Valparaiso’s size too much for YSU women

By Paul Oren

Special to The Vindicator

DETROIT

Try as they might, the Youngstown State women’s basketball team just didn’t have an answer for Valparaiso’s size on Friday afternoon.

The Crusaders crashed the glass and dominated the interior in a 79-62 victory that sent Valparaiso to the quarterfinals of the Horizon League conference tournament and ended a difficult season for Youngstown State.

The Penguins finished 9-21 in a season that was often derailed by injury as four different Youngstown State players suffered season-ending knee injuries throughout the year.

“It’s disappointing to end any season, especially with a loss in the first round,” Youngstown State coach John Barnes said. “I thought Valpo played really well and we’re limited in what we can do. Looking forward, a lot of players got a lot of minutes this year and it’s great that those players got that experience. We’ll return Sarah Cash, who was our only all-conference player. We got a lot of good experience for our players.”

Valparaiso outrebounded the Penguins 52-26, including 22 offensive rebounds that led to 19 second-chance points. The Crusaders’ dominance continued into the post where they scored 46 points in the paint. Dani Franklin had 19 points and 11 rebounds while sophomore center Amber Lindfors had 12 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks.

“Lindfors, she’s 6-foot-4 and very long,” Barnes said when asked what was the deciding factor in the game. “I thought it all came down to rebounding. They really killed us on the boards, Lindfors especially. That was the difference in the game. We just couldn’t handle their size.”

The Crusaders (10-20) scored the first eight points of the game and led 17-7 midway through the first quarter when Youngstown State sophomore Alison Smolinski knocked down 3-poiners on four straight possessions to tie the game at 19. Smolinski added another 3-pointer early in the second quarter to give the Penguins (9-21) their first lead of the game, but she didn’t score another basket until well after the final outcome had been decided in the fourth quarter.

“Indiya [Benjamin] did a good job of getting us involved,” Smolinski said. “They started guarding me more and I just wasn’t getting a lot of open looks.”

Barnes said the Penguins needed another scorer.

“When somebody hits four 3’s, they’re not going to let her get any more looks,” Barnes added. “We needed other players to step up. We were pushing the ball a lot more and in turn we were giving them a lot of layups. That’s not our game.”

Benjamin had 10 points and five assists while Horizon League Freshman of the Year Mary Dunn had eight points and just two rebounds in 28 minutes of action.

Meredith Hamlet had 16 points for the Crusaders while freshman Caitlin Morrison added a career-high 11 points and eight rebounds.