BEEGHLY CENTER YSU bests BGSU in Hill's debut

Jessica Olmstead scored a career-high 25 for the Penguins.
By BRIAN RICHESSON
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- Welcome to Youngstown, Tisha Hill.
The new head coach of the Youngstown State women's basketball team recorded her first career victory at the most opportune time -- in the season opener.
For the first time in two decades, veteran coach Ed DiGregorio was not on the sideline. That duty was turned over to Hill, whose Penguins started the 2003-04 season with a 79-67 victory over Bowling Green at Beeghly Center.
After entering the postgame press conference, where she was met with applause from fans, Hill sighed.
"I just want to take a deep breath now that it's over," Hill said.
Before coming to Youngstown, Hill, 34, spent the previous 10 seasons as an assistant coach at Ball State. Then she went out and beat a familiar opponent from the Mid-American Conference -- Bowling Green.
Defensive philosophy
Hill's philosophy is based on defense, and that's what the Penguins executed down the stretch to hold off Bowling Green for the second consecutive season.
But they also used the hot hand of junior Jessica Olmstead, who scored a career-high 25 points on 10-for-14 shooting. The 5-foot, 9-inch guard eclipsed her previous high of 20 points, which she scored last season against Robert Morris.
Behind Olmstead, Youngstown State took command midway through the second half. She scored eight points in a 13-0 run that put the Penguins ahead 59-50 with just more than nine minutes remaining.
Bowling Green couldn't recover. Youngstown State upped its lead to 13 points (67-54) on two free throws by redshirt freshman Ashlee Russo of Boardman High with 5 minutes, 31 seconds remaining.
Although the Falcons made one last run, cutting their deficit to six (71-65) with just less than two minutes remaining, Youngstown State was able to hold them off.
Penguin support
The Penguins got 15 points and nine rebounds from junior Jen Perugini, 15 points from junior Cathy Hanek of Ursuline High and 11 rebounds from senior Jessica Forsythe.
It was an emotional night for Hanek and Russo. Hanek missed all of last season with an inflammatory arthritic condition, while Russo was limited to just four games after persistent soreness from preseason ankle surgery.
Russo came back strong with a career-high eight points in 31 minutes while running the Penguins' offense.
Local players
Hanek and Russo teamed with true freshman guard Kristy Gaudiose, a Poland High graduate, to give the Penguins a local flavor. In 12 minutes, Gaudiose scored four points on 2-of-4 shooting, with two assists, one steal and a turnover.
But it was Olmstead who jump-started the Penguins in front of 1,767 fans at Beeghly. She scored 11 of her 15 first-half points, which came on 7-of-8 shooting, with under four minutes remaining in the half to help put Youngstown State ahead 39-36 at halftime.
Youngstown State opened a seven-point lead (13-6) early in the first half before Bowling Green rallied. The teams traded six leads in the half before Olmstead's hot hand put the Penguins ahead again by seven (37-30).
richesson@vindy.com