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Youngstown State Lady Pens Basketball Digest |
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| Brandi Brown Scores 24 As Penguins Fall to Hot-Shooting CSU |
| Sunday, January 30 2011 |
| Courtesy of: YSU |
| Youngstown State sophomore forward Brandi Brown scored 24 points and had seven rebounds, but Cleveland State shot 54.2 percent from the field and used a big second-half effort to hand the Penguins an 86-65 loss on Saturday afternoon at the Beeghly Center. With the win, Cleveland State improves to 12-8 overall and 4-4 in the Horizon League. The Penguins are now 3-17 and 1-8. On the heels of her performance, Brown has now scored 707 points while grabbing 503 rebounds in her 50-game Penguins career. She is the just the third player in school history to score 700 points and grab 500 rebounds during her sophomore campaign. Also for the Penguins, Kenya Middlebrooks scored 16 points, 15 of which came in the first half while Bojana Dimitrov had 13. Cleveland State was led by Shalonda Winton who had a game-high 31 points on 12-of-15 shooting from the floor and 6-of-7 from the line. Destinee Blue scored 20 points and hauled down 12 rebounds while Shawnita Garland had 18 and Takima Keane chipped in a dozen. In the second half, CSU outscored the Guins 39-23 and converted 14-of-25 shots from the field while YSU made 6-of-29 in the second stanza. For the game, CSU shot 54.2 percent (32-of-59) while the Guins were 20-of-55 (36.4 percent). The Vikings scored the first 11 points of the second half and the Penguins could not get back in the game. After falling behind 58-42, YSU was only able to get within 14, at 60-46 on a 3-pointer by Brown at the 16:16 mark. Both teams had impressive first half offensively. YSU shot 53.8 percent making 14-of-26 from the field while connecting on 7-of-16 (43.8 percent) 3-point attempts. CSU made 18-of-34 attempts (52.9 percent), most coming from inside the paint. The Vikings scored 30 of their 47 points in the paint and held an 8-0 advantage in second-chance points. On the other hand, the Penguins scored 21 points from behind the 3-point arc compared to just six from deep by CSU. Both teams combined to go 16-19 from the free-throw line as well. YSU scored the first four points of the game, but following a 8-0 run by the Vikings had to play catch up the remainder of the half. The Guins cut the deficit to 8-7 on a three-point play by Dimitrov before the Vikings scored the next five to go on top 13-7. The Penguins tied the game at 13 scoring the next six points, but CSU scored 11 of the next 14 points grabbing a 24-16 advantage at the midway point of the half. With 5:07 left before halftime, the Guins pulled within 31-29 on a Middlebrooks 3-pointer. YSU cut the deficit to 37-36 on a Brown putback at 3:08 and was within 42-39 on a triple by Middlebrooks with a minute to go. The Vikings scored the next five points, but Middlebrooks drained another three just before the buzzer to pull YSU within 47-42 at halftime. The Penguins return to the road on Thursday when they visit Milwaukee. Tipoff for the contest between YSU and the Panthers is set for 8 p.m. |
| Penguins Host Cleveland State Today at Beeghly |
| Saturday, January 29 2011 |
| Courtesy of: YSU |
| The Youngstown State women's basketball team will conclude its three-game home stand on Saturday with a 1:05 p.m. contest against in-state foe Cleveland State. The game will be broadcast live on AM 570 WKBN, and video will be streamed live on the Horizon League Network. YSU is coming off two close losses to Wright State and Detroit last week, falling to Wright State by three and Detroit by nine. Cleveland State split with those teams, beating Detroit and losing to Wright State. Scouting Cleveland State Cleveland State is 11-8 overall and 4-4 in Horizon League games entering this week. The Vikings won their first five contests of the season. They scored a season-low 42 points in a 58-42 loss to Wright State on Saturday. CSU ranks second in the conference in scoring defense, allowing 59.9 points per game. Senior Shawnita Garland is one of three players averaging at least 11 points at 14.7 points per game. Shalonda Winton averages 11.4 points and 9.4 rebounds. The Vikings won the league tournament last season. All-Time Series YSU leads the all-time series with Cleveland State 30-23, but the Vikings have won each of the last seven meetings. The teams first met in 1976, and YSU won the first six games. YSU also won 11 straight from 1985 to 1993. Cleveland State beat