Everyone keeps reminding ESU women’s basketball coach Brandon Schneider that Michelle Stueve ran out of eligibility.
Schneider is well aware, but he wants everyone to know that the rest of the 2007-08 MIAA regular season champions return, and they’re healthy for a change.
The MIAA coaches have at least taken notice. On Monday at MIAA media day, the coaches picked Emporia State to finish second in the conference this season behind Washburn.
“I didn’t anticipate us to be the first pick losing a player like Michele with all the things that she achieved,” Schneider said. “But it’s nice to know that the coaches do respect the people that we have coming back and a new player, and I think that we’re going to set our goals very high and work very hard to achieve them.”
The Lady Blues return three starters from the team that ended the Hornets season in the NCAA Division II Sweet 16. Emporia State was only three points behind Washburn in the poll and ESU received four first-place votes with Washburn picking up the other seven.
The Hornets’ top returnees include Cassondra Boston, Ida Edwards, Andrea Lieker, Alli Volkens, Allie Renberg, Lacy Corker and Bree Kisner. Edwards is the team’s leading returning scorer at 13.7 points per game.
“Ida Edwards, I’m very pleased with her work ethic at practice, her work ethic in the preseason,” Schneider said. “We feel like that was something she was missing to put her over the hump a year ago. She’s become a much more consistent worker and we think that’s going to pay dividends for us.”
Boston earned second-team All-MIAA honors last season when she was hampered by injuries most of the year. Schneider said Boston is healthy this season and she looks like a different player.
Lieker, who averaged 12.4 points per game last season and made 46.2 percent of her 3-point attempts, is seventh in career 3-pointers after her first three seasons with the Hornets and was also a member of the MIAA All-Defensive team last year.
Emporia State’s only newcomer is junior college transfer Sophia Lenard. Lenard, a small forward, led Central Arizona to the NJCAA National Championship last season, averaging 10.5 points, 5.6 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game.
Corker, who started five games last year for the Hornets and had a team-leading 116 assists, has been a player that has impressed Schneider in practice thus far.
“I think Lacy Corker is a player who came back in really good shape,” Schneider said. “I really like what she’s bringing to the table in terms of leadership and her basketball IQ, her ability to play a lot of different positions for us.”
While the Hornets return a lot of talent and scoring, they still will have to compensate for 8.7 rebounds and 21.1 points per game and a three-time All-American.
“I think in some situations it could be different because we’re a different team,” Schneider said. “Michelle has been the foundation of our team in a lot of areas and situations. I think our team will call for a lot more balance. We’re going to need contributions from a lot of different people in a lot of different areas.
“I don’t think that we can automatically count on one player coming in and giving us 24 and 10. Now hopefully three or four players can contribute in different ways and we’ll continue to get good rebounding, we’ll continue to get good 3-point shooting. We’ll continue to get all the things that Michelle provided but maybe in different ways.”