| Seniors Help Hold Off Comeback in 60-54 Victory |
| Friday, February 24 2006 |
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| Youngstown -- Three Youngstown State players scored in double figures and YSU held off a late Loyola rally in a 60-54 victory Thursday evening at the Beeghly Center. With the win, the Penguins improve to 8-19 overall and 4-12 in the Horizon League, and they are guaranteed to be seeded at least eighth in the Horizon League Tournament beginning next week. They can earn the seventh seed with a Loyola (3-23, 3-12) loss to UW-Milwaukee on Saturday. The Penguins led by as many as 11 in the second half, but Loyola slowly chipped away and trailed by only two with under a minute and a half remaining. Then, fittingly, as YSU saluted its three seniors before tipoff, seniors Ashlee Russo and Michelle Holmes stepped up to preserve the win. Russo intercepted a pass and made a solid entry pass to set up a Jessica Schloemp layup that put YSU up four with 1:15 to go. After a defensive stop, Holmes scored on YSU's next trip down the floor to increase the margin to six and score the game's final points. Monique Godfrey finished with a team-high 14 points for the Penguins while Kristy Gaudiose finished with 13 and Holmes had 10. Senior Aaliyah Sabree finished with two points and four rebounds in her final regular season home game. Loyola's Marquise Hanser scored a game-high 21 points for a shorthanded Loyola squad that played only six players. YSU battled through 11 lead changes and four ties in the first half before a 13-2 run in a four-minute span gave the Penguins a 35-26 lead at the break. The Ramblers took their largest lead of the game at 10-5 with 14:57 remaining on a layup by Hanser, but YSU scored the next seven points to go up 11-10 on a three-point play by Gaudiose. Loyola led 21-20 with 8:08 to go when Gaudiose sparked the 13-2 run that culminated with a Godfrey jumper with four minutes remaining that made the score 33-23. The Penguins led the entire second half, but Loyola made it close with an 11-2 run to get within 42-40 with 12:56 to go. Gaudiose and Toni Roscoe hit treys to put YSU back up eight, but Loyola went cut the margin to one when Danielle Nabolotny hit a 3 with 6:39 remaining. YSU scored the next six points to go up seven before the Ramblers scored the next five to set up the final sequence. If Loyola wins Saturday, the Penguins will play host to Cleveland State on Tuesday. With a Loyola loss, the Penguins would travel to either UW-Milwaukee or UW-Green Bay to play on Thursday. |
| UW-Milwaukee Topples Penguins, 67-44 |
| Sunday, February 19 2006 |
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| Milwaukee, Wis. -- UW-Milwaukee (17-8, 12-2 Horizon League) shot 57.1 percent from the floor in the second half and forced 22 Youngstown State (7-19, 3-12 Horizon League) turnovers as the Penguins dropped a 67-44 decision to the Panthers on Saturday evening at the Klotsche Center. Sophomore Jessica Schloemp led the Penguins with 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the floor. With the score 26-19 at halftime, the Panthers scored 11 of the first 12 points to start the second half by connecting on their first five field goal attempts and held the Penguins without a field goal for the first five minutes to extend their lead to 17 points, 37-20, at the 16:02 mark. The Penguins would not get any closer. In the first half, UW-Milwaukee used a 10-0 run early in the first half to turn a 5-4 deficit into a 14-5 lead with 11:26 remaining. After trading baskets, junior Kristy Gaudiose drilled a 3-pointer and sophomore Jessica Schloemp added a lay up to bring the Penguins within four, 16-12, at the 7:36 mark. The Panthers held the Penguins scoreless for three minutes and extended their lead back to eight points, 20-12, with 6:38 left. A lay up by senior Ashlee Russo, a free throw by freshman Megan Snorf and two lay ups by senior Michelle Holmes cut the YSU deficit down to five, 24-19, with 1:29 left before halftime. Two free throws by UWM's Nichole Drummond with 26 seconds remaining gave the Panthers a seven-point, 26-19, edge at the intermission. The Penguins close out the regular season against Loyola, Thursday, Feb. 23, at the Beeghly Center at 7:05 p.m. |
| Phoenix Hold Off Penguins, 81-69 |
| Friday, February 17 2006 |