YSU 68-38 at Beeghly Center last season. Tickets and Promotions Fans can receive a special Buy-One, Get-One Free offer on general admission tickets by presenting their Giant Eagle Advantage Card. There will be a Water Bottle giveway at the gate, presented by Coca-Cola, Farmers National Bank and myvalleysports.com. Tickets are available for purchase on YSUsports.com, by phone at (330) 941-1YSU, and at the main YSU Athletics Ticket Office in Stambaugh Stadium throughout the week. Fans wishing to purchase tickets the day of the game can do so at the Beeghly Center ticket office. For more information, visit the Basketball Tickets page. Last Game: L, 66-57 vs. Detroit Youngstown State kept battling back but couldn't catch Detroit, falling 66-57 to the Titans on Saturday afternoon at Beeghly Center. The Penguins went without a field goal for more than 3-½ minutes on four occasions. Brandi Brown had 18 points and 10 rebounds for her ninth double-double, and Bojana Dimitrov and Tieara Jones scored in double figures. Detroit countered with four players in double figures, led by Yar Shayok's 17 points. YSU trimmed a nine-point second-half deficit down to one twice but never caught the Titans. Brown's 3-pointer at 5:48 cut the lead to 59-55, but that was YSU's final bucket. Neither team scored for more than two minutes when the score was 61-57. Quick Notes from Detroit * Brandi Brown recorded her ninth double-double, scoring 18 points and grabbing 10 boards. * YSU did not have a field goal for the final 5:47 of the contest and didn't score for the final 3:33. * Bojana Dimitrov reached double figures for the third time in six games. * Tieara Jones had 10 points, seven rebounds, three steals and two blocks before fouling out with 9:03 remaining. * Jones and Brown combined for 17 of YSU's 29 rebounds. Four of the remaining 12 caroms were on balls that went out of play. * Kenya Middlebrooks made a 3-pointer for the 11th consecutive contest. Brown sank a trey for the fifth straight game. * YSU forced at least 15 turnovers for the 12th straight contest. Detroit's 17 turnovers were its most in Horizon League play. Last Time vs. CSU • L, 68-38 Brandi Brown notched her 12th double-double of the season on Alumni Day as YSU fell 68-38 at home to Cleveland State on Feb. 20, 2010. Brown scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Kenya Middlebrooks scored 11 points for the Guins and she finished with eight rebounds. YSU shot 27.3 percent as a team. Ahead 15-13 in the first half, Cleveland State scored 16 straight points to go up 31-13. Brown Through 50 Games Saturday's game will be the 50th game in Brandi Brown's YSU career. If she reaches her scoring and rebounding averages, she'll surpass both 700 points and 500 rebounds in the contest. Brown is currently 17 points and four rebounds from the milestones. Only four players in school history have surpassed 700 career points as a sophomore. Of those four, Dorothy Bowers and Wanda Grant also had 500 rebounds by the end of their sophomore campaigns. Guins Continue to Improve FG% Youngstown State shot better than its season field-goal percentage for the seventh straight game on Saturday against Detroit. YSU made 36.5 percent of its shots, going 19-for-52 overall from the field. The percentage was well above that before the Guins made three field goals in the final 13 minutes. YSU was shooting 30.8 percent after shooting 27 percent at Loyola. Its percentage is now up to 33.8 percent. Shooting Pct. Up in League Play YSU has shot 38.0 percent from the field in its eight Horizon League contests. That's a sizeable upgrade from its 31.1 percent clip during non-conference play. Kenya Middlebrooks has seen the biggest jump individually, going from 23.0 percent in 11 non-conference games to 37.5 percent in league play. Opponents With High Percentages While YSU has steadily increased its shooting percentage, it has not been able to equal the progress on the defensive end. In the last 11 games, only Valpo (39.6 percent) has shot under 40 percent against YSU. Oddly enough, YSU forced at least 16 turnovers in each of those 11 contests and induced more-than-20 miscues in six of them. Horizon League opponents are shooting 48.9 percent against YSU, compared to 41.8 percent by the Guins' non-conference foes. Comparing Scores from Last Year Of the 12 teams YSU has played in each of the last two years, the Penguins have improved the scoring differential against nine of them. YSU is 8-for-8 in closing the gaps in league games from last year. Over the last four games, YSU has been 