CANYON, TEXAS — Emporia State’s players didn’t even flash a smile when they walked off the floor Friday night.
Relief was the only emotion that filled the Lady Hornets after St. Mary’s guard Rachel Jones’ double-clutch 3-pointer missed at the buzzer in overtime to give ESU a 78-75 win.
The Lady Hornets survived an 18-2 start by the Rattlers, 13 lead changes, nine ties, a buzzer-beating 3-point bank shot and enough momentum shifts to make your head spin.
“There was a little point where we started having a run for it,” ESU guard Lacy Corker said, “but then they came back and we went back, and back and forth and back and forth, and I was ready for it to get over with.”
As for the season, the Lady Hornets were happy to see that continue. Allie Renberg said that when she went to the free throw line with 4.7 seconds left in overtime and her team clinging to a one-point lead, she repeated over and over in her head, “I’m a senior. I’m a senior. I’m not ready to go home.”
Renberg made both free throws, giving Emporia State a three-point lead that held true — about the only lead that was safe all night.
The Lady Hornets thought they were ready to move onto the second round at the end of regulation. Ida Edwards made her ninth and 10th straight free throws to give ESU a three-point lead, and Saint Mary’s dribbled the ball past halfcourt and called a timeout with 4.4 seconds left.
The Rattlers needed a 3-pointer, and the Lady Hornets knew that. They also knew that if the game were going to overtime, St. Mary’s would have to make a contested shot from long range to get there.
But when St. Mary’s leading scorer Natalie Gamez broke toward the ball, ESU forward Brittney Miller tried to go for the steal. Miller whiffed, took herself out of the play and Gamez banked in a wide open 3-pointer to force overtime.
“Really disappointing,” ESU coach Brandon Schneider said of the defensive slip-up. “I thought that could have really deflated us and taken the air out of us, but I thought the girls showed a lot of resiliency.”
They had already shown plenty of resiliency just to get back in the game. Emporia State committed seven turnovers and missed 7-of-8 shots in the first 6:16, essentially handing St. Mary’s an 18-2 lead.
“It’s very rare that you play that poorly and win,” Schneider said. “But I think you have to give St. Mary’s a lot of credit for making us play that poorly and making us look that bad. They got off to a terrific start.”
The Lady Hornets answered with an even better surge, taking a 29-25 lead with 3:27 left in the half, only to let St. Mary’s close the half on a 4-0 run.
That 4-0 run dwarfed the momentum-killer of Gamez’s game-tying three. But just when it looked as if one team had the momentum in this game, the other team would take it right back.
Corker made sure that trend continued in overtime, opening the extra period with a 3-pointer. It was her second big 3-point shot of the game. Cassondra Boston found Corker open in the corner for a 3-pointer with 45.7 seconds left in regulation, a shot that gave Emporia State a 65-64 lead. It was Corker's first 3-pointer since Valentine’s Day.
“I haven’t been making my threes lately,” she said, “but Boston made a great drive and I felt like I needed to step up and make a play, and I shot it with confidence.”
But just like the Rattlers had an answer for her 3-pointer in regulation, they also had an answer for her three that started overtime.
Ashton Benford scored four straight points and gave St. Mary’s a 71-70 lead on two free throws at the 2:47 mark. Rachel Jones made two more free throws to push the lead to three with 1:35 left.
After Corker’s 3-pointer, the Lady Hornets missed four straight shots — three misses coming beyond the arc. They tried to get the ball in the post to Ida Edwards, but St. Mary’s crowded Edwards, which left the perimeter open. It was a good strategy, considering Edwards almost single-handedly kept Emporia State in the game in the second half. She was in foul trouble, but that didn’t stop her from scoring 14 of her game-high 20 points in the second half and also pulling down 17 rebounds. Edwards played the final 3:01 of regulation and all of overtime with four fouls, but she was still effective, with two of her three blocked shots coming with four fouls.
“Obviously, the referees, they were calling it pretty tight, so when I got that fourth foul I knew I had to stay in the game,” Edwards said. “I just tried to play with my hands up and my teammates told me they were going to help me. I trusted them. I played with my hands up and I didn’t get that fifth foul.”
With St. Mary’s making sure Edwards didn’t beat them in overtime, Boston decided she needed to take over. Boston made sure Emporia State quit settling for threes, and she ended ESU's 3:24 scoring drought in OT with a leaner off the glass to pull within one.
After Edwards blocked Mallory Moeller’s layup, Boston found Corker in transition to give Emporia State back the lead.
Boston made the mistake of running into St. Mary’s Chasity Noble on the following possession, sending Noble to the free throw line with 40.7 seconds left with a chance to take the lead. Noble missed both free throws, but Edwards had the rebound slip through her hands right to Benford, who scored to put St. Mary’s back in the lead.
Once again, Boston made sure to get to the basket, scoring what ended up being the game-winning basket on a runner with 24 seconds left.
“Cassondra, I thought, in overtime getting to the rim, gave us enough offense to squeak one out,” Schneider said.
Thanks to the squeak-out win, the Lady Hornets might not have been smiling, but they at least avoided the tears that come with an end-of-season loss. Their season will continue tonight against West Texas A&M at 8 p.m. for the chance to go to the Regional final.
“It’s a great relief,” Corker said. “We know we should win these games, and we should win every game that we play, but it’s good to get this game over with where we didn’t play so well and hopefully have a better game tomorrow.”
Friday at Canyon, Texas
St. Mary’s 29 38 8 — 75
Emporia State 29 38 11 — 78
ST. MARY'S (24-6)
Jones 5-17 8-10 18, Gamez 5-16 4-6 16, Benford 6-16 2-3 14, Moeller 3-9 7-9 13, Fox 4-7 1-1 9, Noble 2-6 0-2 5, Phillips 0-0 0-0 0, Sophus 0-0 0-0 0, Smith 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-71 22-31 75.
EMPORIA STATE (26-5)
Edwards 5-11 10-11 20, Boston 4-14 6-6 15, Corker 5-8 0-0 12, Renberg 2-5 4-4 8, Augustyn 3-5 0-2 8, Miller 1-4 2-2 5, Lenard 2-9 0-0 4, Leiker 1-9 1-2 4, Volkens 1-3 0-0 2, Kisner 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-68 23-27 78.
3-point goals — St. Mary’s 3-8 (Gamez 2-7, Noble 1-1), Emporia State 7-26 (Augustyn 2-4, Corker 2-4, Miller 1-2, Boston 1-6, Leiker 1-7, Lenard 0-3). Fouled out — St. Mary’s: None; Emporia State: Volkens. Rebounds — St. Mary’s 46 (Moeller 15), Emporia State 50 (Edwards 17). Assists — St. Mary’s 14 (Jones, Gamez 6), Emporia State 14 (Boston 8). Total fouls — St. Mary’s 24, Emporia State 23.