Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes
YSU’s Dena Jarrells drives inside during the first half at West Virginia. She led YSU with 12 points.
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MORGANTOWN — Sunday afternoon was a homecoming of sorts for several members of the Youngstown State women’s basketball program who have ties to the Mountain State, as the Penguins traveled to take on West Virginia.
The host Mountaineers scored in bunches however, fending off the Penguins by a final of 94-40 at the WVU Coliseum.
YSU (2-2) shot just a hair over 30% from the field in a game that was an uphill battle all evening.
“They’re a really good team, and they have a few kids that can knock down shots. They got hot early and felt pretty loose and confident, and that kind of snowballed right away,” YSU coach John Nicolais said. “We didn’t come out and match the energy that West Virginia had on the floor early on, and I really thought that we would, given the fact our starting five (and) the core group (being from West Virginia) had lot of people coming to watch them play today.”
“That was a little bit disappointing, I didn’t know if the moment was a little bit too big or surreal or what, but we’ve got a lot to improve on and we got to do that quickly to get ready for the trip to Las Vegas.”
Dena Jarrells, Emily Saunders, Shay-Lee Kirby, and Paige Shy made up four of the starting five for YSU, all hailing from the state of West Virginia, along with Nicolais.
Down 27-9 after the first period, the Penguins had to contend with a WVU squad that shot 57.1% from the field, along with having six players score at least nine points.
YSU found some energy during the fourth quarter and began to drive toward the paint more after relying on the three-point shot during the course of the contest, something that Jarrells found a positive in.
“They came out firing, and we talked before the first game that we wanted to throw the first punch, obviously that didn’t happen. This is a big game for us because we wanted to make a statement, and just feel like we didn’t come out ready to play,” Jarrells said. “Coach Nic did the right thing and kind of lit a fire under us there and if we played the fourth quarter the way we did for the entire four quarters it could have been a different story.”
Nicolais added, “We knew we were going to get some open looks, especially high post and that can kind of turn into an inside-out three which is a three that we’ve shot for many times over the years here at YSU.
“I know they were a little bit concerned with Saunders so they made it a little more difficult for us to go high-low down inside so we were taking what they were giving us which is usually a three that we like.”
Jarrells led the Penguins with 12 points, Shy adding eight, Saunders with six, and Kirby adding five.
Later in the week, YSU will fly west to Las Vegas for an MTE with Rhode Island and Northern Arizona at The Orleans Hotel & Casino. It’s a trip that’ll test YSU against a pair of quality teams.
“Our hope is that we play the way we did in the fourth quarter today. That’s the team we are, that’s the players we are, the heart and the grit that we have. I just hope we continue to do that the next few games because we’re going to need it,” Jarrells said.