58 points better at Valparaiso, 27 points better at Butler, 16 points better against Wright State at home and nine points better versus Detroit at home. YSU and Points Off Miscues Youngstown State is outscoring its opponents 344-333 in points off turnovers. That's an enormous improvement from last year when the Guins were outscored 630-370 off miscues. YSU has outscored its opponents off turnovers 10 times in the first 19 games. The Guins won that battle just three times a season ago. Brown Is League's Top Scorer Again YSU sophomore Brandi Brown has reclaimed the top spot in the Horizon League's ranking of top scorers. Brown is now averaging 17.9 points, which is almost a point higher than second-ranked LaShawna Thomas (17.1) of Wright State. Brown is averaging 20.8 points against Horizon League opponents, which is also a league high by more than a point. Brown's at Nine and Nine Brandi Brown has recorded nine double-doubles and nine 20-point contests in the first 19 games. The double-doubles aren't much of a surprise since she had 14 as a freshman last year. The 20-point games, on the other hand, are more of a surprise. Brown eclipsed 20 points just once last year – a 24-point effort at Akron. She's had 20 points in a double-double performance five times this year. Snapping Streaks YSU's win at Valpo on Jan. 13 snapped two prolonged losing streaks. The Guins ended a 39-game road losing streak and a 22-game Horizon League losing streak. They had not beaten a team on its home floor since topping UIC on March 8, 2008. YSU's last Horizon League win was also against Valparaiso on March 7, 2009. Previously this year, YSU snapped a 34-game losing streak dating back to 2008-09 with its win over Bucknell on Nov. 24. The Penguins then beat Ohio three days later for their first back-to-back wins since the 2007-08 campaign. About Penguins' Thievery YSU is averaging 10.5 steals per contest, which ranks second in the Horizon League. The Penguins have 68 more steals than their opponents (199-131), which is a big improvement from last year when YSU had 83 fewer thefts than its opponents. The last time YSU finished a season with more steals than its opponent was in 2001-02. The last time YSU averaged more than 10 steals per game in a season was in 1998-99. The Penguins have recorded at least 10 steals on 12 occasions. Why 3-16 is Still Encouraging Although YSU would like to have more than three wins, it's hard to ignore the improvements made from last year's 0-30 season. * Most notably, YSU has shrunk the scoring margin from minus-25.8 points per game last year to minus-11.7 this year. That is the best improvement in the Horizon League and among Division I teams in Ohio. It is also the eighth-best improvement nationally. * The Penguins are averaging 8.2 more points and allowing 5.9 fewer points. * The Penguins lost by at least 20 on 11 occasions in their first 19 games last year. They've done that just three times this year. * YSU is forcing 3.6 more turnovers and committing 2.2 fewer per contest. * YSU led Western Michigan by 24 and Winthrop by 14 in the second half in losses. Up Next YSU starts its second tour of the Horizon League next week in Wisconsin. The Penguins will play at Milwaukee on Thursday at 8 p.m. EST and at Green Bay on Saturday at 3 p.m. EST. |
| Brown Has Double-Double as Penguins Drop 66-57 Decision to Detroit |
| Sunday, January 23 2011 |
| Courtesy of: YSU |
| The Youngstown State women's basketball team kept battling back, but could never quite catch Detroit falling 66-57 to the Titans on Saturday afternoon at the Beeghly Center. Brandi Brown led the Penguins (3-16 overall and 1-7 in the Horizon League) with 18 points and 10 rebounds while Bojana Dimitrov scored 11 and Tieara Jones added 10. Detroit (9-9 and 3-4) had four players score in double figures and never trailed in the game. Leading the way for the Titans was Yar Shayok who had 17 points and 13 boards. The Penguins cut a seven-point deficit down to one at 43-42 with 13:56 left and 45-44 with 13:07 remaining. But that was as close as they could get. After Jones' basket narrowed the gap to 45-44, the Titans scored nine of the next 11 points to lead 54-46 at the 9:02 mark. YSU kept chipping away getting as close as 55-52 after Brown scored five straight points, the last of which was on a 3-pointer with 8:07 remaining. Detroit scored four straight following Brown's triple extending the advantage to 59-52. Brown drained her second triple to get the Guins within 59-55, but they could get no closer than four the rest of the