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| Green Bay, Wis. -- Youngstown State shot 57.4 percent from the field, won the rebounding battle, 33-23, and freshman Monique Godfrey posted a career-high 18 points, but UW-Green Bay converted 24 Penguin turnovers into 31 points en route to an 81-69 victory over the Penguins on Thursday evening at the Phoenix Sports Center. The Penguins fall to 7-18 overall and 3-11 in the Horizon League while the Phoenix improve to 19-5 overall and 11-2 in the Horizon League. Trailing 44-34 at halftime, Youngstown State scored the first five points of the second half to cut the Phoenix lead to five points, 44-39, after a 3-pointer by Godfrey and a lay up by senior Ashlee Russo. UWGB used an 11-4 run to extend its lead 12 points, 55-43, with 14:19 remaining and pushed its lead to as many as 16 points, 71-55, with 6:29 left. Youngstown State twice cut the deficit down to eight points, 73-65, and 75-67, with 1:28 left but could never get any closer. After an old-fashioned three-point play by Russo, who scored 12 points, gave the Penguins a 6-5 lead at the 18:12 mark, UWGB scored the next five points to take a 10-6 lead which they would never surrender. YSU's Kristy Gaudiose, who finished with 15 points, buried a 3-pointer to cut the Phoenix lead to one, 10-9, but UWGB scored the next nine points to take a 19-9 lead on a jumper by Nicole Soulis at the 14:24 mark. Soulis finished with a game-high 23 points. Sophomore Jessica Schloemp converted two free throws to slice the Penguins' deficit to six points, 35-29, with 3:37 remaining but a free throw by Kayla Groh and a jumper by Soulis expanded the Phoenix lead to nine points, 38-29, with 1:55 remaining in the half. Gaudiose added two more free throws to trim the lead down to seven, 38-31, at the 1:07 mark but a 3-pointer by Kati Harty and an old-fashioned three-point by Soulis put UWGB back up by 13, 44-31, with 28 seconds left. With four seconds left in the first half, Gaudiose drilled her third 3-pointer of the game to cut the lead to 10 points, 44-34. The Penguins close out their road trip at UW-Milwaukee, Saturday, at 8 p.m. |
| Penguins Down Cleveland State, 72-54 |
| Monday, February 13 2006 |
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| Cleveland, Ohio -- The Youngstown State women's basketball team placed three players in double figures led by senior Ashlee Russo's 16 points and freshman Monique Godfrey's career-high 15 points en route to a 72-54 win over Cleveland State on Monday evening at the Wolstein Center. Trailing 11-3 at the 16 minute mark, the Penguins used a 24-5 run over the next eight-and-a-half minutes to take an 11-point lead, 27-16, with 7:23 remaining. Senior Michelle Holmes scored eight of YSU's next 10 points to bring the Penguins with one, 14-13, at the 12:19 mark; and sophomore Jessica Schloemp, who posted her fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and 13 rebounds, gave YSU the lead for good with two free throws, 15-14, with 11:50 to go. Youngstown State extended it edge to 11 points, 27-16, at the 7:23 mark after a lay up by Godfrey, a jumper and an old-fashioned three-point play by Russo and a 3-pointer by freshman Velissa Vaughn. The Penguins then close out the half on a 13-5 run to head into the locker room with a 40-21 lead. In the second half, Cleveland State mounted a furious comeback, outscoring the Penguins 20-8 over the first nine minutes of the second stanza to cut the YSU lead down to seven points, 48-41, with 11:08 remaining. But that would be as close as the Vikings would get. After YSU's Kristy Gaudiose took a charge, Cleveland State's Omega Harrington was called for a technical foul and the Penguins scored 16 of the next 18 points, including 12 straight, to take an insurmountable 21-point lead, 64-43, with 5:52 left. Gaudiose drilled her two technical free throws and buried a 3-pointer at the 7:59 mark to push the Penguins' edge to 12 points, 55-43. A lay up by Russo, an old-fashioned three-point play from Schloemp, two charity tosses from Aliyah Sabree and two more free throws by Russo put the game out of reach. The Penguins shot 45.1 percent from the field and 75.9 percent from the free throw line, scored 32 points off of 24 CSU turnovers and tallied a season-high 17 steals, five of those by Gaudiose. The Penguins visit UW-Green, Thursday, Feb. 16, at 8 p.m. at the Phoenix Sports Center in Green Bay, Wis. |
| Flames Ignite in Second Half for 68-49 Win Over Penguins |
| Saturday, February 11 2006 |
