Penguin News
Penguins lose Arbanas for season
by Charles Grove - Youngstown Vindicator
Friday, Oct 14, 2016 1:01 pm
Junior guard Nikki Arbanas suffered a right-knee injury on the first day of practice and will be out the entire 2016-17 season.
Surgery is expected soon and she is expected to return next year with two years of eligibility remaining. However, replacing a player that set the school record for three-pointers in a season (89) a year ago won’t be easy.
“Nikki does so many things from her leadership to her defense to her three-point shooting but this isn’t my first rodeo and I’ve been coaching a lot of years and this has happened before,” YSU head coach John Barnes said Thursday. “I’ve always had players step up.”
The message to the team isn’t an attempt to replace one of the best players on the team immediately, it’s finding the players who may exceed expectations this year.
“We’re not necessarily trying to fill her shoes, but to have other players step up and maybe overachieve what they thought or we thought of them,” Barnes said. “We’re excited for their opportunities.”
Arbanas was the second-top scorer on the team a year ago when the Penguins finished 21-13 and won two games in the Women’s Basketball Invitational before falling to Louisiana on the road.
She averaged 11.3 points per game and dished out 75 assists to 66 turnovers but one big aspect will be missing is her smothering defense.
“Defensively, she was a big asset for us,” Barnes said. “She guarded the other teams’ best player every game so we’re waiting to see who will step up and fill those shoes.”
Part of Arbanas’ void will be filled in by junior Indiya Benjamin who started 33 of the teams 34 games last year, averaging 9.9 points per game.
“This just means I need to pick it up,” Benjamin said. “My leadership, my role on this team and me being a point guard I need to be more vocal with my teammates and be that coach on the floor making sure people are in their right positions and people are going hard.”
Sarah Cash returns as a junior and will be a large part of the offense once again. She averaged 14.1 points per game last year to lead the Penguins. The offense will likely go through her as the Penguins will try to capitalize on teams potentially double-teaming her in the post.
“We’re going to do what we do [on offense], Barnes said. “We’re going to try to get the ball inside and then go inside-outside, catch and shoot. That really hasn’t changed a whole lot [with Arbanas’ injury].”
Despite the early setback, Barnes still sees this season as a way to keep moving the program forward as his Penguins look for their third 20-win season in a row.
“We want to keep taking steps forward,” Barnes said. “I have no doubt other players will step up and help us take that next step. We’re getting to the point where we have just as many upperclassmen as young players and that normally equates to winning more games.”
