COLLEGE BASKETBALL YSU women in exhibition opener Wednesday night

The Penguins face the Ohio Legend All-Stars at 7 p.m. at Beeghly Center.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- It has been a long time since Youngstown State women's basketball coach Ed DiGregorio has gone into a season without a marquee player returning to lead the way.
Wednesday night the Penguins will tip off the 2001-02 campaign when they play host to the Ohio Legend All-Stars at 7 p.m. at Beeghly Center.
The Penguins were 10-18 last season, which saw them lose team leader and top scorer Brianne Kenneally with a knee injury.
Seven veterans: The Penguins return seven letterwinners, led by 5-foot-8 senior guard Monica Vicarel, who started 17 games. The former Cardinal Mooney High product led the team in steals with 51 and averaged 4.4 points per game.
Six-two senior center Jen Horner of Sylvania started eight games, averaging 5.1 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. She had a career-high 20 points in a win over Cleveland State.
The third senior on the team is 6-1 Allison Metro of Pittsburgh, who had surgery earlier this year and will miss the first part of the season.
Sophomores Cathy Hanek, a 5-8 guard from Ursuline, and Heather Harris, a 6-0 forward from Philo, played key roles for the team.
Hanek started 13 games and led the team with 31 3-point goals and averaged 6.1 points per game. Harris is the top returning scorer with a 7.7-point average and started 12 games.
Junior guard Maggie Johnston (5-5), of Lewistown, Pa., will make her first appearance with the Penguins. She sat out last season after transferring from George Mason.
New faces: Five freshmen are also expected to contribute. But injuries have hampered that group.
Barbora Fabianova, a native of Prievidza, Slovak Republic, who led Kennedy Catholic to the Pennsylvania Class A state championship last year, is out with an ankle injury. She was scheduled to start.
"We've only had all our players on the floor for about one hour this year in practice," said DiGregorio. "In fact there has been times when we've only had nine healthy players and we've actually had to use assistant coaches Liz Hauger and Dianne McFadden in scrimmage play."
One freshman who will start Wednesday will be Jen Perugini, a 6-2 forward from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.
Also scheduled to start are Johnston, Hanek, Horner and Harris.
"This was a great recruiting class," said DiGregorio. "Right now were just trying to get the young kids adjusted to college basketball."
The Penguins will begin the regular season Saturday against Bowling Green at 7 p.m. in Beeghly Center.