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YOUNGSTOWN -- Alison Smolinski sat in a makeshift area with a cream-colored Youngstown State backdrop, splattered with a couple of Pete the Penguin logos.
She sat in a folding, wooden chair at the table in front of a gathering of local media on Monday in the northeast entrance of the Beeghly Center floor.
You could hear the bouncing basketballs in the background as the YSU women's basketball team ran some drills.
Someone asked Smolinski if she preferred this setup.
Not really. The honor she received earlier that day was much more palatable as she was named Horizon League Player of the Week for the second time this season.
It is the sixth time this season a Penguins women's basketball player has received this accolade, the most of any Horizon League women's basketball team.
"That's pretty crazy for our team," said Smolinski, whose third-seeded Penguins (21-8) host sixth-seeded Milwaukee (15-14) in a Horizon League quarterfinal matchup Wednesday at 7 p.m., at the Beeghly Center. "That kind of sums up our season so far. Our team has done a great job -- everybody has just clicked and the chemistry is amazing. It's been an unbelievable ride so far."
Mary Dunn won twice, while Chelsea Olson and Sarah Cash, a Lordstown native, each won the honor once this season.
Dunn, a 6-foot-3 junior, leads the Penguins by averaging 14.3 points per game, while adding 5.1 rebounds and she's tied for the team lead in blocked shots with 19.
Smolinski, a 5-9 senior wing, is the school's all-time leading 3-point shooter and is one shy on the Horizon League single-season record. She had 96 this season. Smolinski averages 12.7 points per game and had 19 points and five 3-pointers in Saturday's win at Cleveland State.
Chelsea Olson, a 5-9 guard, averages 10.2 points, had a team-high 6.7 rebounds and is tied with Dunn with 19 blocked shots.
Cash, a 6-1 redshirt senior post, averages 13.3 points and 4.8 rebounds per game, the steady force of these Penguins for the past couple of seasons.
"I think the biggest thing it says is we share the basketball," YSU coach John Barnes said. "No one really cares who gets the points or the accolades each week.
"We're pretty balanced."
With four in double figures, McKenah Peters with 9 ppg. and Melinda Trimmer with 7 per game, Barnes has a point.