YSU women get back to business with conference play
Trending
YOUNGSTOWN -- It's back to business for the Youngstown State women's basketball team, and the Penguins will resume their Horizon League schedule with a pair of critical contests.
YSU (10-1, 4-0 Horizon) will host Purdue Fort Wayne (4-7, 3-1) at 1 p.m. at the Beeghly Center today, and then hosts Cleveland State (9-1, 4-0) at 1 p.m. Saturday.
The stakes couldn't be higher, as each of the teams jostle for league positioning. It also marks YSU's first game since the Christmas break. The Penguins last hit the hardwood Dec. 21 against Point Park.
"We had a good Pre-Christmas season, so you kind of hate to be off when things are going well," YSU head coach John Barnes admitted. "But I felt like the staff, the players, they all needed a little bit of a break to recharge and spend some time with family and relax. (They) came back and had some very good practices, and we're ready to go."
The Mastodons enter having lost four consecutive games after beginning the season 4-3. Fort Wayne features a talented backcourt trio of Sylare Starks and the Ott sisters -- Riley and Ryin.
Starks, a junior, averages 13.9 points per game, while Riley, the elder of the Otts, scores 12.1 points per game.
Ryin, just a freshman, is scoring 10.3 points per game and shoots 41.2 percent from 3-point range. She also grabs just over four rebounds per game.
"Fort Wayne is very tough to guard against. They can really shoot the three, they're physical, they execute their sets really well in their offense," Barnes said.
The Mastodons average just under nine 3-pointers per game and shoot 35.8 percent from downtown.
YSU guard Mady Aulbach noted, "All their guards are pretty talented. ... They have Starks, who transferred from Detroit Mercy, who's a big matchup for whoever is guarding her."
Aulbach says she anticipates matching up with Riley Ott, someone she's been assigned to in the past.
"It's a good matchup for me. We're pretty much the same height," Aulbach said. "She's quick, and she's hard to guard against, but I think when you know their tendencies -- and the coaches give us a really good scout -- if you know what they tend to do and that's what they're best at, if I can shut that down as well as my other teammates, then we should be good to go."
As for Cleveland State, the Vikings are paced by the Horizon League's leading scorer, Destiny Leo. The sophomore is scoring 23 points per game.
"She can score from long threes and pull-ups, get to the rim, she's great in transition," Barnes said of the Viking star. "She's going to be a challenge for every team in the conference and kind of makes them go."
CSU as a whole leads the league at 76.5 points per game on offense. Paired with that is the league's No. 2 defense, which allows just 56.8 points per game.
With that being the case, it's strength on strength in this contest. YSU is third in the Horizon in scoring offense (68.2 points per game) and features the league's No. 1 defense (56.5 points per game).
"Our defense is what we stand on and stand behind," Aulbach said. "Our toughness, getting every 50-50 ball, our hustle, never giving up and just making every possession really difficult for the other team, whether that be us going hard at them on offense or not letting them score on defense. Just keeping that chip on your shoulder and playing every game to the best of our ability (is critical)."
The Vikings also are the league's No. 1 rebounding team, and that comes in large part through the trio of Amele Ngwafang, Barbara Zieniewska and Nadia Dumas, who are fifth, sixth and seventh in the league, respectively.
Barnes and Aulbach also expressed an eagerness and bit of gratitude to resume conference play at home.
Aulbach said, "I just think we have more of an edge at home. ... Being on our court and being on the court that we make all these shots on every day and where we put in the hard work, it's easier to see our hard work and practice come to fruition. Being able to defend our home court is a special thing."