leiker 2-2, Augustyn 2-3, Corker 1-1, Kisner 1-2, Boston 1-7). Fouled out — Pittsburg State: None; Emporia State: None. Rebounds — Pittsburg State 35 (Buchanan 8), Emporia State 41 (Edwards 10). Assists — Pittsburg State 10 (Taylor, Demarest 4), Emporia State 26 (Corker 8). Total fouls — Pittsburg State 18, Emporia State 21. Att — 2685.
hartford (anonymous) says...
I'd like to see Kayla Krueger get more playing time! She is awesome!
January 15, 2008 at 12:06 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )