YSU WOMEN Penguins routed by Ohio State

Jen Perugini led YSU with eight points and six rebounds.
By TODD BELL
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
COLUMBUS -- The Youngstown State women's basketball team knew it had a battle in store when it entered Value City Arena to face Ohio State.
The Buckeyes hadn't lost this season on their home floor -- and they still haven't -- as they defeated the Penguins 76-45 Friday night. The loss was the Penguins' fourth in a row.
YSU (2-7) was able to hang in against the much taller Buckeyes through the first 8 minutes, 30 seconds of the game, but after that Ohio State (7-2) took over.
With a 13-9 lead, the Buckeyes went on a 15-2 run, forcing turnovers, missed shots and three timeouts over a seven-minute span.
"I told them during a timeout that once you get hit in the mouth, that should wake you up, you should be ready to play," Youngstown State coach Ed DiGregorio said. "The quickness they have makes you turn the ball over, plus our team is very, very young.
"Not a whole lot of kids have played a lot of minutes, and the ones we have aren't very healthy."
Height problems
Ohio State's height gave the Penguins problems. In the first half alone, Ohio State scored 14 of its 36 points in the paint, and 11-second chance points, despite a zone defense implied by Youngstown State.
"Before the game I knew their [Ohio State] inside game was going to be too much for us," DiGregorio said. "And that proved right because they go inside so well with the ball, and they can go back outside to their good shooters and they are very patient."
On the other end of the floor, Youngstown State had trouble shooting over the size of the Buckeyes. A normally 40-percent shooting team hit just 28 percent of its shots in the first half and finished the game at just 35 percent.
"We got open shots, we just didn't hit our normal shots. I think our kids were frightened and in awe for about the first 15 minutes of the first half and then we woke up," said DiGregorio.
The Penguins were paced by Jen Perugini and Jessica Olmstead, who each scored eight points. Perugini grabbed six boards.
The loss was the second 31-point defeat of the season. The other came at Vanderbilt, Ohio State coach Jim Foster's former program.
But the Penguins have little time to rest as they will close out the non-conference portion of their schedule Sunday against Akron at 1 p.m. at Beeghly Center. This will be the sixth Mid-American Conference school YSU has faced this season.