43
Maturing Penguins
Smolinski nets 19 in win over Valpo
By DAN HINER
YOUNGSTOWN
The Youngstown State women’s basketball team has relied on freshman and sophomores after losing three starters to injury.
Those underclassmen carried the Penguins’ offense in the team’s 76-70 win over Valparaiso on Saturday.
Sophomore Alison Smolinski led the Penguins with a season-high 19 points after missing the last two games with a concussion.
“We really struggle without her out there, not only [because] of her ability to shoot the ball, but she brings a lot of energy, she’s athletic, she can defend—so to have her back is very nice,” YSU head coach John Barnes said. “After being out for five, six, seven days and coming in and performing like that, it’s pretty special.”
Freshman Mary Dunn finished with 18 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots. While fellow freshman Morgan Brunner scored 17 points, the fourth-straight game she’s scored double-digit points.
“Hopefully our confidence is building. That’s two in a row,” Barnes said. “At Northern Kentucky, that’s an overtime game and we had a chance to win it, so it easily could be three in a row. For a young group, they’re gaining confidence.”
YSU (6-10, 2-3 Horizon League) outscored Valparaiso 19-9 in the first six minutes of play, but the Penguins’ offense began to stall in the closing minutes of the first quarter.
Valparaiso (5-12, 0-6 Horizon League) went to a small lineup in the second quarter, which led to match-up problems for YSU’s defense.
Valpo guard Meredith Hamlet led the Crusaders with 16 points and seven rebounds in the first half. Hamlet recorded her first career double-double after setting career-highs with 29 points and 10 rebounds.
The Crusaders outscored YSU 20-9 in the second quarter and held the Penguins to 2-11 from the field.
Barnes said the team took “five or six bad shots” in the second quarter, but the team applied more pressure in the second half and forced the Crusaders to speed up their offense.
The momentum swung in favor of YSU late in the third quarter. With 53 seconds left, Dunn went to the line and missed two free throw attempts, but YSU guard Kelley Wright grabbed the offensive rebound and Dunn converted a layup to give the Penguins a 47-46 lead.
That was the start of a 15-2 YSU run over the next three minutes and extended the lead to 60-48 with 7:35 left in the game.
“It was a huge momentum swing,” Smolinski said. “Kelley’s huge with rebounds. She’s the hardest worker on the floor. That’s just about picking each other up and holding each other accountable.”
Valpo tried to come back, but Smolinski scored nine of the Penguins’ final 14 points to help seal the game.
Smolinski said the Crusaders were primarily playing a zone defense, so the Penguins had opportunities to attempt 3-pointers throughout the game. Because the Penguins shot 10-22 from behind the 3-point line, the defense allowed YSU’s perimeter players to spread the court and get the ball to Dunn in the post with little help defense.
YSU beat UIC on Thursday 74-54. Saturday’s win gave the Penguins back-to-back wins for the second time this season, the first coming in November after wins over Sacramento State and Tiffin.
Smolinski said the team needed to put together a couple wins in a row. She said the players needed a confidence boost and the team will try to extend the win streak in the next game.
Barnes said the team has played “good halves” throughout the season, but hasn’t played a complete game yet. He said the next step in the development of the team is to play a consistent 40 minutes.
“With a young team, that happens,” he said. “You got your ups and downs, and we’re just trying to level things out-play a solid, it doesn’t have to be great, but a solid four quarters.