YSU trio poised for breakout campaigns
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YOUNGSTOWN -- Last year, Youngstown State experienced the emergence of two players.
Casey Santoro provided a steady, guiding hand with her leadership for a roster that was growing, but still young. Meanwhile, Sophia Gregory started to live up to the talent and athleticism that her coaches raved about.
However, both those players are gone this season, which means the Penguins need a new group to emerge.
They won't have to look far.
After showing signs and flashes in the past, junior guard Erica King, senior forward Paulina Hernandez and junior forward Sarah Baker are all poised to have breakout seasons for YSU.
"They've been in our program for multiple years, and they've played a lot of minutes of college basketball. They have that experience. They're not young players anymore," Penguins head coach Melissa Jackson said. "We have seen glimpses in practice. It's just about that consistency factor. When those are the expectations and those are the goals, it's about coming in every single day and performing to that level."
In her first two years in the program, King started all 66 possible games that YSU played during that time and has made herself invaluable to the program.
She's always been there. But at times, she's flown a little bit under the radar for one reason or another.
In terms of her skillset, King has shown that she can just about do it all on both ends of the floor. Offensively, she can shoot, handle the ball and pass. But her specialty likely comes on the defensive end.
Since last year, she's worked to improve her consistency and further "evolve her offensive game."
"I think being versatile is one of my many skills because even if I'm having a bad offensive day, I know I can always lean back on my defense and make sure I'm making a difference there," King said. "Even if I'm having a bad defensive day, I can try a little bit harder on offense. So I know that there's something I can always do because I'm versatile."
In most games, King usually drew the defensive assignment of guarding the opposing team's best perimeter player. It's a task she relishes and a role she has thrived in.
"Since I was a child, I've always loved defense more than offense," King said. "So I've always put my pride and soul into defense, and I always believe that if nobody wants to get in front of me or get past me, then they won't. So I try to use that as my mentality on defense and make sure I do what I have to do on that court."
Like King, Hernandez also has thrived defensively for the Penguins, but in a slightly different capacity.
She led the Horizon League in blocked shots last year, and statistically, was one of the top shot blockers in all of Division I. That, plus a handful of double-figure scoring performances saw her named Horizon League Sixth Player of the Year last season.
"I'll always have the same mindset, just show up, win and play hard," Hernandez said. "So even though I might have a bigger role, I'm still going to have the same mindset."
Hernandez was primarily a post player with a deft shooting touch to knock down 3-point shots. But now she's trying to expand her game even more on the perimeter.
"With Paulina, she's a great rim protector and shot blocker, but we're challenging her on the perimeter with some of her defense and her ball screen coverage," Jackson said. "So we're continuing to challenge them in these practices, putting them in positions to be uncomfortable. I think that's the biggest key, how do they perform when they're uncomfortable, when their backs are against the wall. That's them taking that next step, and us as a program taking that next step."
Last year, when the Penguins needed a basket out of a set play or during an offensive drought, Baker's number was usually the one that was called.
Her consistency offensively was one of her best assets. She was second on the team in scoring at 11.5 points per game and she scored in double figures in 23 of 35 games last year.
The rest of the conference also thinks Baker is poised to take that next step this year, as she was named to the All-Horizon League Preseason First Team.
A tried-and-true, old-school traditional post player with a mid-range game, Baker worked this offseason to extend her range and add a 3-point shot to her arsenal.
"That was a big thing for us with Sarah, extending her range. Knowing how good of an 18-foot jump shooter she is, let's just move it back a little bit," Jackson said. "A lot of that was done in the weight room with her strength and her lower body strength and being able to extend that. I think she's done a good job. It's just being confident. She's hit a couple in practice, which has been awesome to see. She hasn't hesitated at all, so we continue to feed that to her and infuse that confidence in her."