game. For the contest, YSU shot 36.5 percent (19-of-52) while Detroit made 23-of-49 field goals (46.9 percent). The Penguins shot 73.7 percent from the free-throw line making 14-of-19. In the first half, the Penguins had a big play at the buzzer to carry the momentum into the locker room. With 2.3 seconds left, YSU moved the ball quickly up the court when Maryum Jenkins' long inbounds pass found Brown at the top of the key. Brown drove the lane and her 12-footer banked in just before the horn to get the Penguins within 31-26 at the break. YSU never lead in the opening stanza, but after falling behind 13-4 six minutes into the contest, it scored nine straight points to knot the score at 13 on two Nortey free throws with 10:41 left. The Titans answered with back-to-back 3-pointers to go on top 19-13 with 9:29 remaining. The Guins answered with five straight points clawing back to 19-18 on a 3-pointer by Dimitrov. The Titans were able to go back up by seven on three occasions before Brown's buzzer-beater prior to halftime. In the first half, YSU shot 34.8 percent (8-of-23) while Detroit hit 41.4 percent (12-of-29) from the field. The Penguins made nine free throws. Both teams had nine turnovers and the Titans had a slim 18-17 lead on the boards. YSU plays host to Cleveland State next Saturday at the Beeghly Center. Tipoff is set for 1:05 p.m. |
| Penguins Come Up Just Short in Tough Loss to Wright State |
| Friday, January 21 2011 |
| Courtesy of: YSU |
| Macey Nortey's 3-pointer attempt at the buzzer sailed wide as the Youngstown State women's basketball team came up just short falling 64-61 to Wright State on Thursday night at the Beeghly Center. Brandi Brown scored a game-high 23 points, including YSU's final eight of the contest, but Wright State grabbed a 61-59 lead with just under three minutes remaining and the Penguins could not rally. Youngstown State (3-15 overall and 1-6 in the HL) led 51-45 following two Brown free throws with 10:35 remaining and had a chance to push the advantage to nine. Kenya Middlebrooks' 3-pointer was off the mark and momentum quickly swung to the Raiders, who scored the next seven points to take a 52-51 lead with 8:31 left. The seventh tie of the night came when Brown connected on a 14-footer to knot the contest at 59 with with 3:08 remaining. Unfortunately for YSU, the 13th and final lead change of the game came in favor of the Raiders. LaShawna Thomas knocked down two free throws with 2:55 left to put WSU (11-6, 4-2) on top for good at 61-59. YSU missed it next two shots and turnoved the ball over twice before Thomas canned a jumper with 1:58 left to extend the advantage to 63-59. Maryum Jenkins' 3-pointer rimmed out, but Brown followed with a putback to get the Guins within 63-61 with 1:34 left. YSU forced a travelling call on Thomas, but Brown was stripped going to the bucket with 48 ticks left. Thomas made the second of two free-throw attempts with 21.3 seconds left keeping it a one-possession contest. Brown's try at tying the game missed, but a good hustle play by Tieara Jones and Middlebrooks gave the ball to YSU with six seconds left. The inbounds pass came into to Nortey, who was looking for a teammate to spring open on the wing, but she had to settle for an off-balanced jumper that glanced off the right side of the rim at the buzzer. For the game, YSU shot 41.4 percent making 24-of-58 shots while the Raiders were 25-of-47 (53.2 percent). The Penguins forced WSU into 26 turnovers and committed just 14. However, the Raiders had a 37-20 advantage on the boards. Middlebrooks added 14 points for the Penguins and Brown finished with eight rebounds. Leading the way for Wright State was Molly Fox and Thomas, who both finished with 17. The Penguins did a good job turning solid defense into offense in the first half. YSU forced 14 Raiders turnovers and held an impressive 17-5 advantage in points off miscues. Wright State built a 13-7 lead six minutes into the contest before the Penguins battled back to go in front 19-17 on a 3-pointer by Middlebrooks at the 9:14 mark. YSU extended its lead to 24-19, its biggest advantage of the first half, when Brown connected on a 3-pointer with 5:58 left. The Penguins maintained the lead until LaShawna Thomas tied the ballgame at 29 with 1:34 left before halftime. The Raiders went up three on a triple by Courtney Boyd, but Tieara Jones answered with a jumper just before halftime trimming the deficit at the break to 32-31. Brown and Middlebrooks each scored nine points to lead the offensive effort for YSU, which played just seven players in the first 20 minutes. Brown and Tieara Jones played the entire 20 minutes while Nortey saw 19 minutes of action. The Penguins shot 39.3 percent (11-of-28) from the field while the Raiders were a shade under 50 percent making 14-of-29 attempts (48.3 percent officially). The Guins had to withstand Wright State on the boards as they trailed in 23-12 in rebounds and 8-0 in second-chance points. YSU returns to action on Saturday when it plays host to Detroit. Tipoff at the Beeghly Center is set for 4:35 p.m. and is the front end of a men's and women's doubleheader. The contest will air on 570 WKBN. |
