January 20, 2010

ESU Women Pull Away to Defeat FHSU, 88-67

By David Boyce

EMPORIA, Kan. -- For a half and a few minutes into the second half, Fort Hays State matched the best women's basketball team in the MIAA.

The Tigers even took a one-point lead in the first minute in the second half. It was Fort Hays' only lead of the game.

From that point on, Emporia State put on an offensive clinic for its fans Wednesday night at White Auditorium and came away with an impressive 88-67 victory.

The win lifted No. 6 Emporia State to 16-1 overall and 9-1 in the MIAA. Fort Hays dropped to 13-4 and 6-4.

The Tigers fought hard to take a brief 36-35 lead on a basket by Traci Keyser. It was fairly remarkable considering they trailed 22-13 midway in the first half.

Emporia State was unfazed by its only deficit. The Hornets quickly went ahead for good on an inside bucket by junior Negesti Taylor.

"In the first half we came out a little complacent," said Emporia State senior guard Cassondra Boston. "We weren't rebounding and getting stops when we needed to. In the second half we realized they were in it and we needed to come out and play hard."

After Fort Hays tied the game, the Hornets unleashed a multi-facet offense that started with a three-point play by sophomore Brittney Miller.

Emporia State started getting fast break layups. Freshmen guards Rachel Hanf and Jocelyn Cummings were scoring and they helped to push the Hornets' lead to 62-50.

"I think once we started rebounding and we got some fast-break baskets, that stretched the lead for us," Hanf said.

A minute after the 12-point lead, it was Boston who tossed in consecutive three-point bombs that extended the Hornets lead to 68-52 with eight minutes left.

"They were giving them to me," Boston said. "In the first half I wasn't making them. They started to fall for me in the second half."

It was truly a team effort that allowed Emporia State to turn a close competitive game into a blowout.

"We can't just rely on one person or two people," Boston said. "When everybody steps up it makes it so much better. We are really hard to stop when everybody comes to play."

As usual, Boston was spectacular, scoring a season-high 26 points. Miller was equally as impressive, finishing with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Center Alli Volkens came off the bench to score 11 points in the first half.

And Hanf, a graduate of Paola, was six for 10 from the field and scored a career-high 15 points.

"It's nice when Cassondra has a good half like that, but everybody on our team has a role and they have plays they are capable of making on the offensive end," Emporia State coach Brandon Schneider said.

"We don't need them to get out of their comfort level, but we need them to trust the things they can do and they need to bring those things to the table."

In a very entertaining first half, Emporia State took a slim 34-33 lead into the locker room.

Despite the one-point deficit, Fort Hays had all the momentum because of a 35-foot, one-handed shot by Naomi Bancroft at the halftime buzzer.

"We came into the locker room and realized that gave them the momentum," Boston said. "We just couldn't let them keep that in the second half. We knew they would come out ready to play and that meant we needed to come out ready to play."

The buzzer-beater capped a dazzling first half by Bancroft, who made four of seven three-pointers, had three steals and two assists. Bancroft finished with a team-high 22 points.

"We wanted to take away what we call the traditional looks for her," Schneider said. "She's going to make some wild shots and she made a couple of them. You just have to live with those. You have to take away the traditional looks she gets."

To reach David Boyce, contributing writer for the MIAA, e-mail dboyce@themiaa.com.