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Flames too hot for YSU women
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Youngstown State’s Melissa Thompson goes for a layup during the first half of Thursday’s Horizon League game against UIC at YSU’s Beeghly Center. The Penguins fell to the Flames, 73-65.
By Joe Scalzo
YOUNGSTOWN
Here’s the bad news following Youngstown State’s 73-65 loss to UIC on Thursday: The Penguins no longer control their Horizon League destiny.
The good news? At least they don’t have to play the Flames again.
Katie Hannemann scored 24 points with eight rebounds and UIC (20-7, 9-5 Horizon) played one of those games that made you wonder how in the heck the Penguins won the teams’ first meeting.
“They’re really good,” said YSU coach John Barnes, whose team won in Chicago, 69-58, on Jan. 11. “They’ve got 20 wins. They’ve got a win over a Big East team [Butler]. They’ve got a win over a Big Ten team [Wisconsin]. We got them in foul trouble last time and that’s how we beat them.
“With them not in foul trouble, they’re really hard to beat.”
UIC actually did finish the game in foul trouble, with three starters finishing with four fouls. But by then, the damage was done as the Flames forced 20 turnovers (13 coming off steals) and out-rebounded the Penguins 39-27.
YSU led by 10 midway through the first half but UIC outscored the Penguins 21-12 over the final nine minutes to take a 33-31 halftime lead. Thanks to back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers, the Penguins took their final lead, 44-43, with 12:34 left. UIC responded with a 12-2 run to take control for good.
It was one of those nights where YSU really missed Brandi Brown, who scored 39 points in last year’s home win against UIC.
“If you compare talent — and I’m not saying anything the kids don’t know — it’s not close,” Barnes said. “We probably never should have beat them the first time, but we were able to pull it out.
“We have to play really smart and I don’t think we did that tonight.”
Heidi Schlegel scored 17 points with six rebounds and Latisha Walker added 14 points and seven rebounds off the bench for the Penguins (13-13, 9-4), who need Green Bay to lose at least one game to have a chance at the Horizon League’s regular season title.
The Phoenix beat Wright State in overtime Thursday, snapping a three-way tie for first place.
“I think we just have to come back out and work really hard,” Schlegel said. “The next couple games, we have to turn around and do all the little things right.”
The Penguins have never won a Horizon League title, either in the regular season or the tournament. YSU plays its final regular season road game on Saturday at Detroit, then hosts Wright State and Cleveland State next week.
The Penguins beat Detroit, 80-71, in late-January, then lost to Cleveland State (84-80) and Wright State (93-81) in the first week of February.
If YSU and Green Bay finish tied, the Penguins would own the tiebreaker by virtue of sweeping the season series with the Phoenix.
“We’re going to try to bounce back and play a tough Detroit team that gave us all we could handle here at home,” Barnes said. “I’m glad it’s a short break so we can get right back on the floor and hopefully we can get that one and two home games to maybe get a piece of the conference title.
“Hopefully they do dwell on it [the loss] tonight and it hurts a little bit and they come out with a little more fire on Saturday.”