| Vikings' Spurt Too Much For Penguins |
| Wednesday, December 31 2003 |
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| Cleveland, Ohio -- The Cleveland State women's basketball team broke open a close game by holding Youngstown State scoreless for 14 minutes on its way to an 88-54 victory on Tuesday night in the Horizon League opener for both schools. Trailing 32-31 with 2:21 left in the opening stanza, the Vikings scored the final five points of the half and then proceeded to rattle off 23 straight points out of the locker room before the Penguins finally got on the board at 11:38 mark of the second half. By the time the Vikings capped off their astounding 40-2 run, the score was 71-34 with 8:13 left to play. CSU senior Shannon Sword hit for 15 of her game-high 23 points in the first half, the fifth time this season she has notched 20 or more points. She also led the team with eight rebounds. Senior Ashley Schrock recorded 11 points while sophomore Erin Martin and freshman Keena Rembert also finished with 11. YSU junior Cathy Hanek scored all of her team-best 14 points in the first half. Kristy Gaudiose finished with 12. The Penguins rallied from a 31-24 first-half deficit by scoring eight consecutive points but did not score the final 2:21 of the half while the Vikings scored the final five points. Youngstown State will try for its second win of the season on Saturday, Jan. 3 when the Penguins open the 2004 calendar year against Detroit at the Beeghly Center. |
| Penguins Drop Heartbreaker to Clemson, 79-75 |
| Saturday, December 20 2003 |
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| Youngstown -- The Youngstown State women's basketball team hit a school-record 15 3-pointers and led by as many as six points in the second half, but Clemson used a late run to take the lead and clutch free throws at the end to hang on for a 79-75 win on Friday evening at Beeghly Center. The Penguins (1-7) trailed by seven with 1:42 remaining in regulation, but relinquished the Tiger lead to 77-75 with 2.3 seconds left on three free throws from Cathy Hanek, but Lakeia Stokes hit two free throws to seal the win for Clemson (8-1). Jessica Olmstead led the Penguins with 23 points while Devin Novak tied the school record with seven 3-pointers en route to a 21 point performance. Stokes had a game-high 27 points while Julie Talley had 24 to pace the Tigers. Maggie Slosser chipped in with nine points and 10 rebounds for Clemson. Clemson jumped out to an early 7-3 lead after back-to-back baskets from Slosser, but YSU's offense caught fire with a 15-1 run. Olmstead's first of four 3's of the half got the Penguins to within one, then two Tara Fleming free throws gave YSU its first lead of the contest. Novak's trey at the 10:23 mark gave YSU its largest lead of the game at 20-10. Clemson reclaimed the lead by holding YSU without a field goal for over five minutes and going on a 12-1 run to take a 22-21 lead with 5:41 remaining. The lead was short-lived, however, as Cathy Hanek and Novak drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Penguins five-point cushion. Trailing 33-28 at the break, Talley scored the first six-points of the second-half to give Clemson a 34-33 lead at the 17:09 mark, but two Hanek free throws YSU back on top at 35-34. After five straight points from Barb Fabianova, YSU led 54-50 with just under eight minutes left of the clock. Clemson, however, scored 11 unanswered points to grab a 61-54 lead with 4:35 remaining. YSU shot 55.6 percent from behind the arc for the contest, but just 36.7 percent overall. Clemson shot at a 38.1 clip overall and held the rebounding advantage 45-40. Clemson had 22 points in the paint and held YSU to just four. YSU will visit Akron on Sunday, Dec. 21, at 2 p.m. |
| Penguins Host Clemson |
| Tuesday, December 16 2003 |
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| Youngstown � For the first time in school history, the Youngstown State women�s basketball team will host a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference when the Penguins welcome Clemson to Beeghly Center on Friday, Dec. 19. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. This will be the first meeting between YSU and Clemson and just the second time the Penguins have played a team from the Atlantic Coast Conference. Youngstown State is coming off a 66-53 loss to intrastate rival Kent State last Saturday. Junior Jessica Olmstead led the Penguins with 13 points and eight rebounds while senior Devin Novak added 11 points. Junior Melissa Tarrant came off the bench to contribute nine points while freshman Kristy Gaudiose added eight points and six assists. Junior Cathy Hanek leads the Penguins with a 9.4 scoring average while Olmstead is second on the squad with 8.9 points per game. Senior Jessica Forsythe leads the team and ranks fourth in the Horizon League with 7.4 rebounds per game and averages 7.6 points per game. Leading Clemson, who has five players averaging in double figures, is senior guard Lakeia Stokes, who leads the team with 17.8 points per game and 8.3 rebounds per game. Seniors Julie Aderhold and Maggie Slosser and sophomore Julie Talley are posting, 12.8, 11.8 and 10.8 points per game, respectively. Slosser, a Poland, Ohio, native is second on the squad with 8.0 rebounds per game and is shooting 49.4 percent from the floor. YSU hits the road to face Akron, Sunday, Dec. 21, at 2 p.m. in