| Brandi Brown Earns Second Horizon League Player-of-the-Week Nod |
| Tuesday, January 18 2011 |
| Courtesy of: YSU |
| Indianapolis -- Youngstown State sophomore forward Brandi Brown has been named Horizon League Women's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Jan 10. Brown notched two double-doubles as the Penguins split a pair of road games last week. She averaged 25 points and 14 rebounds for the week while shooting 63.6 percent from the field. The Pomona, Calif., native had a career-high tying 29 points and a season-high 18 rebounds in YSU's 61-55 victory over Valparaiso. She was 12-for-19 from the field in the contest as she helped Youngstown State snap losing streaks of 39 on the road and 22 in conference play. On Saturday, Brown overcame early foul trouble to post 21 points and 10 rebounds against Butler. She was 9-for-14 from the floor against the Bulldogs, including 2-for-2 from 3-point range. Brown has reclaimed the top ranking among the Horizon League's scoring leaders. She is averaging 17.65 points per contest, which is just ahead of Wright State guard LaShawna Thomas' average of 17.63. Brown also ranks second in the league in rebounding at 9.4 boards per contest. Brown was also named the Horizon League Player of the Week on Nov. 29. No other Penguin has been named Horizon League Player of the Week twice in a season since YSU joined the conference in the 2001-02 season. Youngstown State welcomes Wright State on Thursday for a 5:15 p.m. contest. The Penguins then host Detroit on Saturday in a 4:35pm tip-off. |
| Butler Shoots 61 Percent En Route to 88-69 Win Over YSU |
| Sunday, January 16 2011 |
| Courtesy of: YSU |
| Indianapolis -- Butler shot a blistering 61.5 percent and nailed 14 3-pointers to win 88-69 and offset a solid offensive effort by the Youngstown State women's basketball team on Saturday at Hinkle Fieldhouse. Youngstown State had its best road performance of the year on the offensive end, shooting 46.4 percent overall and 38.1 percent from 3-point range. YSU's 26 field goals were also season high. Brandi Brown led four Penguins in double figures, posting game highs with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Monica Touvelle scored a career-high 14 points while Tieara Jones had 12 and Kenya Middlebrooks added 10. Alyssa Pittman hit six 3-pointers in the first half and finished with 18 points to lead Butler. Five other Bulldogs scored at least eight points. Butler improved to 11-6 overall and remained undefeated in Horizon League play at 5-0. Youngstown State dropped to 3-14 overall and 1-5 in conference play. Both teams found the net early and often in the first half as Butler shot 66.7 percent in the opening period while YSU shot 56 percent. The Penguins hit their first four attempts from 3-point range, and Touvelle's second triple of the contest cut YSU's deficit to 17-16 at the 11:55 mark. YSU did not score for nearly five minutes, and Butler went on an 8-0 run to go up 25-16 with 9:04 remaining. Jones scored the next six points for YSU, which climbed back to within five twice over the next three minutes. Claire Freeman and Pittman hit 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to push Butler's margin up to 11, but YSU did not let the game get away and remained in striking distance at halftime with the score 43-36. Two free throws by Macey Nortey made the score 56-49 with 13:28 left in the second, but Butler's Devin Brierly scored the next five points, and the Bulldogs led by double digits the rest of the way. The game was still within 10 points after Bojana Dimitrov hit a free throw with 10:33 left, but Butler scored the next five points to back up by 15 at 67-52. The Bulldogs led by 19 at the 5:50 mark, and they closed out the contest by scoring the final five points to equal that margin. Brown was 9-for-14 from the field and hit both of her attempts from 3-point range. Jones was 6-for-11 before fouling out with 5:51 remaining in the contest. The Penguins will return home to play Wright State on Thursday at 5:15 p.m. The game will be the first half of a doubleheader with the YSU men's basketball team. |
