Penguins getting better

Wow, what a crowd Saturday night.

It’s just too bad the Penguins couldn’t have sent them home happy, although they played well against 12th-ranked Butler before dropping a 78-69 decision.

There were 6,198 in attendance and you have to go back to 2001 for a crowd that size, when Valparaiso came to town in a Mid-Continent Conference matchup and 6,213 showed up.

The Penguins are close to becoming a very good team as coach Jerry Slocum pointed out following the game.

“You look at tonight’s game, Valparaiso, Kent State and even Robert Morris, and there were just four or five key possessions that kept us from winning all four games,” Slocum said. “I thought we showed what we are capable of in the second half tonight, but we made a few critical mistakes and that was the difference.”

Seniors John Barber and Byron Davis have been the steady performers almost all season long for the Penguins. Junior Jack Liles stepped up Saturday, but the Penguins got little support from the rest of the team.

Behind Liles the Penguins outscored the Bulldogs 34-30 in the paint, they were even in points off turnovers (17-17) and Butler held a 12-8 edge in second-chance points. But the big difference was in bench points, where the Bulldogs outscored YSU, 24-13.

The Penguins have their hands full as they must play four straight games on the road beginning Thursday night in Milwaukee.

Women’s team
in second place

The YSU women, following Saturday’s 74-55 win over Detroit, now find themselves just one game out of first place in the Horizon League standings. Green Bay dropped an overtime game to Valparaiso, its first league loss of the year. The Phoenix and Milwaukee are both 5-1, while the Penguins and Cleveland State are right behind at 4-2.

YSU will travel to Cleveland State Saturday at 5 p.m. in what will be the Penguins’ biggest league game of the year.

YSU hasn’t looked good in winning its past two games over Wright State and Detroit.

Saturday night, against the worst team in the league, the Penguins struggled, leading the Titans (3-13) by just one point at the half and not breaking the game open until a 17-0 run that started midway in the second half.

The Penguins have gotten steady play from junior Tiara Scott and senior Heather Karner, while junior Velissa Vaughn has really come on strong the past four games. She led YSU with 19 points Saturday.

The Penguins will need some additional offensive support from seniors Jessica Schloemp and Lauren Branson if they expect to move much higher in the standings.

Football to open
with two on road

Youngstown State hasn’t released its 2008 football schedule, but one thing is certain and that is the Penguins will open the 2008 season with back-to-back road games for the first time since 1993.

They began that season with a win at Western Michigan and a loss at Stephen F. Austin the Penguins went on to post a 13-2 record and their second national championship.

The Penguins will open the ’08 season at Ohio State and travel to South Dakota State for the second game. This will also be the earliest that the Penguins have ever begun Gateway Conference play. The Penguins will also play Central State, a Division II program, and Liberty at home and travel to Southern Utah in their other non-conference games.

YSU coach Jon Heacock will have his hands full next season.

Heacock had his first big recruiting stint this past weekend with about a dozen recruits in town for their visit. He said he’ll have another big showing next weekend, leading up to the Feb. 6 signing day.

Look for the Penguins to add a few local standouts, but not as many as Heacock would have liked. He also has several transfers coming in.

XPete Mollica covers YSU athletics for The Vindicator. Write to him at mollica@vindy.com.