KANSAS CITY, MO. — As the Washburn players handed out MIAA tournament champion T-shirts on Sunday after a 78-69 win, the Emporia State Lady Hornets gathered and ran off the floor as quickly as they could.
No one looked back to see that they needed to return to receive post-tournament awards. The only place the Lady Hornets want to look now is forward, with the NCAA tournament starting on Friday in Canyon, Texas.
But, as Cassondra Boston can attest, it might not hurt to take a look back.
Boston walked off the floor following Emporia State’s regular-season loss at Washburn disappointed after committing five turnovers and scoring only eights points.
“I’ve never had a player as hurt as she was after the game in Topeka,” ESU coach Brandon Schneider said. “She was really, really hurt by obviously the loss, but most importantly about how she played.”
Boston bounced back with a spectacular performance in the
MIAA title game. She scored 25 points, had six assists and nearly carried her team to a comeback win.
As for her teammates, several will take her place in looking for a shot at redemption after underperforming against the Lady Blues.
“I don’t know that Washburn the last two meetings has gotten a complete performance from us,” Schneider said. “We’ve kind of had different players step up and play well. Going into the tournament, regardless of who we play, I’d really like for them to get our team and our best effort.”
Saint Mary’s, the region’s five seed, will give fourth-seeded Emporia State its chance to bounce back. Washburn (25-5), the second seed in the South Central Regional, and Emporia State could meet for a fourth time if both teams make the regional championship game for a second straight year.
“They’re a very good basketball team, and I just don’t know how many great teams are out there, but they’re one of them,” Washburn coach Ron McHenry said. “… I would not be looking forward to playing them again.”
Emporia State didn’t look like such a great team at the start on Sunday. Washburn jumped out to a 10-0 lead and led 16-4 before Boston took over the game, scoring the first nine points of a 12-1 run.
Boston also scored the first two points of the game for ESU, and once the Lady Hornets got down, she came down the floor nearly every possession and either immediately took the ball to the basket or pulled up for a 3-pointer.
“I didn’t want to lose, and I just came out wanting to be aggressive,” Boston said. “When we started down like that, we had to find a way to fight back, and I was being aggressive and going to the hoop.”
Alli Volkens came off the bench and provided similar aggression in the second half, helping spark another comeback. Volkens scored six points during an 8-0 run that pulled Emporia State within one, 54-53, with 11:21 left in the game.
Volkens, like Boston, struggled in the earlier loss at Washburn. She scored only two points and shared responsibility with Allie Renberg for Washburn’s Stanecia Graham scoring 28 points. Volkens responded on Sunday by scoring 15 points and blocking two shots.
“They’re going to come in there and think that they’re better,” Volkens said. “(Graham) had a good game last game, but I just wanted to come out and try to show her what we’ve got.”
During the 8-0 run, Volkens became the Lady Hornets’ go-to player and took some of Washburn’s defensive attention away from Boston and Ida Edwards.
Edwards gave Emporia State its only lead, 61-59, with 6:14 left on a five-footer in the lane. Edwards scored 11 points, but she needed 17 shots — making five — and she had only two points at halftime.
Emporia State’s third- and fourth-leading scorers, Andrea Leiker and Sophia Lenard, combined to shoot 2-of-9 and score five points.
“Today, we had some people that we really count on a lot, we didn’t quite get what we expect out of them,” Schneider said, “and in March I think it’s pretty important that everybody step up and give what they give you in terms of their role.”
While the starters struggled, the ESU bench players stepped up. Brittney Miller scored eight points and Jamie Augustyn helped lead the ESU rally with her defense.
“To see Jamie Augustyn, Brittney Miller and Alli Volkens really step up and contribute — we had some first-unit people not having very good games — I thought it was really encouraging,” Schneider said.
After Boston and the ESU bench got the Lady Hornets back in the game, Schneider went back to his starters and guard Lacy Corker, who usually plays as many minutes as the starters.
After Edwards gave the Lady Hornets their only lead, they did not make a basket for 5 minutes and 20 seconds, their only point coming on an Edwards free throw. The Lady Blues went on a 13-1 run during that time, scoring 11 of their 13 at the free-throw line.
“I think we got a little charged up,” Schneider said. “We were being a little overaggressive defensively, and we had a couple players in the heat of the moment try to do a little bit too much. … I just thought we made a couple of questionable decisions that resulted in bad shots and turnovers.
“In that close of ballgame, when you’ve expended so much energy to come back, those are mistakes that can be really detrimental.”
Washburn won its fifth MIAA tournament championship in the last seven years and kept Emporia State from its first sweep of the regular season and tournament championships since 2001.
Emporia State will have to win two games to have another possible shot at Washburn in next Monday’s regional championship. If Schneider were filling out a bracket, it would be a good bet he’d predict that ESU would get its shot at redemption.
“Obviously we’re on the losing end today,” Schneider said, “but I’m going to guess there’s not a better team than those two teams that were playing today in the Regional.”
Sunday at Municipal Auditorium
Washburn 43 35 — 78
Emporia State 32 37 — 69
WASHBURN (26-4)
Bright 7-16 8-10 25, Graham 5-11 7-8 17, Ulsaker 4-5 3-4 14, Rodriguez 3-6 0-0 6, Silovsky 2-6 0-0 5, Mainz 0-2 5-7 5, Tailele 1-7 2-2 4, Gregory 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 23-56 25-31 78.
EMPORIA STATE (25-5)
Boston 9-16 4-5 25, Volkens 7-12 1-2 15, Edwards 5-17 1-2 11, Miller 2-4 3-4 8, Renberg 2-3 0-0 4, Lenard 1-5 0-0 3, Leike 1-4 0-0 2, Corker 0-2 1-2 1, Augustyn 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-63 10-15 69.
3-point goals — Washburn 7-24 (Ulsaker 3-4, Bright 3-9, Silovsky 1-3, Mainz 0-1, Tailele 0-5, Gregory 0-2), Emporia State 5-15 (Boston 3-7, Miller 1-2, Lenard 1-2, Leiker 0-2, Edwards 0-2). Fouled out — Washburn: None; Emporia State: Corker. Rebounds — Washburn 37 (Bright 12), Emporia State 38 (Edwards 8). Assists — Washburn 15 (Mainz 5), Emporia State 13 (Boston 6). Total fouls — Washburn 15, Emporia State 23. Att. — 2,019.