YSU practices well, but needs more wins

The Penguins play their home opener on Thursday against Toledo.

By PETE MOLLICA

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

YOUNGSTOWN — Thus far, the Youngstown State women’s basketball team has looked good in practice, but has only one win to show for its work.

Coach Tisha Hill, now in her fifth season, says it’s time for her Penguins to carry over their good practices to the game.

“We’ve looked really great in practice,” Hill said Tuesday. “But we haven’t looked that good in the games and we’ve got to find a way to carry that over to the games.”

Hill and the Penguins (1-3) will get a chance on Thursday when they play their home opener against Toledo (2-2) in a 7:05 p.m. tip off at Beeghly Center.

“It’s always nice to be at home,” said Hill, who played four straight road games to open the season. “It’s a different routine at home where everything is familiar and you have your own basketballs to practice with.”

The Penguins are coming off their first victory of the season, a 54-52 win over Albany in the consolation game of the Long Island Turkey Classic in Brooklyn, N.Y., last Saturday.

“We didn’t play well against Long Island in the tournament opener, we didn’t take care of the ball well and we didn’t handle the pressure very well,” Hill said. “But we got refocused against Albany and the win felt good.”

Hill said that Penguins were learning from the mistakes they have made over the first four games.

The Penguins are led by 5-10 senior Heather Karner, who is averaging 14.5 points a game and six rebounds.

“Heather’s a good scorer and could even be better and she’s going to continue to get better,” Hill said. “The one thing about Heather is that she comes prepared every single day.”

Hill also pointed out the play of 6-0 junior Ashley Pendleton, who was named to the Long Island All-Tournament team after averaging 15.5 points and seven rebounds in the two games.

“Ashley did a tremendous job for us in the paint and she can be a force inside for us,” Hill said.

The other three starters for Thursday’s home opener will be 6-3 senior Jessica Schloemp (8.0 points, 7.3 rebounds), 5-6 senior guard Lauren Branson (5.0 points, 3.8 assists) and 5-10 junior Kelsey Gurganus (6.0 points).

Toledo has not won a game on the road, losing to San Diego 83-62 and George Mason 66-65.

The Rockets’ two wins both came at home against IPFW 87-75 and last Saturday against Eastern Illinois 72-66.

Following the contest with the Rockets, the Penguins will return to the road to play at St. Francis, Pa., on Saturday in a 7 p.m. contest in Loretto, Pa.

mollica@vindy.com