CANYON, TEXAS — Ida Edwards fell to the floor as her left knee buckled. Her screams were heard throughout the hushed arena.
Minutes later, Emporia State’s star sat in the locker room, the only sounds coming from the crowd outside. When her career ended with 14 minutes, 21 seconds on the clock, Emporia State trailed West Texas A&M by 11.
Edwards waited and wondered what was going on outside. But, really, she knew.
“I play with the greatest people in the world,” Edwards said. “I knew they weren’t going to give up.”
Despite the score, the injury and most of the 1,821 in attendance against them, the Lady Hornets made an inconceivable comeback. Lacy Corker even had a last-second 3-point shot that would have tied and sent the game to overtime.
Corker’s 3-pointer missed, the Lady Hornets lost 86-83, and their season and run in the NCAA tournament ended in the second round.
But as Edwards knew they would, the Lady Hornets found a way to make a game out of what should have been a no-doubter.
“I don’t think they had defeat in their eyes one time,” Edwards said.
Emporia State trailed by nine points with 1:24 left when senior guard Andrea Leiker started the comeback seven seconds later with a 3-pointer.
“We just work so hard and we weren’t going to lay down,” Leiker said. “We were going to keep fighting. You can’t just give up.”
Leiker, the only four-year senior, had been a part of some great comebacks in her career. Just one night earlier, the Lady Hornets came back from an early 18-2 deficit to beat Saint Mary’s in overtime. Two years ago against Missouri Western, Emporia State rallied from a six-point deficit with 2.6 seconds left in regulation to tie and eventually win the game in overtime.
“I think that’s in the back of some of our veterans’ minds,” ESU coach Brandon Schneider said as Leiker nodded at the other end of the table. “We’ve seen some crazy things happen.”
Schneider called timeout after Leiker’s 3-pointer, and he said he sensed in the huddle that his team still believed.
“What I really respect from players is they look you in the face and they feel like they still have a chance, no matter how much time,” Schneider said. “That gives you a lot of confidence in them.”
Coming out of the timeout, Emporia State fouled Jamie Dreiling and she made one of two free throws to push the lead back to seven. Jamie Augustyn rebounded a Corker miss and was fouled with 1:07 left. She made both free throws to cut the lead to five.
Dreiling was fouled again, and missed both free throws to keep the comeback alive. The Lady Buffs made only 35-of-53 free throws.
“We made some big shots in the last couple of minutes to at least make them a little nervous,” Schneider said. “You want to give them a little bit of doubt so when they’re at the free throw line, it makes those a little bit tougher.”
Trailing by five, the Lady Hornets went back to Leiker, who led the team with 22 points and finished her career third on the all-time 3-pointers list at Emporia State. Leiker missed her final 3-point attempt, but senior Allie Renberg rebounded the miss, scored and was fouled. Renberg made the free throw to cut the lead to two, 80-78, with 55.1 seconds left.
Since it was a one-possession game, Schneider told his team not to foul. The Lady Buffs milked the shot clock and called a timeout with 12 seconds left on the shot clock and 36.2 seconds left in regulation.
WT went to Courtney Lee out of the timeout, and she pulled up for a 10 footer with four seconds left on the shot clock. Lee missed, and the Lady Hornets were going to have their chance to send the game to overtime or win it with a 3-pointer.
Lee’s miss fell right between Renberg and ESU guard Sophia Lenard. They both went for the rebound, and it went off Renberg’s hand out of bounds.
“I really thought I had it,” Lenard said. “When you see the ball go up, you just go for it.”
With the shot clock turned off, the Lady Hornets were forced to foul, and Lee made both free throws.
Leiker answered right away with a layup that cut the lead back to two with 18.2 seconds on the clock. Dreiling made two more free throws, forcing the Lady Hornets to shoot a 3-pointer.
Augustyn gave her team a chance, nailing a guarded 22-footer with nine seconds remaining. ESU sent Dreiling back to the line and she made both free throws again.
With 8.4 seconds left on the clock and trailing by three, Emporia State raced the ball back down the court. Augustyn had the ball in the same spot she had made her 3-pointer from, but two defenders kept her from shooting. She found Corker open on the wing, and Corker leaned into the shot and missed off the back of the rim. Renberg rebounded the miss, but the clock ran out before she could dribble out to the 3-point line.
Leiker finished her career with three straight MIAA regular season titles, and this year’s team won the conference title outright for the first time since 2001. After making the Elite 8 in Leiker’s freshman season, the Lady Hornets never made it back, losing last year in the Regional finals to Washburn.
But even without a trip back to the Elite 8, the Lady Hornets gave their coach and fans a finish they’ll never forget.
“Obviously when Ida went down with the injury, I think our kids could have folded up the tent,” Schneider said. “But they did an unbelievable job in fighting and battling to the very last second. I think it really says a lot about their character and how much they really care about each other, how much they care about Ida. Seeing that kind of performance probably makes me a lot prouder than any kind of championship.”
Saturday at Canyon, Texas
Emporia State 34 49 — 83
West Texas A&M 40 46 — 86
EMPORIA STATE (26-6)
Leiker 6-14 8-9 22, Lenard 4-15 6-6 14, Boston 3-8 0-1 9, Edwards 4-6 0-0 8, Renberg 2-5 4-5 8, Volkens 2-3 3-5 7, Corker 2-7 1-1 5, Miller 2-8 0-2 5, Augustyn 1-2 2-2 5, Kisner 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-69 24-31 83.
WEST TEXAS A(27-5)
Dreiling 3-7 16-25 23, Lee 5-13 7-10 18, Unruh 6-10 3-5 15, Isaacs 3-5 0-0 9, Leven 1-3 5-6 7, Mclain 2-5 1-1 5, Bell 1-1 2-4 4, Mcmenamy 2-2 0-0 4, Johnson 0-3 1-2 1. Totals 23-49 35-53 86.
3-point goals — Emporia State 7-23 (Boston 3-6, Leiker 2-7, Augustyn 1-2, Miller 1-1, Corker 0-3, Renberg 0-1, Lenard 0-3), West Texas A&M 5-8 (Isaacs 3-4, Lee 1-1, Dreiling 1-2, Mclain 0-1). Fouled out — Emporia State: Miller, Lenard; West Texas A&M: None. Rebounds — Emporia State 43 (Volkens 9), West Texas A&M 40 (Johnson, Mclain, Dreiling 6). Assists — Emporia State 13 (Boston, Lenard, Corker 3), West Texas A&M 14 (Bell 4). Total fouls — Emporia State 33, West Texas A&M 29. Att. — 1,821.
Corkyfan (anonymous) says...
The entire Emporia community should be very proud of their Lady Hornets. The girls fought very hard the entire game, and almost pulled out a courageous comeback despite the odds against them after losing their best player to injury early in the second half.
You can't help but wonder how much the dirt on the floor may have contibuted to Ida's injury since West Texas did not bother to clean the court after letting about 50 unsupervised kids in street shoes play around on it at halftime.
March 16, 2009 at 5:02 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
admireed (anonymous) says...
Ida made all Tournament Team. WTAMU won the Regional Championship.
March 17, 2009 at 9:36 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )