Lady Hornets fall in Sweet Sixteen

Ellie Meinen / The Bulletin

Junior forward Ida Edwards drives toward the basket against Southwest Baptist in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Edwards had a career high 24 points against the Bearcats as ESU won 82-66.

The Emporia State women’s basketball team fell short of an Elite Eight berth by falling to Washburn 58-73 in the regional championship game March 17 in Canyon, Texas.

The Lady Hornets advanced to the regional championship game by beating Southwest Baptist 82-66 in the first round on March 14 and then took down Northwest Missouri 83-71 on March 15.

In the opening round ESU started the game on a 10-2 run to take control early against SBU. The Lady Hornets held SBU without a field goal until the 13:37 mark. ESU continued to control the half and went into the break with a 33-29 lead.

Senior forward Michelle Stueve led ESU with 12 points and five rebounds in the half as junior forward Ida Edwards added eight points with three rebounds. The Lady Hornets shot 44.0 percent from the floor but only 14.3 percent from behind the three-point line as ESU made only one three-pointer on seven attempts.

As the second half got underway, ESU started on a 13-0 run. Edwards scored the first eight points for the Lady Hornets as the run was capped off by a three-pointer from junior guard Andrea Leiker.

Stueve thought the run at the beginning of the second half was an important key to the game and thought Edwards’ baskets gave energy to the rest of the team.

“I think it just gives everyone a spark when someone is scoring two and three baskets in a row, someone that you want to go to and it helps your offense,” Stueve said. “It’s really nice and good as a team aspect. When you have three, four, five people not afraid to step up and score, it helps your team a lot.”

SBU got its first field goal of the second half with 15:25 left in the game. ESU built up a lead as big as 16 on multiple occasions and was not threatened for the remainder of the game as the Lady Hornets held on for the 82-66 victory.

“I think it’s really important this time of year to be a team that’s able to keep poise and handle runs whether,” Head Coach Brandon Schneider said. “I was really proud of how we responded after the intermission to come back and take control of the game.”

Edwards had a career high 24 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to lead ESU.

Schneider was pleased with Edwards all around play and performance in the game.

“Ida was terrific in the post,” Schneider said. “I thought she did a really nice job of attacking the rim.”

Stueve added 17 points and 11 rebounds as Leiker had 14 points and sophomore guard Cassondra Boston chipped in 13 points.

ESU shot 70.8 percent in the second half and 57.1 percent from behind the three-point line. Overall, the Lady Hornets shot 57.1 percent from the field and 77.8 percent from the free-throw line. ESU held SBU to 32.9 percent from the floor and 22.7 percent from the three-point line.

The Lady Hornets took on NWMSU after the eighth seeded Bearcats upset first seeded West Texas A&M in the first round on a half court jumper at the end of overtime.

NWMSU jumped out to a 6-0 lead before ESU made its first shot on a jumper from Edwards at the 17:03 mark. ESU cut the deficit but NWMSU continued to lead.

A three-pointer by Stueve at the 4:47 mark put the Lady Hornets within one point. ESU then tied the game at 34 with a free-throw from Leiker. NWMSU responded and took a five point lead into the half as ESU trailed 36-41.

As the second half got started, ESU used a 10-0 run to take a 46-44 lead early in the half. Leiker hit two three-pointers to help fuel the run. NWMSU battled back to take a 49-48 lead and extended it to four on a three-pointer on the next possession.

ESU stayed within five points for the first 10 minutes of the second half and was then able to take the lead on a layup by Edwards with 10:29 left in the game. The Lady Hornets extended the lead to five points with a three-pointer from sophomore guard Lacy Corker and then to 12 points on jumper from Stueve. ESU was able to control the final 10 minutes of the game as the Lady Hornets won 83-71.

Schneider thought that once ESU’s offense adjusted to NWMSU’s zone defense, it really helped the Lady Hornets get open shots.

“We were just able to find some things against the 3-2 zone, find some gaps in there and a couple things offensively that enabled us to get some buckets,” Schneider said.

Stueve led all scorers with 22 points and also had 14 rebounds. The 22 points tied Stueve with Carolyn Richard for first place on the all-time scoring list in ESU history.

Schneider was very pleased with Stueve’s effort and performance.

“She just plays with such determination and intensity,” Schneider said. “I thought she rebounded the ball tonight as well as anybody I’ve obviously ever coached.”

Leiker added 17 points on three for four shooting from the three-point line as Edwards had 15 points and six rebounds. Boston chipped in 15 points and seven assists on the night. ESU shot 49.0 percent from the field and 43.8 percent from the three-point line.

The Lady Hornets then advanced to play WU in the regional championship game. WU jumped out to a quick lead and was able to build up a ten point lead as ESU found itself down 7-17 at the 14:42 mark. The Lady Hornets got within two points, but turnovers in the first half hurt ESU as WU scored 15 points off of 14 ESU turnovers.

“I think turnovers the whole night (were a problem). I think our post players did a good job when we could get them the ball, they didn’t always score, but they were getting to the free throw line,” Schneider said. “We just turned it over a lot trying to make a post feed. We just weren’t able to get it into our post players as much as we wanted to.”

At the half the Lady Hornets trailed 22-30. ESU only had two points in the paint in the first half.

In the second half, WU was able to extend the lead to 15 with 16:00 left in the game, but ESU answered with a 10-0 run to cut the deficit to five points midway through the second half.

ESU was able to mount a few runs in the second half to cut the lead, but WU answered every Lady Hornet run.

Stueve thought the team would be able to get over the hump and take the lead in the second half with the help of offensive adjustments.

“I think offensively the second half we opened the floor up a little bit more. As a player you have to believe that and think it’s going to happen, it sure seemed like it would,” Stueve said. “Every time we put together a run, they’d hit something to put it out of reach.”

ESU cut the lead to four on a Corker three-pointer with 4:20 left in the game, but WU made seven of its final eight free-throws.

Schneider thought the guard play on both teams was something that played a large part in the outcome of the game.

“The first thing that comes to mind is their 1s and 2s were terrific and our 1s and 2s didn’t quite play like I’m sure they would have liked,” Schneider said. “We just didn’t have an answer for their perimeter play.”

Stueve had 25 points and 10 rebounds in the final game of her collegiate career to lead ESU. Leiker added 10 points and four rebounds as Edwards had eight points and six rebounds. As a team, the Lady Hornets had 20 turnovers and shot 36.5 percent from the floor, 26.3 percent from the three-point line and 65.2 percent from the free-throw line.

ESU finishes the season with a 23-8 record and a regular season MIAA title. Stueve also broke ESU’s all-time scoring record with her first basket of the game. She finishes her career as the leading scorer in MIAA and ESU history.