Arbanas, Schlegel lead Youngstown State past Detroit

March 12, 2015 at 12:07a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Nikki Arbanas played in her first Horizon League tournament game on Wednesday.

Sure didn’t look like it.

With Detroit keying on Youngstown State’s post players, the true freshman guard erupted for 22 points — 14 above her average — to help lead the Penguins to a 73-55 victory in a Horizon League quarterfinal at Beeghly Center.

“We knew coming out that we had to step up our game because it’s the Horizon League championship,” Arbanas said.

Arbanas made five 3-pointers to tie YSU’s school record for 3s in a tournament game. Heather Karner also made five in 2008 in a 65-54 win over Detroit. Overall, the Penguins shot 8 of 22 from behind the arc.

“We knew they were gonna let us get some shots from the outside and you’ve got to knock them down,” YSU coach John Barnes said. “I thought Nikki did a great job of shooting at the right times and being aggressive when she had openings and knocked them down.”

Senior Heidi Schlegel added 22 points for YSU (21-9), which will play at tournament host Green Bay on Friday at 8:30 p.m. It’s the third straight year the Penguins have advanced to the semifinals, losing to Wright State last year and Loyola two years ago.

“I think that we’re making steps,” said Barnes, who lost both games to Green Bay this season by at least 23 points. “They might not be big steps but to be in that situation for the third year in a row is pretty exciting. You always want to break through to the championship game and that’s our goal right now.”

YSU split the season series with Detroit, winning at Detroit 70-65 on Feb. 14 after blowing a 16-point halftime lead in a 59-58 home loss to the Titans on Jan. 28.

On Wednesday, the Penguins held Detroit to just 29-percent shooting in the first half to jump out to a 29-21 lead.

“Overall we played pretty well,” Barnes said of his team’s defense in the first half, “but they missed some shots they don’t normally miss.”

YSU led by double digits for most of the second half, but the Titans made it interesting for a few minutes, cutting the deficit to six, 47-41, with 8:19 left.

But Arbanas quickly answered with a 3-pointer and YSU got the lead back to double digits (55-45) on Arbanas’ three-point play with 5:47 left. The Penguins led by at least 10 the rest of the way.

“I think that honestly everything starts on the defensive end,” Arbanas said. “We really tried to deny them so they couldn’t get the ball as easily. And we just worked really, really hard. We had to outwork them on the defensive end so on the offensive end we could pull through.”

Senior Latisha Walker scored 10 points and grabbed 14 rebounds as YSU held a 44-30 edge on the boards. YSU also made 23 of 26 from the free-throw line, including 15 of 17 over the final six minutes.

“For the third time, both teams were kind of versed in what the other team is trying to do and you just kind of execute as good as you can,” Barnes said.

Rosanna Reynolds scored 18 points with six assists for the Titans (12-18), who were coming off a one-point loss to Green Bay on Saturday. Darianne Seward added 17 points, five rebounds and five steals.