Saturday, December 30, 2006
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- Add lack of defense to the list of woes for the Youngstown State women's basketball team.
The Penguins, who have been shooting poorly and committing too many turnovers, suffered an 80-56 trouncing at the hands of Wright State Saturday at Beeghly Center.
It was the eighth loss in the last nine games for YSU (2-10, 0-2 Horizon League).
The Penguins didn't shoot well again Saturday, hitting just 33.3 percent (19-of-57) for the game , but they did cut down on turnovers somewhat with just 12, but at the same time they gave up 80 points on their home floor to the Bulldogs (5-8, 2-0).
"I was very disappointed in our defense today," said YSU coach Tisha Hill. "We didn't come out and jump on them defensively and instead let them take the advantage.
"To give up 80 points on your home floor is very disappointing," she added.
The Penguins put three players in double figures, led by junior Heather Karner with 16 points, while sophomore Monique Godfrey added 11 and sophomore Velissa Vaughn had 10.
Balanced attack for Butler
Butler put all five of its starters in double figures, led by Tara Miller with 17, Cassie Freeman with 14, Ellen Hamilton with 13, Lade Akande 11 and Jackie Closser 10.
The Bulldogs, fielding a team a lot smaller than the Penguins, outrebounded YSU 41-34.
"The shots are still not falling," said Hill. "We seem to be getting some good looks, but we just can't knock them down. We've got to find some way to score or its going to be a long year."
The Penguins certainly didn't help themselves as they promptly let the Bulldogs jump out to a 12-0 lead during the first five minutes of the contest.
YSU missed its first seven shots and had two turnovers during that five-minute span.
But then the shots started to fall and the Penguins looked like a different team as they connected on four of their next five shots, three of them 3-point goals, and fought back into the contest, 16-11, with 12:06 remaining in the half.
Fought off every charge
The Bulldogs just would never let the Penguins catch up completely as they fought off every YSU run with one of their own.
Butler took a 13 point lead (36-23) on a 3-point shot by Candyce Brown with 3:23 left in the half and the Bulldogs were still in command at halftime, 40-26.
The Penguins never got within 16 points of the Bulldogs in the second half, their closest was 55-40.
Butler increased its lead to 21 points (64-43) and led by as many as 24 points.
"We aren't playing with a whole lot of confidence right now," said Hill. "We've just got to continue to keep working hard."
Nothing went right
The Penguins also didn't shoot very well at the foul line, hitting just 10-of-20, and they were also 8-for-21 from 3-point range.
"It's been frustrating that's for sure, but we've got to come out of this and start playing the way we've been practicing," Hill said.
The Penguins finished up a five-game home stand with a 1-4 record and now must go on the road for the next two games and four of their next five.
The Penguins visit Loyola Thursday in a 5:45 tip-off and then play at Illinois-Chicago next Saturday at 4 p.m. before returning home against Detroit Jan. 13 at 7 p.m.
mollica@vindy.com