HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky women's basketball continues Horizon League play on the road when it heads to Youngstown, Ohio, for a 1 p.m. tilt against the Youngstown State Penguins on Sunday, Jan. 20. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN3.
LAST TIME OUT: The Norse fell on the road to Cleveland State, 76-47, on Friday afternoon.
Emmy Souder paced the Norse in scoring with nine points, while
Ally Niece,
Grayson Rose and
Taylor Clos each chipped in eight points. Niece had a career rebounding day with eight boards, and Clos bested her career mark in steals with four swipes in the contest.
SCOUTING YOUNGSTOWN STATE: The Penguins are fresh off an 83-68 victory over Wright State, handing the Raiders their first loss of the Horizon League season. Sarah Cash and Alison Smolinski each poured in 22 points and the Penguins shot a combined 46.8 percent from the field, including 43.5 percent from 3-point range, en route to the handily-won victory. Smolinski and Cash sit atop Youngstown State's scoring standings, with the former averaging 14.1 points per game while the latter is not far behind at 13.1 ppg. Smolinski is a threat from long range, as she averages 3.5 triples per contest, good for 10th nationally, and recently became YSU's all-time career 3-pointers record holder. Cash has a knack for making her way to the free throw line, scoring 32.6 percent of her points from the charity stripe and ranking 26th nationally in free throws made. Also averaging double digits for the Penguins while leading the team on the boards are Mary Dunn (12.3 ppg/6.6 rpg) and Chelsea Olson (10.2 ppg/7.9 rpg). To round out the lineup, Melinda Trimmer boasts a 3.25 assist-to-turnover ratio, ranking ninth in the nation in the statistic, while McKenah Peters adds to the offense with 8.9 ppg.
As a team, the Penguins protect the ball well with 13.4 turnovers per game and play clean defense on the other end, averaging just 12.9 fouls per contest. YSU keeps teams at 55.6 ppg and at 34.8 percent from the field, landing in the top-20 nationally in both scoring defense and field-goal percentage defense. Offensively, YSU averages 69.1 ppg, bolstered by 8.6 triples per game.
The all-time series against the two programs is deadlocked at 4-4. The Penguins are on a three-game winning streak against the Norse, but all three of the wins have been decided by four points or fewer. In the last outing, NKU lost a heartbreaker in BB&T Arena on Feb. 19, 60-59.
