YSU’s late rally falls short at Valparaiso

Cash 21 scored for the Penguins

Staff report

VALPARAISO, IND.

Trailing by a dozen points at halftime, Saturday’s rally by the Youngstown State women’s basketball team came up short in a 65-60 loss to Valparaiso.

Youngstown State led twice in the game — 1-0 and 11-10. Valparaiso led for nearly 38 minutes. The Penguins (13-5, 4-3 Horizon League) got within one twice in the fourth quarter but were never able to catch the improved Crusaders (8-11, 4-4).

YSU had beaten Valparaiso in nine of the previous 10 meetings.

Penguins sophomore Sarah Cash tied for game-high honors with 21 points, and she grabbed a team-best seven rebounds.

Cash was 8-of-11 from the field, but YSU shot just 34.9 percent as a team.

The Penguins were 11-for-34 from 3-point range for 32.4 percent, and seven different players made a trey.

Kelley Wright came off the bench to score 10 points and distribute five assists in 22 minutes. Janae Jackson scored all eight of her points in the first quarter.

Abby Dean scored 21 points, 14 above her average, and Jasmyn Walker contributed 18 points and a game-best 13 rebounds. Walker, who was shooting 64 percent from the free-throw line coming into the game, was 10-of-12 on charity tosses, and the Crusaders went 15-of-18 as a team. Two of those misses came in the final 30 seconds.

Valparaiso led by double digits twice in the first 2:30 of the second half, but YSU started chiseling away and cut the deficit down to two, 47-45, on a Wright 3-pointer in the final minute.

Dean hit a quick 3 for Valpo on its next possession, which allowed them to have a five-point cushion entering the fourth.

A Cash 3-pointer at the 7:44 mark got the Penguins within two again at 54-52, and a triple by Nikki Arbanas got them within one for the first time, 56-55, with 6:37 remaining.