Penguins cruise past D&E
All 12 players score in 71-27 rout as YSU gets back on track after 1st loss
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YOUNGSTOWN -- It wasn't a perfect showing, but in its "get right" game Friday night, the Youngstown State women's basketball team did just that.
Taking a commanding 18-point lead during the first quarter, YSU led wire to wire in a 71-27 throttling of Division II Davis & Elkins at the Beeghly Center.
"Ultimately, we really wanted to do a solid job defensively, and I thought we did that," YSU head coach John Barnes said.
For the most part, the Penguins (9-1) did just that. D&E (1-9) shot an abysmal 10-of-53 from the field and 3-of-32 from 3-point range.
The 27 points YSU gave up is by far a season low, the previous mark having been set at 50 against Milwaukee. The last time the Penguins kept an opponent under 30 points was Jan. 3, 2019, when YSU hammered UIC 81-29. It is also the second-lowest point total the Penguins have allowed in school history.
Davis & Elkins' usual leading scorer, Dream Cherry, was kept to two points on a 1-for-8 night. She also shot 0-for-6 from downtown.
"She averages 17 or 18 points a game and is extremely quick and athletic. She kind of gets shots from nowhere. I thought Mady Aulbach did an outstanding job on her," Barnes said. "And everybody else was kind of paying attention to where she was and trying to help when they could."
On the other end, YSU was 24-for-56 from the field and had its usual variety in the scorebook. In fact, all 12 Penguins that dressed for the game entered and scored at least once. YSU's bench outscored D&E's 32-2.
"We wanted to get minutes for some of the players that don't normally get a lot of minutes. So for everyone to get in and get points on the board is outstanding," Barnes remarked.
In her second game back from an illness, Lilly Ritz returned to form with 14 points and eight rebounds.
Of returning, Ritz said, "I felt really good. It was just a process of getting back and doing what I know how to do and just being able to be there for my teammates."
YSU picked up eight points apiece from Megan Callahan, Chelsea Olson and Malia Magestro. Olson and Paige Shy each had seven boards. Aulbach notched seven points and five rebounds.
The Penguins initially raced out to a 20-2 lead after the first quarter, as Ritz scored six of her points in the period while six of her teammates also hit the scorebook.
In the second quarter, though, D&E responded with a 10-0 run out of the gate to rally to within 20-12. The duo of Marissa Berlin and Allie Taylor did the heavy lifting during that spurt, as Berlin scored four of her team-high 14 points and Taylor added a pair of treys to score six of her nine points.
Barnes pointed out the similarities between that stretch and Sunday's loss at Penn State, in which YSU led early before going cold from the field and surrendering momentum in a 78-58 defeat.
"Fortunately, with D&E, we were able to kind of get over that hump and build our lead, but we did it against Penn State and then they just flipped it and ran the other way," Barnes said. "So we've got to grow from this situation and learn and not allow teams to get back in games."
After that spurt for D&E, though, YSU returned to its dominant form, holding the Senators to just six points each in the third and fourth quarters while ramping up the offense from each of its own players.
Youngstown State hosts NAIA team Point Park on Tuesday before having some time off ahead of conference play resuming at month's end.