By Joe Scalzo
scalzo@vindy.com
YOUNGSTOWN
Senior point guard Macey Nortey has played in all 90 of Youngstown State’s games over the past three years and her 84 career starts put her within striking distance of the school’s all-time record of 112.
Problem is, Nortey has a 9-81 record in those games, so you’d half expect the Long Beach, Calif., native to be counting down the days until she can escape the snowy Midwest.
Not so.
“I’m very bittersweet about it,” she said. “When people ask me about it being my senior year, I mean, I love it, I’m excited and I do want to go out of here with a bang, but at the same time, it’s just like, ‘Wow, four years have flown.’
“I don’t think about it being my last year. I just kind of go game-by-game, practice-by-practice.”
YSU enters tonight’s opener at West Virginia with more optimism than it’s had in years, thanks to a strong finish to last season and a roster that returns four of five starters.
Led by the Horizon League’s preseason player of the year, junior forward Brandi Brown, the Penguins boast their best and deepest roster since the 2007-08 season when they finished 14-17.
“I’m really excited about our bench and our newcomers and the fact that we do have different options and different looks from the point guard with [freshman] Kelsea [Fickiesen] all the way down to [sophomore] Melissa [Thompson] playing the three [small forward] and the four [power forward],” Nortey said. “It’s just nice to show a different face and give everyone a chance to prove what they’ve worked on during the summer and in the preseason.
“It’s nice to have different ways to attack the opponent.”
YSU went 6-24 last year, winning its last three home games and losing its last three road games by five points or fewer.
That’s a promising trend for this season, although the Penguins face a bad matchup tonight. The Mountaineers lost four of five starters from last year’s NCAA Tournament team but they have seven players that stand at least six feet tall.
YSU has two.
“They’re obviously a more athletic team than us,” second-year coach Bob Boldon said. “The overall theme for the game is trying to find ways to negate their advantages over us.”
On the flip side, the Penguins could benefit from playing its best opponent in the opener, since it will give them a chance to see how much they need to improve.
And, Boldon said, it should be fun.
“Obviously,” he said, “it’s a wonderful atmosphere to play in.”
