AMARILLO, Texas — Michelle Stueve will be the first to admit that it’s been a long week.
The Emporia State women’s basketball team is accustomed to advancing deep into the MIAA Tournament.
That didn’t happen this year, as the Lady Hornets were upset in the first round last Thursday by Truman, 77-70.
“I think the first couple of days were the toughest,” Stueve said, “knowing that we were home and the tournament was still going on.”
Now, the Lady Hornets will have the chance to show that they’ve moved on and also learned from their mistakes.
And, Stueve confessed, there were quite a few things that needed fixing from ESU’s last performance against Truman — one in which ESU trailed by as many as 17 points.
“I just thought we didn’t come out with a lot of fire. We didn’t come out aggressive, ready to play,” Stueve said. “It looked like we took them for granted a little bit. I don’t know if we meant to do that, but that’s what it seemed like.”
Part of the confidence might have come because the Lady Hornets had beaten Truman by a combined 63 points in the teams’ two previous meetings.
A similar situation presents itself this week with the start of the NCAA Tournament.
Fourth-seeded ESU will take on fifth-seeded Southwest Baptist on Friday, and the Lady Hornets come in after dominating the schools’ last matchup just 12 days ago.
On March 1, ESU took a 120-83 victory over SBU on Senior Night at White Auditorium.
Stueve said a second straight letdown wasn’t likely.
“I think we just know that, going into this tournament, our intensity and our aggressiveness and the way we play has to be a given,” Stueve said. “There’s some things we can’t help, but we have to be ready to play.”
The two MIAA schools know quite a bit about each other after already playing twice this season.
SBU will use a full-court press and also quick changes in defenses to try to throw off ESU. The Bearcats also will be led offensively by quick point guard Erika Souza, who has averaged 19.1 points per game this season.
One positive sign for ESU is that SBU hasn’t played well away from home this season. The Bearcats were 14-1 in Bolivar, Mo., but only 7-8 away from their home gym.
Meanwhile, Stueve finds herself on the verge of history.
The senior needs just 40 points to break Carolyn Richard’s school record of 2,378 points.
Stueve has averaged 33.6 points over her last five games in the NCAA Tournament.
ESU guard Andrea Leiker said the team understood the significance of this year’s postseason, mostly because it would be Stueve’s last.
“We want to make an impact going out of here for her,” Leiker said. “We’ll definitely take that into consideration in these games and work hard for her.”
The two-time All-American Stueve said that while the reality was setting in that a loss would end her collegiate career, she was focusing her attention on playing well.
“I look at it as any other year,” Stueve said. “Whether you’re a freshman or a senior, you don’t want your season to end early. That’s just kind of how I’m looking at it now.
“We’ll have to deal with the other stuff later.”
ESU is 14-6 all-time in NCAA Regional play. Though the Lady Hornets lost in the first round to Texas A&M-Commerce last season, they advanced to the Regional Championship game in both 2005 and 2006.
Stueve, Townsend earn All-Region honors
Michelle Stueve is one step closer to becoming a three-time All-American, as she was named Daktronics first-team All-Region on Wednesday.
The ESU senior is the only MIAA representative on the first team.
Stueve, who is the conference’s second-leading scorer and third-leading rebounder, is a finalist for the WBCA State Farm All-America team.
ESU men’s player DeAndre Townsend also earned distinction on Wednesday, taking second-team All-Region honors.
Townsend and Pittsburg State’s Cory Abercrombie were the only MIAA players that were named to the All-Region squad.
This year, Townsend became the first MIAA player ever to lead the league in both points and assists.