Wright State crushes cold-shooting, turnover-prone YSU

Staff report

FAIRBORN

The Youngstown State women’s basketball team didn’t take good care of the ball and shot poorly against Wright State on Thursday.

That combination proved costly.

The Penguins shot just 33 percent and the Raiders scored 29 points off the Penguins’ 18 turnovers in a decisive 92-55 Horizon League victory at Nutter Center.

YSU (15-6, 4-4) could have moved into a second-place tie with another win over WSU. The Penguins beat the Raiders, 75-70, two weeks ago in Youngstown. WSU (17-5, 6-2) is now one game behind Horizon League-leading Green Bay.

Tay’ler Mingo led all scorers with 23 points, and she added seven assists and seven steals. Three Raiders finished with 10 rebounds, and Tayler Stanton (15 points, 10 rebounds) and Breanna Stucke (10 points, 10 rebounds_ both had double-doubles.

The Raiders shot 52.9 percent and were 8 of 16 from 3-point range. They had a 29-5 edge in points off turnovers and outrebounded the Penguins, 47-32. Stanton had nine offensive rebounds to help the Raiders to an 18-7 advantage in second-chance points.

YSU’s Heidi Schlegel scored 14 of YSU’s 27 first-half points, and she finished the game with 18 despite playing just nine minutes in the second half. The senior moved into eighth place on the school’s all-time scoring list, surpassing Hall of Famers Brianne Kenneally and Liz Hauger. Schlegel is up to 1,485 points in her career.

Jenna Hirsch added 11 points off the bench, and she connected on three of YSU’s six 3-pointers in the contest. Ashley Lawson scored a season-high four points in 12 minutes.

WSU played a 2-3 zone for much of the game, and YSU — the Horizon League leader in 3-point shooting entering the game — went just 6 for 25 from beyond the arc.

The Raiders nine of the first 11 points and led 9-2 at the 16:20 mark. YSU made three of its six 3-pointers in the game over the next two minutes, and Hirsch’s triple tied the score at 11. The Raiders outscored the Penguins 37-16 the rest of the period and held a 48-27 lead at the break.

WSU scored the first 13 points of the second half to go up 61-27, and YSU got no closer than 25 in the second half.

YSU returns home to host UIC on Saturday at Beeghly Center. Tipoff against the Flames is set for 2 p.m. The Penguins will wear pink as part of the Play 4Kay initiative to fight against women’s cancers.