The Emporia Gazette

May 28, 2012

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The smiles in the post-game media room said it all for Michelle Stueve and Andrea Leiker.

No, it’s not close to tournament time yet. But the Lady Hornets are once again playing like, well ... the Lady Hornets.

The latest evidence was Wednesday, when No. 19 ESU rolled to a 98-61 victory over Truman, a team that entered the game at 3-1 in the conference.

“I think there’s a lot more to accomplish that we’re not near accomplishing yet,” Stueve said, “but at least we feel like now we’re kind of in the right footsteps toward that direction.”

For the second straight game, ESU delivered the knockout blow early.

The Lady Hornets — led by a 4-for-4 shooting start from Leiker — jumped out to a 16-0 lead in the first 4 1/2 minutes.

ESU’s shooters, like Leiker, benefited by an overaggressive Truman defense, which double-teamed every time the ball entered the post.

“That was just leaving a lot of us wide open,” Leiker said. “We were getting good looks, and you have to take those.”

The Lady Hornets made seven of their first nine 3-pointers to take a 30-9 lead halfway through the first half.

ESU’s defense wasn’t too shabby, either.

Truman started 0-of-9 from the field with four turnovers. The Bulldogs finally picked up their first field goal 6 minutes, 18 seconds into the game.

Pushing the pace once again paid dividends for the Lady Hornets.

ESU’s fast-break offense led to easy scores inside, as the Lady Hornets finished with 40 points in the paint.

“I think it helps our team a lot,” Stueve said. “I think the better tempo we have, the better our team plays.”

The transition game also appeared to put some life in ESU’s half-court offense.

The Lady Hornets executed about as well as they have all season in their sets, making better passes and cuts, which also limited their turnovers.

ESU had just 18 giveaways against Truman, breaking a string of six straight games with at least 20 turnovers.

“I just feel like we’re playing with better rhythm on offense,” ESU coach Brandon Schneider said. “We’r e playing with more confidence, and it just looks like to me they’re having a little bit more fun on that end of the floor.”

The improvement showed in the statistics.

ESU dished out a season-high 33 assists, with eight coming from Cassondra Boston and six coming from Bree Kisner.

“I thought 26 (assists) was a good number for us on Saturday,” Schneider said. “To follow it up with 33, I think, is what we’re looking for.”

After Leiker dominated the first half, Stueve carried the offensive load in the final 20 minutes.

Seventeen of Leiker’s team-high 21 points came before the intermission, as she was 6-of-8 from the floor and 5-for-6 from long range in her 14 first-half minutes.

Stueve found her groove in the second half, making 5 of 7 shots and 4 of 5 3-pointers to score 14 of her 20 points in the final 20 minutes.

Allie Renberg contributed a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Ida Edwards had 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting.

Boston added 10 points, and Kisner had four of ESU’s season-high 13 steals.

Truman’s Georgia Mueller, who came in second in the MIAA in scoring, finished with 21 points on 8-of-22 shooting.

Emporia State men 98, Truman 61

Wednesday at White Auditorium

Truman 27 34 — 61

No. 19 ESU 51 47 — 98

TRUMAN (11-3, 3-2 MIAA)

Georgia Mueller 8-22 5-6 21, Candace McGee 3-12 2-2 8, Katie Fowler 3-4 0-0 8, Laura Joya 2-7 3-4 8, Malorie Kiecker 3-7 0-0 6, Sarah Seberger 1-2 1-4 4, Julia Montebello 1-3 1-2 3, Natalie Fleming 1-1 0-0 3, Ashley Ward 0-0 0-0 0, Mindy Hutchcroft 0-1 0-0 0, Sarah Gordon 0-1 0-0 0, Carmen McGee 0-2 0-0 0, Julie Guinn 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-62 12-18 61.

EMPORIA STATE (10-4, 3-2 MIAA)

Andrea Leiker 8-13 0-0 21, Michelle Stueve 7-17 1-1 20, Ida Edwards 7-10 0-0 15, Allie Renberg 6-9 2-2 14, Cassondra Boston 4-8 0-0 10, Bree Kisner 3-8 0-0 6, Jamie Augustyn 1-3 2-2 5, Alli Volkens 2-6 1-2 5, Becky Zabel 1-1 0-0 2, Kayla Krueger 0-0 0-0 0, Tina Commons 0-1 0-0 0, Lacy Corker 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 39-79 6-7 98.

3-point goals — Truman 5-17 (Fowler 2-2, Fleming 1-1, Joya 1-2, Seberger 1-2, Hutchcroft 0-1, Car. McGee 0-2, Can. McGee 0-6, Mueller 0-1), Emporia State 14-29 (Leiker 5-8, Stueve 5-9, Boston 2-4, Edwards 1-1, Augustyn 1-3, Commons 0-1, Corker 0-2, Kisner 0-1). Fouled out — Truman: None; Emporia State: None. Rebounds — Truman 30 (Mueller 7), Emporia State 50 (Renberg 10). Assists — Truman 11 (Car. McGee, Joya, Kiecker 2), Emporia State 33 (Boston 8). Total fouls — Truman 9, Emporia State 14. Att — 1439.