Is home on the Horizon for YSU?

Canfield's Erin Martin scored her 1,000th point for Cleveland State.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
CLEVELAND -- The Youngstown State women's basketball team might have earned another home game after Monday night's solid effort.
For the second time, the Penguins knocked off Cleveland State, 72-54, to ensure at least an eighth-place finish in the Horizon League.
Should the Penguins (7-17, 3-10) finish eighth, they would host the league's tournament play-in game on Feb. 28, probably against Cleveland State.
Despite the final score, the win didn't come easy for the Penguins.
"Our defensive effort most of the night was the difference," YSU coach Tisha Hill said.
After enjoying a 40-21 halftime lead, the Penguins played poorly over the first nine minutes of the second half, letting the Vikings back into the game with poor shooting and too many turnovers.
Cleveland State (3-21, 1-12) cut the 19-point deficit down to seven with 11:08 remaining in the contest, but then a technical foul called against Cleveland State's Omega Harrington, for taunting YSU's Ashlee Russo down the court, seemed to turn the contest around.
Pulling away
YSU outscored the Vikings 16-2 over the next five minutes and built the lead back up to 21 points, 64-43.
"I'm sure it [the technical] had something to do with it, especially after we made both free throws and got the ball back," Hill said.
"Omega is a competitor and she just got a little carried away and it cost them," Hill said.
The two teams combined for 49 turnovers, 25 by the Vikings.
"We let them back in the game because of them," Hill said. "That and they stepped up their pressure."
The Penguins had three players in double figures, led by Russo, the senior from Boardman, who tallied 16 points.
Freshman Monique Godfrey had a career-high 15 points and sophomore Jessica Schloemp had another double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
"I guess we just have to get Monique some more games in her hometown, but she really did a good job tonight, both scoring and handling the basketball," Hill said.
Strong performance
The Vikings' loss overshadowed an outstanding performance by their own Erin Martin, the 5-9 senior from Canfield.
Martin became the 19th player in Cleveland State's history to score more than 1,000 points for her career.
Martin led the Vikings with 14 points to have 1,002 for her career and she also pulled down 14 rebounds for a double-double.
"I'm excited, it's something that I've always wanted to accomplish and I'm just glad that I got to do it at home before all my family and friends," Martin said.
"We would have loved to have the win, but Youngstown State played a great game tonight, but it is still an exciting night for me," Martin said.
Fighting back
The Penguins fell behind early in the contest 11-3 as the Vikings ripped off 11 straight points after YSU took a 3-0 lead.
But the Penguins came right back to tie the game at 14-14 and then went on 13-2 run to pull to a 27-16 margin with seven minutes left.
The Penguins followed that run with a 9-0 run and pulled to a 40-21 halftime lead.
YSU, which made nine turnovers in the first half, committed 11 in the first 10 minutes of the second half.
The Vikings chipped away at the lead and then a 12-0 run, which was capped off by Martin's 1,000th point with 13:55 remaining, pulled the Vikings back into contention.
It was still going well as they cut the lead to 48-41 with 11:08 remaining when Harrington came up the court clapping and taunting in Russo's face before the officials called the technical.
That led to the 16-0 YSU run that took the Vikings right out of the contest.
The Penguins will return to the road for two more games, both in Wisconsin.
They play UW-Green Bay on Thursday at 8 p.m. and follow that up on Saturday at UW-Milwaukee, also at 8 p.m.
YSU will end the regular season at home against Loyola on Feb. 23.
mollica@vindy.com