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YSU women prepare for tough schedule
By Joe Scalzo
YOUNGSTOWN
With league play starting this week, Youngstown State senior Heidi Schlegel is taking a “prepare, not scare” approach to the Penguins’ seven freshmen.
“I just try to be that positive reinforcement for them,” Schlegel said Monday. “As a freshman, it can be nerve-wracking so I just try to talk to them and make sure that they’re good because the freshmen are good, so they can do it.
“Sometimes they just need that extra reinforcement.”
The Penguins (11-2) open their Horizon League schedule on Thursday at UIC, followed by a road game at league power Green Bay.
They then host Wright State and Cleveland State next week, meaning they’ll play the league’s top four teams (according to the preseason poll and this year’s standings) in their first four games.
“They’re very tough teams and to start on the road like we are makes it a little tougher,” YSU coach John Barnes said. “We’ve tried to reiterate from Day 1 [to the freshmen] that our league is really tough and it’s a grind and you have to come to play and be focused every single day.
“For freshmen, they figure it out as the time goes on. When they don’t come necessarily ready to play, it shows in the boxscore and usually in the win and loss column.”
The Flames (10-3) are coming off the best season in school history, winning 26 games in 2013-14 including the Women’s Basketball Invitational title.
They’ve stayed hot this year, going 8-0 at home while leading the Horizon League in several defensive categories, including scoring defense (51.4), defensive field goal percentage (33.7), steals per game (12.8) and blocks per game (3.8).
Juniors Ruvanna Campbell (16.3 points per game) and Terri Bender (14.3 ppg) each rank in the top 10 in the league in scoring, while Campbell is first in rebounding (12.9) and second in blocked shots (1.8). Bender is second in steals (3.4).
“They’re very good,” Barnes said of the Flames. “We’re gonna have to play extremely well to get the win.”
YSU senior Latisha Walker was named the Horizon League’s player of the week on Monday after scoring a career-high 25 points with 11 rebounds and three blocks in a 75-62 win over previously-unbeaten Akron on Dec. 29.
Walker also had 16 points in a 75-63 loss at Cornell on Friday.
“That makes me really happy, that she’s gotten that,” Schlegel said. “She’s worked really hard this year in the offseason and the summer; it’s probably the hardest that she’s ever worked.
“It’s awesome to me because as a senior, she does deserve that and she’s been playing really well.”
Walker is averaging 12.2 points and 7.8 rebounds this season, which both rank second on the team behind Schlegel (14.5 ppg, 9.3 rpg).
“I’m happy for her,” Barnes said. “She really picked up how hard she worked this summer and continued it on into this season.
“She’s kind of become the player that I think she’s always wanted to be and been a big asset to the team, so I’m really happy for her to get rewarded for that.”