Stueve goes out a winner as Lady Hornets wallop Southwest Baptist
By Jesse Newell
Monday, March 3, 2008
Photo by Carly Pearson
Michelle Stueve waves to the crowd at White Auditorium while standing at mid court with her parents Mark and Lisa before the start of Emporia State’s game against Southwest Baptist on Saturday afternoon. The All-American Stueve was honored before the game as the team’s only senior.
On a day that was meant to celebrate all her previous accomplishments, Michelle Stueve ended up writing another chapter in her Emporia State legacy.
The senior also managed to leave her coach nearly speechless afterward.
Stueve put on one final show in her final home game, scoring 28 points to go with 12 rebounds as No. 22 ESU rolled to a 120-83 victory over Southwest Baptist.
It wasn’t the statistics, though, that impressed ESU coach Brandon Schneider.
After an emotional ceremony before the game — one in which Stueve came close to tears — Schneider set up the first play to get his only senior a shot.
And, after curling off a screen, Stueve effortlessly swished through a deep 3-pointer for ESU’s first points of the game.
Schneider immediately turned to ESU athletic director Kent Weiser at the scorer’s table and uttered eight words: “I can’t believe she made her first shot.”
“I don’t know how you do that,” Schneider said. “I went through a Senior Day, and that’s difficult.
“I just think it’s another testament and just shows you how special she is.”
Stueve didn’t stop there.
Photo by Carly Pearson
Emporia State's Lacy Corker goes up for a shot Saturday afternoon at White Auditorium. Corker had seven assists in the Lady Hornets' 120-83 victory over Southwest Baptist.
Two minutes later, she hit a second 3-pointer from the same spot, and on her third attempt, she casually knocked down a step-back shot from the free-throw line to go 3-for-3.
“You don’t expect it. I didn’t expect it,” Schneider said. “Not only did she make the first one, she made a few others.”
The victory, coupled with Washburn’s 68-59 loss to Central Missouri on Saturday, gave ESU a share of the MIAA regular-season conference championship.
The day still belonged to Stueve, who followed through after promising earlier in the week to try to keep her emotions in check.
She didn’t look nervous at any point on Saturday.
The senior made 9 of 18 shots and went 5-for-11 from three-point range. She also added four assists, two steals and had no turnovers.
“Whenever you think about doing something the last time,” Stueve said, “you always want to make it your best and make the most of it.”
Stueve’s effort helped ESU in what was easily its best offensive performance of the year.
The Lady Hornets set season highs in points (120), field goals (46), 3-pointers (19), field-goal percentage (57.5 percent), rebounds (52) and assists (35).
The 19 made threes also tied an MIAA record.
“Usually, if we get open shots, we can hit them,” ESU guard Andrea Leiker said. “That’s what was happening.”
ESU hit 101 points with more than 6 minutes left and scored a season-high 66 points in the second half.
Photo by Carly Pearson
Emporia State’s Cassondra Boston, left, and Michelle Stueve throw their arms in the air after teammate Tina Commons hit a 3-pointer in the Lady Hornets’ 120-83 victory over Southwest Baptist on Saturday. The victory for the Lady Hornets, coupled with Washburn’s loss to Central Missouri, gave the ESU women a share of the MIAA regular-season title.
The result was quite a turnaround from the teams’ first matchup, a 76-73 SBU victory on Jan. 5.
The Bearcats (19-7, 11-6 MIAA) came in ranked No. 4 in the South Central Regional rankings, one spot ahead of the Lady Hornets.
Alli Volkens led four other ESU players in double figures with 19 points on 9-of-10 shooting. Leiker added 18 points, while Cassondra Boston had 17 and Allie Renberg posted 13.
Stueve’s 12 rebounds left her one short of a milestone, as she now has 999 rebounds in her career.
ESU (20-6, 13-4 MIAA) will take on seventh-seeded Truman in the opening round of the MIAA Tournament at 6 p.m. Thursday in Kansas City, Mo.
No. 22 ESU women 120, Southwest Baptist 83
Saturday at White Auditorium
Southwest Baptist 27 56 — 83
No. 22 ESU 54 66 — 120
SOUTHWEST BAPTIST (19-8, 11-7 MIAA)
Rachel Graves 8-12 2-4 20, Erica Souza 7-17 2-3 18, Courtney Heady 7-11 0-0 18, Katelin Cutbirth 4-7 0-0 8, Cortney Shewmaker 2-7 2-4 8, Courtney Creed 1-7 3-4 5, Lindsay Acker 2-3 0-0 4, Darla Gatschenberger 1-7 0-0 2, Micah Elfrink 0-1 0-0 0, Erica Smith 0-1 0-0 0, Briana Fugitt 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 32-74 9-15 83.
EMPORIA STATE (21-6, 14-4 MIAA)
Michelle Stueve 9-18 5-5 28, Alli Volkens 9-10 1-2 19, Andrea Leiker 6-10 1-2 18, Cassondra Boston 6-15 1-1 17, Allie Renberg 6-10 0-0 13, Jamie Augustyn 3-3 1-1 9, Ida Edwards 3-6 0-0 6, Tina Commons 1-1 0-0 3, Bree Kisner 1-3 0-0 3, Lacy Corker 1-3 0-0 2, Becky Zabel 1-1 0-0 2, Kayla Krueger 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 46-80 9-11 120.
3-point goals — Southwest Baptist 10-25 (Heady 4-5, Souza 2-9, Graves 2-3, Shewmaker 2-3, Gatschenberger 0-3, Fugitt 0-1, Creed 0-1), Emporia State 19-34 (Stueve 5-11, Leiker 5-9, Boston 4-8, Augustyn 2-2, Renberg 1-1, Kisner 1-1, Commons 1-1, Corker 0-1). Fouled out — Southwest Baptist: None; Emporia State: None. Rebounds — Southwest Baptist University 27 (Graves 9), Emporia State 52 (Stueve 12). Assists — Southwest Baptist 16 (Souza 6), Emporia State 35 (Leiker 9). Total fouls — Southwest Baptist 13, Emporia State 14. Att — 3,531.
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