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| Youngstown -- Illinois-Chicago (12-11, 8-4 Horizon League) shot 55.6 percent in the second half and out-rebounded Youngstown State (6-17, 2-10 Horizon League), 20-10, after the intermission to knock off the Penguins, 68-49, on Saturday afternoon at the Beeghly Center. Leading by six, 42-36, with 12:20 remaining UIC's Krystal Hugelier hit two straight 3-pointers and Kelly True added a third consecutive trey to extend the Flames' advantage to 15 points, 51-36, at the 9:25 mark. Youngstown State would never come closer than 13 points the rest of the way. In the first half, Youngstown State scored the first four points of the game on jumpers by Jessica Schloemp and Ashlee Russo, who scored 13 points. UIC and YSU battled through two lead changes and four ties before the Flames would take the lead for good, 11-10, at the 12:27 mark after an old-fashioned three-point play by Nikki Grobbecker. YSU senior Michelle Holmes also scored in double figures with 13 points. Youngstown State returns to action against Cleveland State, Monday, Feb. 13. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. at CSU. |
| Gaudiose Ties Career High in 67-60 Loss to Wright State |
| Sunday, February 5 2006 |
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| Youngstown -- Despite a career-high 24 points with five 3-pointers from junior Kristy Gaudiose (Poland, Ohio), the Youngstown State women's basketball team (6-16, 2-9 Horizon League) dropped a hard-fought contest to Wright State (10-12, 6-6 Horizon League) on Saturday afternoon at the Beeghly Center. Wright State held a six-point edge, 19-13, at the 7:39 mark of the first half but jumpers by Gaudiose and senior Ashlee Russo brought the Penguins within two, 19-17, with 6:42 to go. After the team's traded baskets, the Raiders scored the next six points to extend their cushion to eight points, 27-19, at the 4:30 mark. Gaudiose nailed a 3-pointer to bring the Penguins within five, 27-22, but the Raiders scored the next six points to take an 11-point advantage, 33-22, with 2:02 remaining. Gaudiose connected on another trey to cut the deficit to eight points but the Raiders added a layup by Rhea Mays to take a 10-point lead, 35-25, into the locker room at the half. The Raiders also used a 12-5 run over the first six minutes of the second half to increase their lead to 17 points, 47-30, with 15:01 to go. Youngstown State was able to cut the deficit down to 11, 63-52, after a Gaudiose 3-pointer with two minutes left and down to six, 66-60, on two free throws by Jessica Schloemp, who grabbed 12 boards, with four seconds remaining. The Penguins have a week off before host Illinois-Chicago, Saturday, Feb. 11, at 2:05 p.m. at the Beeghly Center. |
| Holmes, Gaudiose, Rebounding Edge Lead Penguins Past Butler, 71-63 |
| Friday, February 3 2006 |
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| Youngstown -- Senior Michelle Holmes and junior Kristy Gaudiose each scored 20 points and the Penguins used a 51-26 rebounding advantage - 19 by sophomore Jessica Schloemp - to guide the Youngstown State women's basketball team to a 71-65 win over Butler on Thursday evening at the Beeghly Center. Youngstown State improves to 6-15 overall and 2-8 in the Horizon League while the Bulldogs fall to 10-10 overall and 5-4 in the Horizon League. The Penguins held an eight-point advantage, 35-27, at the intermission and opened a 14-point edge after a 10-2 run in the first three minutes of the second half. Gaudiose hit a jumper and a 3-pointer while senior Ashlee Russo, who finished with 12 points, also nailed a clutch triple to spark the Penguins' run. The Penguins continued to pound the ball inside for Schloemp and Holmes and Youngstown State extended its lead to 19 points, 57-38, with 9:24 left in the game. Butler, which averages almost eight 3-pointers made per game, quickly made it a 10-point contest, 57-47, after a 3-pointer by Ellen Hamilton and two by Candace Bain, with 6:40 left. After a Russo jumper pushed the Penguins cushion back to a dozen, 59-47, at the 6:28 mark, Butler continued to chip away at the YSU lead and sliced its deficit down to five, 60-55, after a 3-pointer by Jackie Closser with 4:10 to go. Russo gave the Penguins another double-digit lead with a jumper at the 1:33 mark but Closser responded with another trey and two free throws but the Bulldogs would not get any closer. In the first half, the Penguins and Bulldogs battled through four lead changes and two ties before a Gaudiose 3-pointer at the 9:54 mark gave the Penguins a two-point lead, 16-14, and would never trail again. Youngstown State shot 48.3 percent from the field in the first half and finished the game shooting 43.9 percent from the floor. The Penguins host Wright State, Saturday, Feb. 4, at 2:05 p.m. |