Penguins just miss shot for title tilt

By BRIAN DZENIS

bdzenis@vindy.com

DETROIT

The Youngstown State women’s basketball team had two chances to put down Horizon League powerhouse Green Bay, but the shots didn’t fall.

Two missed shots in the final 29 seconds of Monday’s game cost the Penguins in a 55-53 defeat in the Horizon League Tournament semifinals. An impressive rally that started in the third quarter fell short at Little Caesars Arena.

“I thought we had a lot of heart coming in,” Penguins sophomore McKenah Peters said. “We knew that we could fight and try to get it done in the second half and we ended up not pulling through.

“I thought we did a tremendous job. Everybody was out there getting after it.”

YSU (22-9) trailed Green Bay 52-51 in that crucial stretch.

Peters drove into the paint and found an open Sarah Cash, who was standing under the basket.

Cash put up the layup, but the ball rolled off the rim.

“I thought McKenah made a great play. She didn’t overplay it. She just took the ball to the basket. She dropped it off and you can’t ask for a better play from McKenah,” YSU coach John Barnes said. “Sarah makes that 99 out of 100 times and this one didn’t and that’s life.

“Basketball is a lot about life lessons. She’ll be fine. She’ll bounce back and move on.”

Following the miss, Green Bay’s Meghan Pingel made two foul shots and she later fouled Cash. The Lordstown native made both shots for the Penguins’ final points.

The Phoenix’ Frankie Wurtz went to the line on the ensuing possession and missed both free throw attempts, giving the Penguins one more chance to take the lead with 9.3 seconds left to play.

After Barnes called timeout, Melinda Trimmer caught the inbound pass, dribbled into the paint and put up a floater with about five seconds left. The shot grazed the rim and went wide.

“That was what we were looking for. She had a good look too. It’s one of those things where sometimes they fall in and sometimes they don’t and this one didn’t,” Barnes said. “I wouldn’t say it was an easy shot, but she made a great play to get in there and rise up.”

Senior guard Alison Smolinski gave her team a chance to upset the Horizon League’s reigning champion for the past four years with impressive 3-point shooting.

She made five 3-pointers -scoring 15 of her team-high 18 points in the third quarter to help turn a 27-21 halftime deficit into a 38-38 tie heading into the fourth quarter.

“My teammates did a good job of getting me the ball,” said Smolinski, the Horizon League’s all-time leader in 3-pointers. “I just had a rush of confidence and they had confidence in me.

“It’s just unfortunate it didn’t fall our way today.”

Peters put up 12 points and Trimmer had 10 in defeat. Thirteen of YSU’s 17 made shots were 3-pointers. First-team All-Horizon League selection Mary Dunn was held scoreless and Cash finished with four points.

“Green Bay does a great job taking away any team’s post players. We knew they were going to try and keep us out of the pain,” Barnes said. “For us, it was tough because we throw it inside so much, but on the flip side, we shot a lot of threes.

Wurtz led Green Bay (23-8) with 13 points and Pingel finished with 11.

Today at noon, Green Bay will play Wright State for the championship (ESPNU),

While the Penguins won’t make the NCAA tournament, their season isn’t over. Barnes said the team has a standing invitation from the WBI, but is waiting to hear from WNIT officials.

The university has put in bids to host games regardless of which tournament it participates in.

“Whatever tournament we make, we’re working on keeping the season going. We’ve had a great season — 20-plus wins — it’s been fun and we have a great group of girls,” Peters said. “We’re going to be focused on the tournament once we come back from spring break, whatever it may be.”