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YSU women beaten in overtime by Akron

By John Vargo 3 min read

YOUNGSTOWN -- Akron won Tuesday's game at Beeghly Center in overtime, 76-74.

The Youngstown State women's basketball team's tell-tale sign of its loss to the Zips was 37 to 14 -- the discrepancy of free-throw attempts.

The Penguins (3-5) saw the team's second-leading scorer, junior point guard Indiya Benjamin, foul out with 2:45 remaining in regulation.

Benjamin's 3 with 3:47 left gave YSU a 62-59 lead, but Akron's Alex Ricketts two free throws with 1:25 remaining in regulation tied the game. Benjamin fouled out with a game-high 21 points.

"When she was in the game, she was scoring," Barnes said. "When she was in foul trouble, which was most of the game, she was on the bench. She wasn't scoring. She fouled out with a couple of minutes left and it was extremely disappointing. She probably could've been the difference in the game. It is what it is."

Jenna Hirsch, Kelley Wright and Alison Smolinski all finished with four fouls.

"You can't overcome a 37 to 14 free-throw shot difference," YSU coach John Barnes said. "I don't care how good you play. I thought we played very well. When a team shoots 37 and you only shoot 14, you're not winning the game."

YSU led 21-14 after one quarter and shot 57.1 percent in the first stanza, but the Zips closed the gap to 31-29 at halftime, eventually chipping away at the Penguins' lead as a strange turn of events ended  regulation.

Akron's Ricketts, who had a game-high 20 points, missed a jumper with two seconds remaining. The ball went out of bounds and the clock stopped at 0.9 seconds remaining. The three officials on the floor conferred for about five minutes and decided the game should go to an extra session -- explaining the situation to both Barnes and Akron coach Jodi Kest.

"They basically said the ball was still in play," Barnes said. "The clock stopped and it should've kept running."

Freshman forward Mary Dunn had YSU's first four points of overtime -- 19 in all, a career-high for the 6-foot-3 player from Washington, Pa. YSU led 66-64 on Dunn's jumper with 3:43 left -- the Penguins last advantage.

She said she's been working with Lordstown native and YSU junior Sarah Cash, who was out of Tuesday's game with an aggravated knee injury. Cash sat by Kelsea Newman and Nikki Arbanas, who are both out with season-ending injuries.

"We worked on me going to the left because I usually go to the right," Dunn said. "Just by me finishing to the left, I couldn't really cheat it and go back to what I'm used to."

Barnes was impressed with her performance.

"She's growing every day, getting better every day," he said. "She's getting more comfortable out there and able to do different things, different moves. Very happy how well she played tonight."

Hannah Plybon had 18, while Shaunay Edmonds had 12 for Akron (4-2).

Austintown Fitch graduate Megan Sefcik came off the bench for 12 points.

Smolinski hit a 3-pointer with 0.8 seconds left in overtime, but too little, too late for the Penguins, who travel to Kent State Saturday. The game starts at noon.

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