Green Bay smothers YSU women on the road

Staff Report

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Green Bay limited the Youngstown State women’s basketball team to 29.8 percent shooting and beat the Penguins 75-41 on Saturday afternoon at the Kress Center.

Two days after the Penguins shot 56.4 percent at Milwaukee, the Phoenix showed why they are one of the top defensive teams in the country. YSU was 14-for-47 from the field overall and 10-for-32 from 3-point range.

Indiya Benjamin led the Penguins with 10 points, and Alison Smolinski made three 3-pointers in the second half to finish with nine points. Benjamin became the 23rd player in program history to surpass 900 career points.

Jessica Lindstrom led Green Bay, which improved to 21-4 overall and 12-2 in Horizon League play, with 14 points and seven rebounds. YSU dropped to 8-17 overall and 4-10 against the conference.

Youngstown State’s only lead was 1-0 when Mary Dunn split a pair of free throws, but the Penguins hung tight for most of the first period. After an 8-0 run put Green Bay up 15-6 at the 3:46 mark, back-to-back 3s by Benjamin and Jenna Hirsch and another Hirsch bucket got the Penguins back within a point. Lindstrom scored for Green Bay on the next possession, and Sam Terry beat the buzzer with a deep 3 to put the Phoenix up 20-14 at the end of the period.

After closing the first period on that 5-0 run, the Phoenix scored the first seven of the second to go up 27-14. The margin was double digits the rest of the game, and Green Bay held a 41-21 halftime lead.