Penguins finally get win, beating Akron, 58-50

Youngstown State didn't play very well but managed to get the job done.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
AKRON -- The Youngstown State women's basketball team hasn't played very well in its last five games, but it finally found a way to win on Monday night.
The Penguins, who still didn't shoot very well and still committed way too many turnovers, played some good defense and connected on their free throws to defeat Akron 58-50 at the James A. Rhodes Arena.
The win snapped a four-game losing streak for the Penguins (3-7), while Akron (1-7) lost its fourth straight.
"It certainly wasn't pretty, but then we haven't played pretty in a long time," said YSU head coach Tisha Hill. "The kids came out from the start and played hard and played good defense. I told them that I wanted them right in [Akron's] faces all night and they did just that."
Locals lead win
The Penguins' local duo of junior Kristy Gaudiose (Poland) and senior Ashlee Russo (Boardman) took control on offense as Gaudiose tossed in 20 points, including four 3-point goals, while Russo added 14. Senior Michelle Holmes finished with a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds as YSU outrebounded the Zips 37-35.
Hill praised the play of both Gaudiose and Russo.
"Ashlee did a great job on defense tonight, while Kristy came out and was hot early, but when she wasn't hitting she was playing well at the other end of the court," Hill said.
Led all the way
The Penguins never trailed in the contest and still only shot 34.8 percent from the field and 26.3 percent from behind the arc. Akron was even worse, hitting just 32.8 percent from the field.
The big difference in the game came at the foul line where the Penguins connected on 21 of 26 attempts, while the Zips attempted just 11 and made eight.
"We needed to be aggressive on offense and we were or we wouldn't have been to the free throw line as much as we were," Hill said. "We even made them tonight."
YSU jumped out to a 14-7 advantage behind three Gaudiose 3-point goals and another one from Russo, but then hit a cold spell.
The Penguins went nearly seven minutes without a field goal until Holmes scored with 5:26 remaining in the half but the Penguins still led 20-16 as the Zips were just as cold from the field.
The Penguins outscored the Zips 8-4 over the final four minutes to take a 28-20 halftime lead.
Penguins' biggest lead
YSU build its biggest lead of the game early in the second half, 34-24, on a Holmes layup, but the Zips came back with a pair of 3-point shots by Courtney Stewart and cut the lead to four 38-32.
At one stretch in the second half both teams went nearly four minutes without scoring.
When Gaudiose hit her fourth 3-point goal with 2:50 remaining, the Penguins went back up by seven points 46-39.
Akron got to within three points 49-46 with 1:15 remaining, but the Penguins -- who scored their final 13 points of the half from the foul line -- made six straight in the final 30 seconds to ice the win.
DeVille scores 10 points
Stewart led Akron with 13 points, while former Leetonia standout Jessica DeVille, who started her second game for the Zips, finished with 10 points and five rebounds in 22 minutes.
YSU will return home to Beeghly Center on Wednesday to meet Coppin State at 5:15 p.m. The YSU men will play James Madison in the second game of the doubleheader at 7:35.
mollica@vindy.com