Akron, Ohio. The Series This is the first meeting between Youngstown State and Clemson and just the second time the Penguins have played a team from the Atlantic Coast Conference. Youngstown State lost to North Carolina State, 88-61, in the second round of the 1998 NCAA Women�s Basketball Tournament. Up Next The Penguins hit the road to face Akron, Sunday, Dec. 21, at 2 p.m. The Zips will be the fifth Mid-American Conference opponent the Penguins will face this season. Scouting the Tigers Leading Clemson, who has five players averaging in double figures, is senior guard Lakeia Stokes, who leads the team with 17.8 points per game and 8.3 rebounds per game. Seniors Julie Aderhold and Maggie Slosser and sophomore Julie Talley are posting, 12.8, 11.8 and 10.8 points per game, respectively. Slosser, a Poland, Ohio, native is second on the squad with 8.0 rebounds per game and is shooting 49.4 percent from the floor. |
| Kent State Downs Penguins, 66-53 |
| Saturday, December 13 2003 |
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| Youngstown -- The Kent State Golden Flashes jumped out to a 17-point halftime lead and held off an early second half YSU run en route to a 66-53 victory on Saturday afternoon at Beegly Center. Andrea Csaszer paced KSU with 17 points and 12 rebounds while Lindsay Shearer finished with 12 points. UW-Milwaukee transfer Malika Willoughby chipped in with 11 points and seven assists. Jessica Olmstead finished with a team-high 13 points and eight rebounds while Devin Novak finished with 11 points to lead the Penguins. After trailing by 17 at halftime, YSU opened the second half with a 12-5 run to get back within 10 at 40-30 after consecutive free throws from Jessica Forsythe . However, KSU scored seven unanswered points in 1:50 to reclaim their 17 point lead. The Flashes upped their lead to 21 at the 7:48 mark on a layup from Tiffany Kelly, then kept YSU from getting within 13 the rest of the way. Kent State took an early 4-0 lead at the 18:31 mark on a fast-break layup by Willoughby. Olmstead sank a three with 18:04 remaining to get the Penguins within one, but YSU would not get any closer the rest of the contest. The Golden Flashes scored the next five points capped by a three from Heather Harris at the 15:17 mark, then ended the half on an 8-0 run to take a 35-18 lead into the locker room. Harris finished with nine first-half points while teammate Shearer had ten. The Penguins shot 29.2 percent in the opening period and 35.5 percent overall while KSU shot at a 46.4 percent clip in the first half and 37.7 percent for the contest. Kent State held the rebounding advantage 42-36. YSU will host ACC opponent Clemson on Friday, Dec. 19, at 7 p.m. |
| Penguins Drop Fourth Straight In 68-58 Loss To Buffalo |
| Wednesday, December 3 2003 |
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| Buffalo, N.Y. � The Youngstown State women�s basketball team (1-4) dropped its fourth straight game of the season after a 68-58 loss to Buffalo (1-2) on Wednesday morning at Alumni Arena. Leading 22-20 at halftime, Youngstown State quickly boosted its lead to seven, 31-24, after three 3-pointers, including two from senior Devin Novak and one from freshman Kristy Gaudiose. Novak led the Penguins with 17 points and connected on 6-of-11 from the floor, including 5-of-9 from 3-point range. �There were some bright spots with Devin (Novak) being a presence on the floor, as well as Melissa Tarrant,� YSU Head Coach Tisha Hill said. Buffalo, which shot 60.7 percent in the second half, responded with a 13-4 run to tie the game at 37-37, and took the lead for good on a jumper by Jessica Kochendorfer with 11:20 remaining in the game. The Bulls increased their lead to seven, 46-39, with 9:05 left but Novak closed the gap to four, 46-42, with a 3-pointer at the 8:41 mark. Buffalo again increased its advantage to seven points, 51-44, with 7:52 left in the game but Novak sliced the advantage back to four, 51-47, with another 3-pointer 27 seconds later. Buffalo�s Kim Kilpela�s 3-point play gave the Bulls a seven-point lead, 54-47, at the 7:03 mark and YSU�s Cathy Hanek trimmed the Buffalo lead with a jumper with 5:53 remaining. YSU would not come any closer. The Penguins jumped out to a quick 5-0 to start the game on a Tara Fleming layup and a 3-pointer by Gaudiose at the 17:21 mark. Buffalo, though, rallied with an 18-5 run over the next 10 minutes to a take an 18-10 advantage with 7:08 remaining in the first half. After the team�s traded baskets to put the score at 20-12 with 4:34 to go in the half, the Penguins used a 10-0 run to close out the half and head into the locker room with a 22-20 lead. Junior Melissa Tarrant, who finished with seven points, sparked the Penguins in the closing minutes of the first stanza. Tarrant connected on two jumpers to bring the Penguins within four, 20-16, at the 2:24 mark. Gaudiose, who scored a career-high 12 points including eight in the first half, then buried a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to one, 20-19, at the 1:53 mark. Tarrant tied the game at 20-20 after converting 1-of-2 from the line with 1:05 left and senior Jessica Forsythe gave the Penguins the halftime advantage with a layup with just 30 seconds remaining. �Our intensity top come from behind in the first half is what we needed to have in the second half,� Hill said. YSU visits Toledo, Saturday, Dec. 6, at 7 p.m. in Savage Hall. |