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ESU Wins Epic Semifinal to Advance to Title Game
By David Boyce
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- It’s too cliché to call Emporia State’s dramatic 97-94 overtime victory over undefeated, No. 1 ranked Gannon a miracle.
What the Hornets did at the St. Joseph Civic Center Wednesday night in the semifinals of the NCAA Division II Elite Eight was pure determination in the face of incredible odds against them.
“I think it is one of the best feelings I’ve ever felt,” said Emporia State senior Jamie Augustyn. “This team showed a lot of heart today. I’m still kind of in shock.
“Being down 18 is tough, but I knew if we could come together and be who we know we can be that maybe we could pull out the win.”
Emporia State stared at a 76-58 deficit with 8:59 left in the game.
At that point it was nearly impossible to fathom that the Hornets, 29-5, would be playing 7 p.m. Friday night in the Division II championship game against Fort Lewis, which is 35-3. The game will be televised on ESPN2.
“Tonight’s game really wasn’t about stats,” Emporia State coach Brandon Schneider said. “It was an unbelievable team that we played with unbelievable balance and fight and grit and extremely well coached.
“I can’t say enough about our team’s toughness and grit and their willingness to stay together and believe in each other. They continued to show a lot of fight. They just had this look in their eyes that they believe that they could win the ball game.”
At its bleakest point, Emporia State rallied and went on a 15-0 run and closed to 76-73.
A basket by Alli Volkens with 8.6 seconds left in regulation completed the Hornets’ climb back to a tie. Her bucket sent the game into overtime.
Volkens, who played 40 seconds in the first half because of foul trouble, finished with 20 points.
“It was frustrating and I definitely let the refs get in my head,” Volkens said of her early foul trouble. “I’m pretty weak when it comes to that and I know that. Coaches make sure to let me know I’m bad at it as well.
“I knew I couldn’t get my third foul early. I had to play smart. I had to play hard.”
Gannon took the early lead in overtime on a three-pointer by Tiffany Crocker.
Emporia State took its first lead in overtime at 94-92 on a basket by Volkens with 1:47 left in overtime.
And with 21.6 seconds left, Emporia State senior Lacy Corker went to the free throw line with the game tied 94-94. Corker went strong to the basket to create the foul.
“I just saw the lane wide open,” Corker said. “I drove it and they fouled and I was trying to get fouled. I stepped up to the free throw line and had confidence.”
Corker calmly drained both free throws for a two-point lead. The Hornets then played great defense that caused Gannon to turn the ball over. Sophia Lenard put the finishing touch on the dramatic win with a free throw.
Simply put, it was amazing what Emporia State pulled off.
The Hornets needed their whole team to pull off the victory. Cassondra Boston scored 21, Brittney Miller scored 18 and Augustyn had 15.
The only sad part about the terrific semifinal game was that there had to be a team that lost. But Gannon, which finished 37-1, showed its true class afterwards in the postgame press conference.
Despite the pain of losing, they answered questions with poise and dignity.
“We made a lot of great memories along the way,” said Carrie Nolan, who scored 12 points. “We can hold our heads high. I feel like we are one of the best teams in the country.”
The Knights didn’t make excuses. Coach Cleve Wright accepted the blame for the loss.
“I felt like my team did everything I asked them to do,” Wright said. “I thought they fought hard and played hard. I feel like I let them down in some things.”
Senior Kristina Freeman wasn’t about to let Wright take the blame for the loss.
“You are up 18 and you can’t play like you are up 18. You got to play like you are up 2 because it’s the Final Four, the best of the best,” Freeman said. “We played around with the lead.
“They are a good team and they came back. We didn’t stay focused enough. Coach says it’s his fault. I couldn’t disagree more. Ever since I’ve been here, the whole coaching staff has prepared us endlessly from start to finish.”
In the first half so many things went wrong for Emporia State. Volkens, Tuesday night’s star, picked up two fouls in about 10 seconds and played just 40 seconds in the first 20 minutes.
The Hornets reached 10 team fouls with 12:07 left in the first half. Emporia State was firing up three-pointers just about every trip down the court and missing most of them.
“I thought we lost our composure a little bit in the first half,” Schneider said. “We talked about that at the media timeout.”
Gannon made 50 percent of its shots compared to 32 percent for Emporia State. The Knights also pulled down six more rebounds.
Despite all that adversity, Emporia State still went into halftime with a slim 40-39 lead.
The Hornets found a new leader. Freshman guard Rachel Hanf came off the bench and scored 10 points and dished out three assists.
In between the whistle blowing from the three referees, Gannon and Emporia State played some entertaining basketball.
Gannon scored the first four points of the game. Emporia State responded with the next seven. The seesaw battle was on.
The Knights went back in front 11-7. It took Emporia State nearly 10 minutes of clock time to reclaim the lead at 29-28 on a three-pointer by Boston.
Late in the first half, Emporia State broke a 37-37 tie on a long three-pointer by Augustyn.
To reach David Boyce, contributing writer for the MIAA, e-mail
dboyce@themiaa.com.
