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This time, YSU falters at end
By Steve Wilaj
YOUNGSTOWN
Saturday’s matchup with Detroit was playing out like so many other Youngstown State women’s games this season.
The Penguins fell behind at halftime (five-point deficit), faced a bigger hole after three quarters (15-point deficit) and then stormed back in the fourth to take a three-point lead with 58 seconds remaining.
This time, there was an alternate ending.
Falling to Detroit, 69-68, at Beeghly Center, the Penguins uncharacteristically fumbled away the lead and failed to deliver in the clutch moments.
The Penguins (15-7, 6-5 Horizon League) committed two turnovers on their final two possessions, while the Titans (11-11, 7-4) notched consecutive layups on theirs — the game-winning bucket coming on a Haleigh Ristovski lefty-layup with just 1.6 seconds remaining.
“It all comes around,” YSU coach John Barnes said. “How many games this year have we won on last possession?
“You can’t win every game with one or two seconds left on the clock. I thought the kids played hard and made a great comeback, but we can’t keep getting ourselves into that position.”
Trailing 58-43 entering the fourth quarter, YSU opened on a 17-4 run to cut its deficit to two points with five minutes remaining.
The Penguins then tied the contest at 65 on two Indiya Benjamin free throws with 1:57 left, before taking a 68-65 lead on a Benjamin 3-pointer with 58.1 seconds remaining.
Detroit answered, though, when Rosanna Reynolds made a layup with 50 seconds left. That was followed by an empty YSU possession in which the Penguins failed to get off a shot before the shot clock ran out with 17.4 seconds remaining.
“They played good D, but you have to get the shot off,” Barnes said. “The set that we ran didn’t work.
“But we still had a one point lead at the time and you have to get a stop.”
The Penguins didn’t, though, as Ristovski received an inbounds pass from under the Titans’ hoop with 4.7 seconds remaining, dribbled through YSU’s defense and snuck in a layup.
The Penguins then advanced the ball with a timeout, but Jenna Hirsch’s pass failed to find Sarah Cash as time expired.
“We threw it a little quickly, but with 1.6 seconds, there’s not a whole lot you can do,” Barnes said.
Added Benjamin: “We pride ourselves the most on defense, so of course that’s what frustrates us the most if we lose games on it. The last two possessions, we just had to be smarter and buckle down knowing they wanted to get to the basket. So that was an error on our end.”
YSU — which was led by 15 points each from Benjamin and Kelsea Newman — fell behind 36-31 at the half behind some unfortunate events.
Top-scorer Cash, who finished with 13 points, picked up two fouls early in the first quarter and played just four first-half minutes. Nikki Arbanas, the Penguins’ second leading scorer, also picked up two early fouls and played just six minutes in the first half.
Meanwhile, senior starting forward Janae Jackson exited with a right knee injury early in the second quarter. Barnes said he didn’t know the extent of the injury, but it certainly didn’t look good. Benjamin missed six consecutive minutes after re-aggravating her ankle in the first quarter.
“That obviously killed us,” Barnes said of Cash’s foul troubles. “And then Nikki has to play differently defensively [with three fouls by halftime], so we have to put different people on matchups that we don’t want. They took advantage of it in that third quarter.”
Detroit, which was playing with just eight players, outscored YSU 22-12 in the third quarter.