2009-10 review Emporia State has traditionally been a power in women’s basketball. In 35 years of competition, the Lady Hornets have captured 12 conference championships, been to the NCAA Tournament 13 times and advanced to the Elite Eight five times. All of that was trumped in 2010 on a March night in St. Joseph, Mo. as the Lady Hornets won the school’s first NCAA Division II National Championship. ESU entered the 2009-10 season as the two-time defending MIAA Regular Season Champions and returned four players with starting experience so the expectations were high as always. The Lady Hornets opened the season ranked #7 in the ESPN/USA Today/WBCA National Rankings and won their first five games to move to #5 entering MIAA play on Dec. 2 at Northwest Missouri. The Lady Hornets would fall behind by as many as 22 points in the second half of an 88-76 loss to the Bearcats. It was just the third loss in 19 MIAA openers for ESU. The Lady Hornets would respond to the loss by reeling off 14 straight wins to move to 19-1 on the season. It was the sixth longest winning streak in ESU history and included a 5447 win at then #8 Washburn and a 91-62 win over Northwest Missouri in White Auditorium to avenge the conference opening loss. ESU would go two for 20 from behind the three-point line as they saw their 14 game winning streak come to an end in a 64-60 loss at Central Missouri on February 3 in Warrensburg, Mo. The Lady Hornets had beaten the Jennies 72-66 in the MIAA home opener in December. The Lady Hornets seemed to right the ship after the loss, averaging nearly 99 points per game in the next three wins with a scoring margin of +25.7 points per game. That string made the next two losses even more puzzling. ESU was held to 32.3% shooting in a 71-66 loss at Pittsburg State that set up a winner take all game for the conference regular season championship against Washburn. Playing in front of 4,045, the largest crowd in the MIAA during 2009-10 and the eighth largest crowd in Lady Hornet history, WU hit 13 of 16 free throws in the final 2:32 to seal a 63-51 win in White Auditorium. The loss snapped ESU’s string of two straight MIAA regular season titles and gave the Lady Hornets the #2 seed in the MIAA Tournament. ESU ended the regular season with an 87-80 win at Ft. Hays State and won the rematch 72-66 in the first round of the MIAA Tournament in Kansas City. The chance at an MIAA Championship ended with a 79-74 loss to Central Missouri in the semifinals. After opening the season 22-2, the Lady Hornets entered the NCAA Tournament as the #4 seed in the South Central Regional with just two wins in their last five games. A change in opponents seemed to energize ESU as they used a 22-0 first half run on their way to a 9071 win over Tarleton State. Cassondra Boston had 21 points, seven rebounds, and six assists as ESU knocked #9 West Texas A&M out of the NCAA Tournament with a 76-69 victory in the second round. It was the third time in six years the Lady Hornets eliminated the top seed on their home floor in the regional tournament. Emporia State held Northeastern State to .270 shooting from the field in a 76-45 romp in the Regional Championship Game to advance to the Elite Eight for the fifth time in school history. Tournament MVP Cassondra Boston had 11 points, seven assists and five rebounds to lead four Lady Hornets in double figures. The lead would grow to 35 at 70-35 with 3:59 remaining before ESU settled for the 31 point win, the largest margin of victory in a South Central Regional Title game since the Lady Hornets defeated Southwest Baptist 96-59 in 2000. ESU opened play in their fifth Elite Eight against #3 Michigan Tech in St. Joseph, Mo. The Lady Hornets got a career high 28 points from Volkens to defeat the Huskies 91-85 and advance to the Final Four for the first time since 1999. In addition to Volkens’ 28 points, Sophia Lenard had 22 and Boston added 19 points. All three of them scored
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The Lady Hornets captured the school’s first NCAA Division II National Championship with a 65-53 victory over Ft. Lewis on March 26, 2010 in St. Joseph, Mo.
double figures in the second half with Volkens netting 22 and Boston 15 after the break. Volkens had eight rebounds and Boston dished a game high eight assists. In the national semifinals, ESU rallied from 18 points down with 8:48 left to defeat previously unbeaten and #1 Gannon 97-94. It was the third straight time the Lady Hornets defeated a #1 ranked team in the NCAA Tournament. ESU led 40-39 at the half despite shooting just .324 from the field compared to GU’s .500 shooting and being outrebounded by six. The Knights used a 10-0 run to take a 57-47 lead with 13:39 left in the game grew their lead to 76-58 wiht 8:48 remaining. The Hornets then went on a 15-0 run to cut the lead to 76-73 with 4:54 remaining. The Knights went up by four with 45 seconds left but Volkens scored the final four points of the game to tie it at 87 with 8.6 seconds left. The Lady Hornets took the lead for good on a pair of free throws from Lacy Corker with 47.0 seconds left. GU turned the ball over with 5 seconds left and Sophia Lenard hit one of two free throws to give ESU a three point lead with 4.4 seconds left. Carrie Nolan’s three was off target at the buzzer and ESU was headed to their first national championship game since 1998. Boston ended with a game high 21 points while Volkens added 20 points for the Lady Hornets. Elite Eight Most Outstanding Player Alli Volkens had 16 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks to lead Emporia State to their first ever women’s basketball national championship with a 65-53 victory over Ft. Lewis. ESU would hold FLC without a field goal for 10:39 at one point in the first half as the Lady Hornets took a 23-21 lead into the locker room. After the Skyhawks tied it at 38 with 9:25 left, the Lady Hornets went on a 13-4 run to take command. Rachel Hanf hit three straight three pointers for ESU during the run, the last with 5:10 left to give ESU a 51-42 lead. The Lady Hornets would then hit eight of eight free throws with Boston going six of six with a lay-up in the final 1:49 to secure the first national championship as a Division II school for Emporia State. Volkens was joined on the all-tournament team by Boston and Brittney Miller from ESU. Boston ended with 12 points while Miller added eight points and eight rebounds in the championship game. Hanf had 15 points, going three of three from behind the arc and six of six from the free throw line. Along with the team accomplishments, there were many individual honors. Boston was a consensus All-American, earning recognition from the WBCA, CoSIDA and D-II Bulletin. She was also an Academic All-District performer and became ESU’s sixth winner of the MIAA’s Ken B. Jones Award as the top student-athlete in the conference. Boston was the MIAA’s representative to the NCAA Woman of the Year program in Indianapolis to wrap up her career.