2018-19 #HLWBB Preview: Youngstown State
Youngstown State Penguins
Last season: 16-16 overall, 11-7 Horizon League
Head coach: John Barnes (6th year)
By Joey Yashinsky, Horizon League Contributor. Follow on Twitter @OneSeatOver
In Horizon League preseason voting, 28 of 29 votes, unsurprisingly, went to 20-time champion Green Bay. But one vote was directed elsewhere.
To John Barnes and the Youngstown State Penguins.
Barnes returns a pair of Preseason All-Conference selections in first-team member Sarah Cash and second-team honoree Chelsea Olson. With a deep supporting cast to go along with that tandem, it’s no wonder conference observers have high expectations for the Penguins heading into the 2018-19 schedule.
Cash fought back with a vengeance from a knee injury the year prior to become one of the Horizon League’s most feared all-around players in 2017-18. Blessed with a soft touch and a strong ability to get to the free-throw line (where she shoots 75%), Cash made her presence felt in a major way at Motor City Madness. In a tight quarterfinal win over Milwaukee, she finished with a game-high 24 points and a team-leading nine rebounds. If the Penguins are in the fight this winter for one of the top spots in the Horizon League, don’t be surprised to see Cash get serious Player of the Year consideration.
As January turned to February last season, there wasn’t a better freshman in the conference than Chelsea Olson. She poured in shots from all over the court and helped Youngstown State grab seven wins in eight games. For her efforts, Olson was bestowed Freshman of the Week honors four consecutive times. Now a sophomore, she will pair with Cash to form one of the most dangerous duos in the Horizon League.
“It was really fun to see Chelsea develop,” said Barnes, who is set to begin his sixth year on the bench at YSU. “A lot of freshmen come in just deferring to the upperclassmen because they aren’t sure what they can do at this level yet. But week in and week out, Chelsea just kept getting better and more confident. She had a great summer and now is having a great fall, so I’m expecting her to have a big year.”
Barnes will be tasked with replacing a boatload of experience and production in the backcourt with the losses of Indiya Benjamin and Nikki Arbanas. The two guards combined to start 63 games a season ago and logged over 2,000 minutes of court time. Benjamin, in particular, was responsible for a bulk of the Penguins ball handling and playmaking responsibilities.
Youngstown State will call on senior Alison Smolinski to help offset those departures. Smolinski was the Horizon League’s most prolific 3-point shooter as a sophomore (85 made 3s) before a variety of injuries hampered her junior year.
“Alison has had an outstanding summer and fall,” said Barnes. “I think she was around a 13 or 14-point scorer as a sophomore, then last year broke her foot, had a concussion, so it was tough for her. She played the last five or six games, but she wasn’t herself. Now she is fully recovered and I expect her to be back to that sophomore season form.”
Sophomore guard McKenah Peters will see a larger role this year as well. Like Olson, she also earned a Freshman of the Week award last season and gained valuable experience picking up some of Smolinski’s minutes when injuries arose.
A mainstay in the Youngstown State frontcourt the last two years, Mary Dunn is expected to continue her excellent play on the interior. The 6-foot-3 center was voted the league’s top freshman in 2016-17. Now a junior, the Penguins’ coaching staff will rely on Dunn to be a key member of the rotation.
“Mary has been a very good player for us,” said Barnes. “We’ve needed her to play big minutes and play well when she’s been in there, and she has done that. I think she made big strides forward in the off-season, so I’m expecting a great year from her, too.”
It will be critical for Youngstown State to get off to a stronger start in conference play, with last year’s squad dropping five of its first seven contests. The Penguins did manage to catch fire down the stretch, winning seven of eight to close Horizon League play, the only loss coming to Green Bay.
“That’s when you want to be at your best,” said Barnes. “I felt like our team came together throughout the year and we were at our best at the end. A lot of that had to do with Chelsea and McKenah and how they developed. We’re going to try and springboard off that into this season and get off to a good start, then parlay that right into the conference season.”
The 2018-19 Youngstown State Penguins roster is as well-balanced as they come. There is power on the inside with Cash and Dunn, explosiveness from the outside with Smolinski, Olson and Peters. There are experienced juniors and seniors, and a gifted collection of freshman and sophomores. (Watch for super-talented frosh Madison Mallory, a 6-foot-2 forward with a sweet stroke from the perimeter.)
“We’re always fighting to win a championship,” said Barnes. “If that’s not the goal, then you’re probably in the wrong profession. I feel like our league is so good on the women’s side that a lot of these teams just reload. I expect all those top teams to be outstanding again this year. We just have to continue to work our tails off to raise our level and try to beat those guys, and get a piece of that title ourselves.”
At least one vote in the preseason says that is exactly what the Penguins are about to do.