PREVIEW OF TODAY’S WOMEN’s BASKETBALL GAME
Matchup: YSU (20-6, 12-3 Horizon League) vs. Northern Kentucky (7-17, 6-8).
Tip-off: 7 p.m. at BB&T Arena.
Radio/TV: 570 WKBN; ESPN Plus.
Coaches: YSU — John Barnes is 102-83 in six seasons with the Penguins and 258-135 overall in 12 seasons; Milwaukee — Camryn Whitaker is 25-61 in her third season with the Norse.
YSU starters: Alison Smolinski (13.2 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 89 3-pointers), 5-9 senior guard; McKenah Peters (8.7 ppg, 5.5 rpg), 5-9 sophomore guard; Sarah Cash (12.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 57-percent from the field), 6-1 redshirt senior; Chelsea Olson (10.7 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 117 assists), 5-10 sophomore guard; Mary Dunn (13.5 ppg, 6.1 rpg), 6-3 junior forward.
Milwaukee starters: Taylor Clos (9.6 ppg, 1.8 rpg), 5-5 freshman guard; Molly Glick (9.6 ppg, 2.6 rpg), 5-11 redshirt-junior guard; Kailey Coffey (7.3 ppg, 8.0 rpg), 5-10 sophomore forward; Ally Niece (8.9 ppg, 3.0 rpg), 5-8 freshman guard; Grayson Rose (5.9 ppg, 6.4 rpg), 6-3 sophomore foward-center.
Series history: YSU leads 5-4. The Penguins won the last meeting, 77-66, on Jan. 21.
Notebook: YSU is coming off a 67-47 win against Milwaukee as the Penguins recorded their fourth 20-win season in seven years. ... The Penguins won 20 of their first 26 games for the first time since the 1997-98 season ... YSU has sole possession of second place in the Horizon League. ... YSU is 15-1 at the Beeghly Center this season, with the last defeat being a 58-56 loss to Yale in November. ... Alison Smolinski tied YSU’s single-season 3-point record with 89. ... Smolinski is 12 points shy of her 1,000th of her career. ... NKU forward Grayson Rose is a graduate of James A. Garfield High School in Garrettsville.
Next: YSU is at Wright State on Sunday at 2 p.m.
— Dan Hiner, The Vindicator