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YSU women go cold in Cleveland
By Marty Gitlin
CLEVELAND
They were hitting from downtown, then it went south for the Youngstown State women’s basketball team on Saturday at the Wolstein Center.
The result was Saturday’s 71-68 defeat to Cleveland State in the Horizon League opener.
It appeared that the Penguins would have more than just New Year’s Eve to celebrate through most of the game. Sophomore guard Kelley Wright emerged from the bench to lead a beyond-the-arc barrage that resulted in 9-of-20 shooting and a 38-32 halftime lead.
But YSU connected on just 2-of-14 long-distance shots after intermission.
Barnes was not complaining about the offense, however, after the buzzer signaled his team’s defeat. It was the defense he believed that let the Penguins down.
“We scored 68 points and that would have been plenty to win if we had defended at all,” Barnes said. The Penguins (4-8) gained success passing the ball inside to 6-foot-3 forward Mary Dunn early in the third quarter. Dunn, who had made 10-of-12 shots in the team’s previous game against Point Park, was a mere 2 of 7 at halftime.
But she battered the Vikings by posting up low and taking feeds, as well as pounding the offensive boards for four quick hoops.
A Dunn put-back stretched the Youngstown State advantage to 49-40 with five minutes remaining in the third. But suddenly the Vikings half-court defense stiffened and many attempts to work the ball into Dunn resulted in turnovers.
“I knew in the third quarter that I needed to get in front of them,” Dunn said. “I had been getting pushed out. They started to see what we were doing and played better defense.
“They were playing the ball better. What happened in the post didn’t change much. But they were putting pressure all around with their other players.”
Dunn sat out for a while in the fourth quarter, re-entering with about two minutes remaining and her team behind.
The Penguins had their chances down the stretch. They pulled within one on an Allison Smolinski fast-break basket with 1:55 remaining. But they did not score again.
Cleveland State standout guard Ashanti Abshaw hit a pull-up jumper 20 seconds later. YSU lost an opportunity to tie at the end when a Wright 3-point attempt clanked off the rim.
“Ashanti Abshaw is a potential Player of the Year and she proved it,” Barnes said. “But she scored 27 points and you’re not going to win many games giving up that many to one player. Ultimately, we have to do a better job on defense.
“Plus, they did a good job hitting the offensive boards and getting put-backs at the end.”
Abshaw yanked down three of her six offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter. But she was not a one-person wrecking crew. Guard Jade Ely posted her second straight double-double with 15 points and 15 rebounds. The 48-35 difference in overall rebounding proved critical.
Dunn led the Penguins with 16 points. She received help from Smolinski (13 points) and Wright, who scored all 12 of her points in the first half and missed her last eight 3-point attempts.