No foul, no win for Lady hornets
ESU loses by 1 after controversial no-call at UCM
By Jeff Deters
Thursday, February 2, 2012
WARRENSBURG, MO. — The ending was one the Emporia State Lady Hornets likely won’t soon forget.
With the Hornets down a point and less than 10 seconds to go, they did just what they needed to do. They grabbed a defensive rebound on a missed Central Missouri free throw and hurried the ball up the court.
Jocelyn Cummings missed a shot on a drive to the basket, but Kelsey Balcom rebounded the Cummings miss. Balcom tried to get a shot up for the game winner. However, she couldn’t get the shot up all the way because of some contact. No whistle blew. No foul was called, and the Hornets lost 63-62 on the road Wednesday night to the Jennies.
“I was thinking Jocelyn had a great drive, and I was thinking just to draw the foul,” Balcom said. “But the call didn’t go our way today.”
After the final buzzer sounded, ESU coach Jory Collins ran onto the court asking for an explanation, or more specifically, a call from the official. That call never came.
“It was a no-call,” Collins said. “She got hit right on the arm. That’s pretty blatantly obvious, but they didn’t call it. And we didn’t win the game.”
The game didn’t start well for Emporia State, either. The Hornets turned the ball over on three of their first four possessions before Balcom hit the first of her four 3-pointers in the game. A pair of Cummings free throws gave ESU a 5-2 lead, which was its largest of the half.
With Merissa Quick and Sarah Wood in foul trouble, UCM established its inside game and outscored ESU 16-6 on points in the paint in the first half.
UCM led by as many as 15 in the first half before taking a 28-21 lead at the break after shooting 11-for-23 (47.8 percent). In contrast, ESU shot just 6-for-28 (21.4 percent), committed 10 turnovers and had just two assists in the first 20 minutes.
The second half also didn’t start out well for the Hornets as the Jennies soon built another double-digit lead.
But a Cummings three from the right wing ignited a 11-5 run that got the Hornets back in it.
After tying it at 44, a Heather Robben field goal gave ESU its first lead since early in the first half.
A Robben three-point play later gave the Hornets a 60-57 lead with 2:05 to go. But UCM’s (15-5, 9-5 MIAA) Nicole Caddell (18 points, 7 rebounds) and Shaquanda Wiggins (17 points, 5 rebounds, 4 blocks) took charge inside late.
“They can jump and elevate, and that’s not the kind of game we’re used to,” said Quick, who had 12 points and 4 rebounds in 16 minutes for ESU. “They did a good job of elevating over me a few times.”
Balcom, who returned to the court after missing time with an ankle injury, scored a game-high 19 points and pulled down 9 rebounds in 38 minutes.
“I think we lost that game in the first five minutes, not the last five minutes,” Balcom said. “I’m proud of our team for fighting back. I think we had an awesome last 25 minutes, but that game was lost in the first five minutes.”
The Hornets finished the night 19 of 60 from the floor (31.7 percent) while UCM made 22 of 48 field goals (45.8 percent).
The loss drops ESU to 14-5 overall and 10-4 in the MIAA. But Collins said he wasn’t about to panic.
“I’m really proud of the way we played the last 25 minutes of this game,” he said. “I just told them in the locker room ‘that looked like Emporia State’. We were down 28-13, and for the rest of the game that’s how we ought to be playing as team. If we do that, we’ll be just fine.”
Notes: Robben added 11 points and made all four of her free throws. Robben now has an MIAA record 41 straight free throws, breaking Brooke Oldberding of Washburn’s previous record of 36.
Wednesday at Warrensburg, Mo.
Emporia State 21 41 — 62
Central Missouri 28 35 — 63
EMPORIA STATE
Balcom 7-15 1-2 19, Quick 4-7 4-6 12, Hanf 0-3 0-0 0, Cummings 2-7 4-4 9, Robben 3-12 5-5 11, Egli 1-7 4-4 6, Parker 0-1 0-0 0, Flott 0-2 0-0 0, Wood 2-6 1-1 5. Totals 19-60 19-22 62.
CENTRAL MISSOURI
Lee 1-2 3-4 5, Shippy 2-3 0-2 5, Rhodes 2-6 6-6 10, Hanson 0-4 2-2 2, Brown 3-9 0-0 6, Orton 0-1 0-0 0, Wiggins 8-9 1-2 17, Wattley 0-0 0-0 0, Caddell 6-14 6-9 18. Totals 22-48 18-25 63.
3-point goals — ESU: 5-18 (Balcom 4-8, Hanf 0-1, Cummings 1-12, Robben 0-4, Egli 0-3, Flott 0-1). UCM: 1-13 (Shippy 1-2, Rhodes 0-3, Hanson 0-4, Brown 0-4).
Rebounds — ESU: 36 (Balcom 9) UCM: 33 (Caddell 7).
Assists — ESU: 12 (Robben 5) UCM: 11 (Caddell 4).
Att. — 1,100.