Pendleton hopes to cap career with more wins

By Pete Mollica

The women’s basketball team is seeking its second win of the season.

YOUNGSTOWN — Since Ashley Pendleton walked on to the Youngstown State women’s basketball program in 2005, she has only gotten better.

The 6-1 forward from Farrell, Pa., is now in her senior season. Although she’s gotten off to a slow start, she is looking forward to some big moments with the Penguins.

“It just seems like yesterday that I was walking around here as a freshman and now I’m a senior,” Pendleton said. “It’s really flown by.

Pendleton and the Penguins have been struggled during the early part of the season. They are 1-7 and will be on the road tonight when they travel to Canisius for a 7 p.m. contest in Buffalo.

“We’ve got some new, young guards this season and it’s been difficult early one while they’re still learning and at the same time we’re still learning with a new system and new coaches,” Pendleton said.

“Sometimes when everything is new to you it is more difficult to grasp and that appears to be what is happening to us right now,” she said.

“We are still struggling to put everything together, but we all feel that we’re getting close and hopefully things can be turned around by the time Horizon League play begins in January,” Pendleton said.

Pendleton said she feels that the Penguins non-league schedule has been a difficult one, but playing better competition can only make them better.

“You want to play better teams because that’s only going to make you better and hopefully it will prepare us for league play,” Pendleton said.

Her goals for this season were simple.

“I want to be more aggressive on the court and to be more mentally prepared coming into the game,” she said. “I’ve struggled with consistency this year, but the coaches have told me that I’ve just got to keep working on it in practice.

She said that the transition to the new coaching staff which includes first-year head coach Cindy Martin, hasn’t been a difficult one.

“I think that’s because the coaches have made things easy for us to pick up,” Pendleton said.

Pendleton has seen action every since she stepped on campus with the Penguins.

As a freshman she appeared in 21 games and averaged just under two points and two rebounds. As a sophomore, she more than tripled her output with 157 points and 114 rebounds in 27 games, nine of which she started.

Last season, Pendleton finished with 214 points and 115 rebounds. She also blocked 33 shots, which ranks eighth on the YSU single-season list.

She’s started slowly this year. She’s played in seven of the team’s eight games and has scored just 18 points and 13 rebounds. She is also averaging just under eight minutes of playing time per game.

Martin still has high hopes for her senior.

“Ashley is a physical post player who has given us some quality minutes in the last few games,’ Martin said.

mollica@vindy.com