Schlegel, YSU enjoy Beeghly’s atmosphere

January 14, 2015 at 12:00a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

A few days ago, senior Heidi Schlegel was talking with trainer Jeff Willis about her most memorable games at Youngstown State.

Schlegel, who has played 102 so far, said her last home game — a 75-62 win over previously-unbeaten Akron on Dec. 29 — was “definitely” in the top three.

“The fans were awesome,” she said. “We’d hit a shot and they were so excited for us. It’s fun when we have all the fans here to support us.”

That wasn’t an aberration. While Green Bay leads the league in attendance at 2,400 fans per game — 16 straight Horizon League championships will do that — the Penguins are second with 1,266 a game. Oakland is a distant third with 649 a game.

The Penguins (12-3, 1-1 Horizon) play six of their next eight games at Beeghly Center, so that home-court advantage could be crucial over the next month.

“We’ve had great crowds here,” said YSU coach John Barnes, whose team is 5-0 this year at home. “I would say Green Bay is No. 1 and we’re No. 2 [in atmosphere] and I don’t know who else has a similar [crowd]. I think we’re pretty much the top two and I don’t know if there’s a close third.”

Vikings on tap

Youngstown State plays just once this week, hosting Cleveland State (9-5, 1-1) on Thursday in a matchup that features the league’s second-best offense (the Vikings average 72.9 points per game) and the league’s second-best defense (YSU gives up 57.3 per game).

The Vikings have a trio of double-digit scorers in seniors Cori Coleman (16.5 per game), Imani Gordon (15.4) and Kiersten Green (12.3) and lead the league in field goal percentage (.428) and 3-pointers made per game (8.0).

“It’s a big rivalry,” Schlegel said. “They’re quick, they’re fast, they’re tough, they’re gonna rebound and we have to come and be ready to focus on what we’re ready to do and be really tough, too.”

Learning lesson

YSU is coming off a 66-43 loss on Saturday at Green Bay, which was swept by the Penguins in last year’s season series.

When asked what he learned from that game, Barnes said, “I learned how good they [the Phoenix] are. I expected them to be very good and they were every bit as good as I thought they were, although I think they played very well and we didn’t necessarily play as well as we could have, honestly. But a lot of that had to do with their defense.”

YSU shot just 23 percent from the field in scoring a season-low.

Still, Barnes said this year’s goal hasn’t changed.

“I mean, the goal is to win a championship,” he said. “Every game is tough for us because I don’t think we’re hands-down better than anyone in the league. We have to perform at a high level to get wins. Throughout this season we’ve done some surprising things to some people and we’re gonna have to continue to overachieve if we want to be in one of the 1-2-3 spots.”

Buckeye-backer (for a day)

Following Monday’s practice, Barnes (a Michigan native) was asked if he was picking Ohio State or Oregon in that night’s championship game.

He went with Ohio State, but it was clear he wasn’t thrilled about it.

“I don’t think I have a choice who to pick,” he said, laughing.