YSU rolls past Zips, 74-56

Penguins junior Tiarra Scott scored 25 points and pulled down 21 rebounds.

By PETE MOLLICA

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

AKRON — There was no second-half collapse by the Youngstown State women’s basketball team on Friday.

The Penguins (5-6) put together their best effort of the season and rolled to a 74-56 victory over Akron at Rhodes Arena.

The Penguins, who snapped a three-game losing streak, did just about everything right against the Zips. They shot the ball well (nearly 40 percent), they rebounded great (57-36) and never had a letdown or a scoring slump.

There was the opening four minutes when the Penguins didn’t score a basket, but Akron score just one at the same time.

“I’m just so glad that we scored more than 50 points,” YSU coach Tisha Hill said. “We really came in focused tonight.

“We got the easy looks and for a change we made some of them, and we did just a tremendous job on the boards,” Hill said.

Junior Tiara Scott, who joined the Penguins this season as a transfer, had a career-game with 25 points and 21 rebounds. Senior Heather Karner came up with 24 points.

Akron (5-6) was led by Sarah Tokodi, who had a game-high 26 points.

Hill praised the play of Scott.

“The kid can play,” Hill said. “She has a great touch from the outside and she showed how well she can rebound.”

For a change, the Penguins took a 33-18 halftime lead and expanded on it in the second half, something they hadn’t been able to do over their last three games.

The Penguins never led by less than double digits in the second half and their biggest lead was 24 points.

The Penguins got off to a slow start, opening the contest, but once they got going they pulled away.

The Penguins missed their first seven shots of the game, but still found themselves tied at 2-2 mainly because the Zips were making just one of nine from the field.

Karner’s two free throws were the only points for the Penguins, who didn’t score their first field goal until 14:54 remained in the half.

The Penguins jumped out to a 10-5 margin. Karner, who had 17 points in the first half, hit a 3-point shot and sparked an 11-2 run that sent the Penguins into a 21-9 lead.

The two teams evened off after that exchanging basket for basket, but the Penguins scored the final five points of the half, including Karner’s third 3-point shot, to take a 33-18 lead at intermission.

Neither team shot very well in the first 20 minutes, but the Penguins got the best of the matchup, hitting 31.4 percent. The Zips, who had been averaging more than 40 percent from the field at home, shot 23.3 percent and 11.1 percent from 3-point range. The Zips also had 10 turnovers in the half, to just seven for the Penguins.

The Penguins are idle until Jan. 3 when they return home to open Horizon League play against Illinois-Chicago. The game will be part of a doubleheader with the women playing the opener at 5:15 p.m. and the men squaring off in the second game at 7:35 p.m.

mollica@vindy.com