PITTSBURG — With the game tied, Ida Edwards rebounded a Pittsburg State 3-point miss and passed to Emporia State point guard Cassondra Boston.
Emporia State coach Brandon Schneider had told his players not to anticipate that he would call a timeout if they got the ball back.
“Don’t look at me,” he told his team. “Just push it and attack the rim.”
So when Boston caught the ball with about nine seconds left, she did not hesitate.
“I just pushed it, and I felt like they weren’t going to stop me,” she said. “And I just went all the way.”
With 2.5 seconds left, Boston made the layup, and Emporia State won the game, 78-76.
The Lady Hornets gave the Gorillas their second conference loss of the season, and when they got back to locker room, they found even more reason to celebrate. Washburn also lost for the second time in conference Saturday night and the Lady Hornets were in sole possession of first place for the first time all season.
The Lady Hornets certainly didn’t make it easy on themselves. In seven days, they lost their first conference game, blowing a 16-point lead to Southwest Baptist; nearly blew another double-digit lead on Wednesday in a win over Missouri Southern; and they surrendered a 20-point lead on Saturday, and even trailed the Gorillas by four points with a 1:19 left.
In the Southwest Baptist loss, the Lady Hornets never responded when Baptist started to make its run. They panicked and looked shocked. But they responded to Southern’s run on Wednesday, and when they trailed by four late to Pitt State, Schneider knew during a timeout at the 1:19-mark that his team would respond.
“There’s times where you can look in the team’s eyes and feel like, ‘ah, (shoot), we’re going to lose,’ or, ‘we’ll still in it,’” Schneider said. “And I liked the look in their eyes. We basically talked in that 30-second timeout what we wanted to do for the next minute. And our kids did a really nice job of executing.”
Boston had struggled in the first half. She did not score, missed five shots and played only six minutes because of foul trouble. But she had started to look like herself in the second half, and Schneider decided during the timeout that Emporia State’s next play would go either to Boston or Edwards.
Boston went around a screen and made a 17-foot jumper to cut the lead to two.
“Boston knows she’s a great shooter, just like we know,” Edwards said. “And I have never known her to stop shooting just because she misses shots. I’m glad she stayed aggressive and won us the game.”
Sophia Lenard followed Boston’s jumper with a steal and missed a layup, but Edwards was there to put back the miss and tie the game with 38 seconds left.
Pitt State’s Bailey Waugh had a shot to give the Gorillas the lead, but her 3-pointer bounced off the top of the glass and into Edwards’ hands, her 14th rebound of the game.
If Boston would have missed the game-winning layup, Edwards said she would have had her 15th rebound.
“If it had rolled off,” Edwards said, “I was going to break a neck to get the ball and put it back in.”
Edwards didn’t have to, but she did plenty to help the Lady Hornets be in a position to win. She helped the Lady Hornets build a 20-point lead in the first half, scoring 15 points on 7-for-7 shooting.
“Brandon did a good job of telling the team to get me the ball and I just finished plays,” Edwards said.
But Edwards’ perfect first half was negated by a sluggish start to the second half by the Lady Hornets. Pitt State opened the half on a 16-2 run and took the lead 4:36 into the half, 46-45.
“I think our bench has got to play better,” Schneider said. “Lacy Corker was really good all night and Allie Renberg didn’t get much of a chance because of foul trouble, but we’ve got to get more consistent play out of our bench.
“Obviously, we get up and we sub and it shrinks back down and then we get up again 20 and all of the sudden it shrinks back down. Those kids are capable of maintaining a high level of play and they need to continue to challenge themselves to do that.”
With both ESU centers Alli Volkens and Renberg in foul trouble, Pitt State’s top post player, Nicole McCombs, took advantage, scoring 24 points, 12 of which came at the free throw line.
McComb’s fouled out with 4:20 left, and on the Gorillas’ final possession when they would have undoubtedly gone to McCombs, they settled for a 3-pointer.
“We knew coming in that she was going to be pretty tough,” Edwards said. “I think she’s a good player. She’s pretty physical down there, so we had to be tough with her back. I think we were aggressive enough on offense and defense to get her in foul trouble, send her on out of the way and finish the game.”
The Lady Hornets have a week to rest before welcoming Washburn to White Auditorium on Saturday. When they heard of Washburn’s loss after the game, there was a quick “Wooo” that came from the locker room.
“I’m still trying to recuperate from our win, but to hear that, that’s a big momentum for us,” Edwards said. “We’re not going to take them light. ... But right now, I’m about to enjoy this win.”
Saturday at John Lance Arena
Emporia State 43 35 — 78
Pittsburg State 32 44 — 76
EMPORIA STATE (13-2, 7-1 MIAA)
Edwards 9-13 3-3 21, Lenard 5-14 3-6 14, Boston 4-14 3-4 12, Corker 5-9 0-0 10, Leiker 2-8 4-4 9, Renberg 3-6 0-0 6, Volkens 2-3 0-1 4, Miller 0-1 2-4 2, Augustyn 0-0 0-1 0. Totals 30-68 15-23 78.
PITTSBURG STATE (10-4, 5-2)
McCombs 6-16 12-17 24, Buchanan 4-14 2-2 11, Demarest 4-8 1-2 11, Gilbert 2-5 5-8 9, Waugh 3-5 0-0 9, Taylor 4-11 0-0 8, Glenn 1-3 2-3 4, Conerly 0-1 0-0 0, Jones 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-63 22-32 76.
3-point goals — Emporia State 3-11 (Leiker 1-4, Boston 1-3, Lenard 1-3, Corker 0-1), Pittsburg State 6-11 (Waugh 3-5, Demarest 2-4, Buchanan 1-2). Fouled out — Emporia State: Volkens; Pittsburg State: McCombs. Rebounds — Emporia State 46 (Edwards,Ida 14), Pittsburg State 41 (McCombs,Nicole 10). Assists — Emporia State 11 (Lenard 4), Pittsburg State 11 (Taylor 3, Gilbert 3). Total fouls — Emporia State 24, Pittsburg State 20. A — 2,248.