The AU Women’s basketball team defeated the Youngstown State Penguins on Saturday 57-41 after an exceptional defensive effort by the Eagles.
The Eagles defense in Saturday’s game held Youngstown State’s Brandi Brown to zero points and only allowed one player to score in double figures.
“I think that’s pretty awesome to hold somebody well under their average or to not give them any points,” Head Coach Matt Corkery said. “I think our kids did a nice job of kind of understanding what she wanted to do when she caught the ball and they did a nice job of taking that away.”
Alexis Dobbs’ offense stood out among the rest of the team, scoring 14 points total and four for eight from deep. Nicole Ryan was right behind her with nine points.
“She’s a good three-point shooter and when the ball found her in those kind of situations she didn’t hesitate,” Corkery said.
The Eagles had a rough start in the first half, unable to maintain the lead until free throws by Lisa Strack and Stephanie Anya put AU ahead 18-17. Jump shots by Anya and Ashley Yencho further extended the lead to a more comfortable margin.
AU led 27-22 at the half.
The Eagle offense came alive in the second half with a three-pointer by Strack within the first three minutes of play. Another three from Ryan and a layup by the freshman, Geleisa George followed this. It was the first time George had ever scored in a college game.
“Coach told us at halftime that it’s really a game of working inside and out so we stepped up the guards in the perimeter,” Dobbs said. “So once we started shooting and some of them started falling it was able to open up the middle for our post players.”
AU ended the game ahead 57-41.
Liz Leer, who is usually a team leader in scoring, struggled in the game. She scored four points throughout the game, but she did have six rebounds, a team high for the game. Players off the bench made up for Leer’s lack of offense.
“Liz Leer’s a great player but if its not her night other people need to step up and that’s what we did coming off the bench,” Dobbs said.
Corkery also emphasized the importance of coming back home after playing on the road for the past few games. Although the team is now over .500, he is still looking for more improvement as the season progresses.
“I think we’re a team that’s still figuring some things out and we’re still trying to exactly figure out what our roles are,” Coach Corkery said. “I think we’re still a work in progress but hopefully we’ll get our stride come January.”
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