The Youngstown State Penguins women’s basketball team (10-4, 3-1 Horizon) pulled off a record-breaking performance in a 97-20 win over an NCAA Division II independent opponent, the Salem University Tigers (1-8), on Wednesday afternoon at Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center. It counted as an exhibition game for Salem, but as a regular game for the Penguins, who won their third consecutive contest.
Although the game was delayed for an hour and a half due to the Tigers’ traveling issues on their trip from Salem, West Virginia on New Year’s Eve, it didn’t faze YSU at all. They started the day on a 16-0 run over the first 5:02 of the game with a Sarah Baker layup, back-to-back baskets from Sophia Gregory, consecutive threes from Casey Santoro and Danielle Cameron, a layup from Cameron, and a Paulina Hernandez jumper. YSU led 27-4 after one quarter of play, following a logo three by Santoro. Batoul Khaleefah made both of Salem University’s lone made shots near the end of the period.
At one point in the beginning of the second quarter, YSU scored 11 unanswered points with a Dacia Lewandowski layup, made free throws from Cameron, a three-point play from Hernandez, a layup from Erica King, and a fastbreak bucket from Hernandez to go up 42-7. After the Tigers’ Taja Brown made a pair of foul shots, the Penguins ended the first half on a 15-0 run with a layup from Ashlynn Van Tassell, back-to-back threes from King and Hayden Barrier, made free throws from Bella Samz, a Gregory layup, a Van Tassell tip-in, and another three by Barrier. Just like that, the Penguins were up 59-9 at halftime.
In the third quarter, YSU scored the first 10 points of the third quarter to make it 25 unanswered points with a pair of buckets by King, one basket each from Santoro and Brooke Adkins, and made foul shots from Hernandez to make it 69-9. Youngstown State’s 25-0 run lasted 11:51, and the Tigers didn’t score until the 2:11 mark of the third with a three from Nakayla Green. All told, YSU outscored Salem 38-11 in the final 20 minutes of the afternoon.
The Penguins shot 59.1 percent (39-of-66) from the field, 37.5 percent (9-of-24) on threes, and 76.9 percent (10-of-13) on free throws, and all 11 Penguins scored at least four points or more. They won battles in rebounding (52-29), points off turnovers (29-6), and bench points (52-0).
Barrier, a sophomore, led all scorers with a career-high 18 points off the bench (nine came in the fourth quarter) while going 4-of-9 from downtown, and she even added five steals. “The past couple games, I’ve been hitting a ton,” Barrier said after the game. “So coming out and hitting a couple shots definitely felt good, but Coach Jackson talked with me this morning, and she just made sure that I knew she had a lot of confidence in me and that she believed in me, and that’s all I needed to hear, I guess.”
“I’ve been really happy with her,” Penguins head coach Melissa Jackson said regarding Barrier’s performance. “I think she’s a huge spark for us, exactly what we need coming off the bench. Obviously, she can shoot the ball, but she can do so much more, too. Very much a three-level scorer, got to see a little bit of that tonight, but flies around and plays with so much passion on the court. Really fits our program extremely well, so very happy to see that ball go in the net for her. Love her defense, love her intensity, and her anticipation with those steals. You really got to see that today.”
King scored 16 points of her own and shot 7-of-8 from the field, while Hernandez scored 15 points off the bench and blocked a trio of shots. Gregory finished with an impressive stat line of eight points (4-of-4 FG), six rebounds, six assists, and three blocked shots in just 21 minutes of action. Cameron and Van Tassell scored seven points each, while Baker added six. Samz also dished out six dimes, while Lewandowski led the squad with seven boards.
With YSU’s man-to-man and zone defenses on full display, Corey Hines’ Salem University squad was held to just 11.9 percent shooting (7-of-59) from the field, five percent (1-for-20) from three-point range, and 45.5 percent (5-of-11) from the foul line. Only three Tigers scored on the day: Brown with 11, Green with five, and Khaleefah with four. Khaleefah also led her team with seven rebounds as well.
By the numbers
• YSU allowed 20 points by Salem, which broke the previous record low of 25 set by Malone University on December 29, 1990
• YSU had allowed fewer than 30 points four times before this game
• Salem’s nine first-half points were the second-fewest allowed by the Penguins in school history, with their current record being Detroit Mercy with eight on January 13, 2007
• 11 points in the second half is tied for the fifth-fewest allowed in program history
Up next: YSU will head back into conference play as they host the Oakland Golden Grizzlies on Monday, January 5 for a 6:30pm tip-off at Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center.
James Moon (CashApp): $JRMoon1991
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