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NO ZIP FOR PENGUINS
By STEVE WILAJ
AKRON
It was a rare sight.
At the 3:06 mark of the second quarter, Youngstown State women’s head coach John Barnes — who constantly paces the sidelines working the referees, as well as instructing his own players — slumped in his seat and laid his arms on the tops of the chairs to his left and right.
It happened with the Penguins trailing Akron by 13 and followed 17 minutes in which Barnes saw his top scorer/rebounder get in early foul trouble, his starting point guard sit the first quarter and his YSU team get outshot and outrebounded.
The Penguins never recovered from their poor start, falling to Akron, 74-49, on Monday at James A. Rhodes Arena for their second loss of the season.
Zips senior guard Anita Brown, a Warren Harding graduate, led Akron (6-5) with 19 points and 14 rebounds.
“It was extremely frustrating,” Barnes said. “We just came out flat and stayed flat the whole game. I though [Akron] played very hard and played good and kind of just took control of the game right away.”
In a first half in which the Zips outscored YSU 36-21, the Penguins (9-2) shot just 25 percent (8 of 31), including 3 of 12 from long distance.
Sarah Cash — who leads the Penguins in points and rebounds per game and paced YSU with 15 points — picked up her second foul with 2:24 left in the first quarter, sending her to the bench for the rest of the first half as YSU was outrebounded, 29-9, in the opening two quarters.
“It was very frustrating,” Cash said. “I just need to box out better and I need to not make stupid fouls like that.”
YSU’s first quarter was particularly detrimental, as Akron went on a 14-0 run after Cash scored the contests first two baskets.
They were the Penguins’ only two field goals of the first 10 minutes, as YSU shot just 2 for 15 in falling behind 16-6.
Also, starting point guard Indiya Benjamin (who entered at 8.0 ppg and 6.4 assists per game) sat out the entire first quarter for what Barnes called “team stuff.”
“Sarah’s our go-to player and she’s got to sit most of the first half. Now we’re down 15 at halftime and you’ve got to try to climb back,” Barnes said. “It’s tough, but that’s life.”
“I think they wanted it more today and showed it out there. That’s how you get a lot of offensive rebounds.”
In all, Akron — which outscored YSU 38-28 in the second half — outrebounded the Penguins 58-27. Twenty-three of them were offensive rebounds.
The Zips shot 41 percent from the field, while YSU — which also received 10 points from Alison Smolinski and nine points from Janae Jackson — finished at 29 percent.
“I don’t think we came out strong enough or tough enough,” Cash said. “We let them do what they wanted.”
Brown, who graduated from Warren Harding in 2012, entered the contest averaging just more than 22 ppg. She went 8 of 17 from the field and her 14 rebounds marked a career-high.
“We were just playing as a team,” Brown said. “Playing defense, getting stops and being able to run. That’s our style.”