Morgan Brunner, a 5-foot-8 walk-on guard, gave the Youngstown State women’s basketball team the spark it needed.

Brunner got her first start in Thursday’s 70-54 victory over UIC, earning the Penguins their first Horizon League win. She scored a game-high 20 points in her first-ever collegiate start.

YSU (5-10, 1-3 Horizon League) has a laundry list of injuries — dating back to junior starting shooting guard Nikki Arbanas tearing her ACL in the team’s first practice.

Starting senior forward Kelsea Newman also tore her ACL in the first regular-season game against American.

Tribune Chronicle / John Vargo Youngstown State’s Morgan Brunner guards UIC’s Taylor Toney during Thursday’s 70-54 victory by the Penguins where Brunner earned her first-ever collegiate start.

Starting junior forward Sarah Cash, a Lordstown High School graduate and returning leading scorer, has been fighting right knee issues all season. Barnes said she’s likely to be redshirted.

Gone is most of the team’s offense.

Then, sophomore guard/forward Alison Smolinski is in concussion protocol after an injury in the first half of a game at Northern Kentucky on Jan. 7.

Add to that freshman walk-on Izzy Meese out with an ankle injury.

YSU’s roster shrunk from 16 to 11 with plenty of underclassmen getting opportunities.

“With Al going down and multiple injuries we have, we had to have different people step up at different times,” Brunner said. “I’m fortunate enough that I was there. It was an all-around team thing. They’ve been giving me confidence. They’ve been giving me open shots.”

Brunner, who played 39 minutes in the first 12 games, was 2-of-10 from the floor, 4-of-4 from the foul line and 1-of-6 from 3-point range.

It was a far cry from her famed career at The Linsly School in Wheeling, W. Va., where she was a four-time All-Ohio Valley Athletic Conference selection. She averaged 16 points as a senior, made more than 200 3-pointers and scored more than 1,200 points.

“Morgan has been doing a really good job in practice,” Barnes said. “She’s been doing a great job with the minutes that’s she has gotten recently. We’ve kind of seen some great things from her and gave her the opportunity to start today. Obviously she took advantage of that and played great.

“Happy for her, proud of her and the rest of the team. Hopefully we can keep building on that.”

Brunner had a combined 26 points at Wright State and Northern Kentucky, going 7-of-18 from the floor, and 5-of-13 from 3 in 49 minutes off the bench. She’s 8-of-8 from the foul line in the past three games — averaging 15.3 points per contest.

“Morgan, she’s doing awesome these last three games,” YSU senior guard Jenna Hirsch said. “She’s stepping up big. She’s making the most of her minutes. She’s out there attacking, too. She’s doing awesome.”

YSU hosts Valparaiso today at 4:30 p.m., and Cleveland State on Monday at 7 p.m.

Barnes hopes some other bench players can follow Brunner’s lead and get a YSU team that has had 20-plus wins the past two seasons, back to winning in the Horizon League this season — despite the team’s key injuries.

“We need everybody to step up,” Barnes said. “We need as many people to step up as possible. She’s been the one as of late. For her to not get very minutes at all early on and to keep on being positive and working hard and keep getting better and now getting a lot of minutes and playing great — it’s what the game is all about.”

Tribune Chronicle / John Vargo
Youngstown State’s Morgan Brunner guards UIC’s Taylor Toney during Thursday’s 70-54 victory by the Penguins where Brunner earned her first-ever collegiate start.