YSU women suffer 69-60 loss to Wright State in tourney

VINDICATOR STAFF/WIRE REPORT

DAYTON — The Youngstown State women’s basketball season ended the way much of its season has gone this year — with poor shooting and too many turnovers.

The Penguins, the No. 7 seed, bowed out of the Horizon League tournament Wednesday night with a 69-60 loss to No. 2 seed Wright State in the quarterfinals, ending the five-year coaching tenure of Tisha Hill.

YSU (14-17) once again had trouble finding the basket, shooting just 35.4 percent from the field (19-of-54) and committed 20 turnovers against the Raiders (15-15).

Wright State advanced to Friday’s semifinal round where the Raiders will meet Wisconsin-Milwaukee in Green Bay, Wis.

For Hill, who announced her resignation last week, it was a disappointing finish.

“We just had way too many turnovers,” said Hill, who finished with a five-year record of 47-96. “Our hats are off to Wright State who did a great job of harassing us defensively early in the game.

“I’m very proud of my players and what they’ve accomplished this season,” She added. “We certainly would have liked to continue playing and it wasn’t because of a lack of effort that we aren’t.

“My time here at YSU has been tremendous, we came in here and got things turned around,” she added. “No longer are we a team that is walked all over and we’ve got things going in the right direction.”

Junior Tiara Scott paced the Penguins with 18 points and added 10 rebounds. Senior Heather Karner added 15 points, including four 3-point goals to add to her single season record. She finished the season with 87 made 3-pointers.

Junior Toni Roscoe also had a career-high night with 11 points off the bench, including three 3-pointers, as the Penguins shot 40 percent from long range (9-of-22). Senior Lauren Branson added 10 points, all of them coming in the first half.

The Penguins, who beat Wright State in both regular season meetings, only led twice in the game and both leads came in the first three minutes of the game.

Wright State pulled away quickly behind freshman Sheylani Peddy, who led all scorers with 26 points.

The Penguins trailed by as many as 16 points in the second half and got the margin as close as eight.

YSU outrebounded the Raiders 36-33, but Wright State outscored the Penguins 34-14 in the paint and 23-9 off turnovers which was the difference in the game.