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Two more womens basketball players go down in injury-filled season
youngstown
After dropping four conference games in a row and losing Mary Dunn to injury, things get no easier for the Youngstown State women’s basketball team.
The Penguins (7-14, 3-7 Horizon League) now go on a four-game road trip as they try to right the ship.
“We’ve been doing everything we can do to win at home and on the road,” YSU head coach John Barnes said. “The road games are obviously tougher to win but with Valpo and UIC coming up we’re focusing on Valpo and we’re doing everything we can to get that one and go from there.”
Nikki Arbanas, Sarah Cash and Kelsea Newman are all out for the season, something YSU has been dealing with most of the year. But now Mary Dunn is out indefinitely with an ankle injury while Jenna Hirsch is day to day with a back injury. Those injuries force YSU to continue to give significant playing time to players who didn’t expect to see much of the court at all this year.
“We’re still unsure,” Barnes said. “Mary had 18 points against Valpo last time so she’s very important to that game. I’m not sure on her status. With Jenna, it’s tough to do anything with a back injury so we’ll see how she is later in the week.”
That young talent YSU has been forced to send out to the games has affected the team defensively. The Penguins are giving up 73.8 points per games and opponents are shooting 43.3 percent from the floor.
“The defense has struggled all year,” Barnes said. “We’ve had difficulty keeping people in front of us. We’re trying different things but we’re just going to keep plugging away.
“With Nikki, Sarah and Kelsea out from the beginning, we lost arguably our best defenders and most experienced players. They’ve been trying to help in any way they can — taking players to the side, giving them little tidbits, cheering them on.
Valparaiso (5-16, 0-10) has lost 12 straight games so if YSU is to break their losing streak on this road trip and get their first true road win of the year, Thursday will be perhaps the best opportunity.
“We’re trying to get that road win to boost confidence of everyone because we know those who can’t be out there want to be out there as well,” Trimmer said. “It’s unfortunate what’s happened to some of our teammates but I’m going to do the best I can and make the most of my opportunities.”
The team is scoring about four points per game more this year than last year, but Trimmer attributes it to being forced to play more around the arc on offense.
“It’s a little bit surprising but that might come from more 3-point shooting rather than inside the paint,” Trimmer said. “We’ve had to take more outside shots due to us not having as many post players available to us.”