Youngstown State women hope to end skid

The Penguins will play host to Cleveland State on Thursday at 7:05 p.m.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Youngstown State women's basketball team is badly in need of a win.
The Penguins (4-12, 0-5 Horizon League) will play their final game of a four-game homestand Thursday at 7:05 p.m. at Beeghly Center.
YSU will take on Cleveland State, another team in desperate need of a victory.
The Vikings (3-13, 1-4 Horizon) have lost four straight since winning their Horizon opener at home against Detroit.
The Penguins have lost five straight, all in the conference, and the last three losses have come at home.
"This is not going to be any X and O's battle on Thursday," YSU coach Tisha Hill said. "This game is about two teams very hungry for a victory."
Youngstown State has not won since Dec. 21 when it beat Coppin State to put together a two-game winning streak.
The Penguins have lost nine of their last 11 games, five of them on the road.
YSU's most recent defeat came against Horizon League leader and defending champion UW-Green Bay, a 74-49 loss at Beeghly.
Coach hopes team learns
"We can only hope that we learned from that loss and took notice of how a team that plays together can be successful," Hill said. "Right now we are trying to find a cohesive unit.
"We've also got a chip on our shoulder, because all our hard work in practice still hasn't produced wins," Hill said. "We can't really worry about our opponents, we need to focus on ourselves first."
The Penguins' biggest problem to date has been on offense -- or their lack of one. They have cracked the 60-point mark in just two of their last 11 games.
YSU is averaging just 54.6 points per contest while allowing 71.6 points a game.
Their field-goal shooting percentage is a dismal 35.6 per contest and they are only hitting 24.3 percent of their 3-point goals for the season. Their marks against Horizon League opponents is even worse.
Junior Kristy Gaudiose (Poland) leads the team in scoring with a 10-point average -- she's the only Penguin averaging in double figures.
Hill has shuffled her starting lineup this season using six different starting teams in the 16 games. Ten of the 13 players on the roster have started at least one game.
CSU on a skid, too
Cleveland State comes into the contest on a four-game losing streak including back-to-back losses to UW-Green Bay (66-51) and UW-Milwaukee (68-53) at home.
The Vikings are 1-6 on the road this season, with their only win coming at Akron (62-59).
Cleveland State does have a local flavor on its roster in 5-9 senior Erin Martin, a Canfield High graduate. Martin, a three-year letter-winner, is third on the team in scoring averaging 8.3 points per game and is second on the team in rebounds averaging 4.8 per contest.
Senior Omega Harrington, a 5-7 guard, is the only Viking averaging in double figures with an 11.3 mark
Following Thursday's contest, the Penguins will go on the road for three straight games beginning Saturday at Detroit for a 1:30 p.m. tip-off.
mollica@vindy.com