YSU women capture exhibition win, 71-54

By Pete Mollica

Tiara Scott led the Penguins past Pitt-Johnstown with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State women’s basketball coach Cindy Martin was looking for some major improvement in her team in the Penguins’ second exhibition contest Sunday afternoon.

The first-year coach was happy with her team’s 71-54 victory over Pitt-Johnstown at Beeghly Center.

“I really saw a lot of improvement from our first exhibition game,” Martin said. “It was good for our confidence and it was a lot more fun playing against someone other than ourselves.”

The Penguins dropped their exhibition opener last Tuesday to Ashland, 79-70.

“I was really happy to see the improvement, the girls have worked very hard this past week,” she said. “There were a lot of team things that made me happy and it was a 100 percent improvement.”

One thing that didn’t improve was the Penguins’ shooting percentage. They made 40 percent of their shots against Ashland, but were just 20-of-59 Sunday for 33.9 percent. But Martin feels that will improve with more games.

Actually the Penguins were outscored from the field against Pitt-Johnstown, but YSU connected on 28-of-41 free throws and held a 48-35 edge in rebounds.

Senior Tiara Scott led the way for the Penguins, pulling off a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while junior transfer Jaquetta Westley added 15 points and had four of the team’s 20 steals.

The turnovers were still pretty high as the Penguins gave up the ball 24 times, while forcing 31 by Pitt-Johnstown.

For the second straight game Martin used every player on the bench and it’s not because it was just an exhibition game.

“Substituting will be part of our game plan,” she said. “We run an up-tempo game and they get tired and we will continue to use our bench like we have during the season.”

Of the 11 players that Martin used in the contest, nine of them played at least 12 minutes. The Penguins still have two players on the injured list — senior Velissa Vaughn and freshman Camisha Alexander.

Two players who missed the opening game, senior Monique Godfrey and sophomore Makala Gasparek, a Boardman native, both were in action Sunday.

The Penguins fell behind quickly in the contest trailing 10-5 over the first seven minutes, but then they went on a 20-0 run for a 25-10 lead and were never threatened again.

YSU shot just 26.9 percent from the field in the second half, but the made 19-of-25 free throws in the final 20 minutes and had 31 rebounds.

Next up for the Penguins will be the regular season opener Saturday at Kent State. Tip off for the contest will be at 2 p.m.

mollica@vindy.com