| Lady Penguins Knock Off Valpo for First Horizon League Victory |
| Sunday, January 16 2011 |
| Courtesy of: YSU |
| Valparaiso, Ind. – Sophomore Brandi Brown tied her career high with 29 points and the Youngstown State women's basketball team made some key free throws down the stretch to beat Valparaiso 61-55 on Thursday night at the Athletics Recreation Center. The win on the road was the first for the Penguins away from the Beeghly Center since March 8, 2008, which came at UIC. It also snaps a 22-game Horizon League losing streak dating back to a win over the Crusaders at the Beeghly Center on March 7, 2009. The Penguins are now 3-13 overall and improve to 1-4 in the Horizon League while Valpo drops to 3-13 and 0-4. Brown was 12-of-19 on the night and also finished with 18 rebounds, including nine on the offensive glass. Brown had previously scored 29 points earlier this year against IPFW. Kenya Middlebrooks finished with 13 points while Bojana Dimitrov added 11 in a winning effort. Combined from the free-throw line, those two players were 10-of-12. Valpo's Betsy Adams was the only Crusader to reach double figures as she finished with 20. The Penguins came out strong from the opening tap and never trailed in the contest. Youngstown State came out and took control of the game early scoring 16 of the first 19 points taking a 16-3 lead at the 14:07 mark on a Brown basket. YSU opened the game scoring the first five points before Valpo got on the scoreboard on a 3-pointer by Adams. But the Guins scored the next 11 points as Brown scored the first five, Dimitrov and Nortey each followed with layups and then Brown capped the run with a jumper. The Crusaders cut the deficit to 18-15 as the Guins picked up just two points on a Middlebrooks bucket in a 9:06 span. YSU led 23-17 with 4:23 left following two Middlebrooks free throws and a 3-pointer by Dimitrov. Adams pulled the Crusaders with three on a 3-pointer, but the Guins scored five straight to go back in front by eight. Valpo drained two 3-pointers in the final 2:12 to get within four at the break. The Guins held on to lead 30-26 at the break. YSU shot 40.7 percent in the first half making 11-of-27 attempts while Valpo shot 37 percent (10-of-27) In the first 20 minutes, Brown had 14 points and six rebounds while Dimitrov and Middlebrooks each had seven points. The Penguins protected the ball well committing only four turnovers. In the second half, Valpo cut the deficit to 32-30 in the early going, but six straight YSU points forced the Crusaders to play catchup the rest of the night. Valpo had crept back to 53-49 with just over two minutes to go, but Brown's putback of Tieara Jones miss put the Guins up six at the 2:02 mark. On their next two possessions, the Crusaders missed a shot and threw an errant pass out of bounds. Dimitrov stepped to the line and drained two free throws with 44.3 seconds left to put YSU ahead 57-49. Valpo answered with a layup by Skyler Gick with 38.7 ticks left, but was forced to foul. With 35.4 seconds remaining Dimitrov split a pair of free throws, but Valpo's Rashida Ray missed the front end of a one-and-one and Jones corralled the rebound and dished to Middlebrooks who was fouled. Middlebrooks drained two free throws with 16.3 seconds left pushing the lead to 60-51. Valpo scored four straight points before Dimitrov split another pair of charity tosses with 4.7 seconds for the final margin. The Penguins wrap up their Indiana road trip on Saturday afternoon when they visit Butler. Tipoff at Hinkle Fieldhouse is set for 2 p.m. The contest can be heard on 570 WKBN. |
| Brandi Brown Nets 22 in Penguins' Loss to Milwaukee |
| Wednesday, January 12 2011 |
| Courtesy of: YSU |
| Youngstown State sophomore Brandi Brown scored 22 points, but the Penguins could not dig themselves out of a first-half hole dropping a 65-57 decision to Milwaukee on Saturday afternoon at the Beeghly Center. With the victory, Milwaukee snaps a nine-game losing streak to improve to 4-11 overall and 1-3 in the Horizon League. The Guins have now lost 10 straight and are 2-13 and 0-4. The YSU defense harrassed the Panthers into 27 turnovers for the contest. UWM shot 47.8 percent making 22-of-46 attempts while the Penguins converted 33.3 percent from the field (19-of-57). Brown made eight of the 19 field goals going 8-of-18 for the game and 5-of-11 from the free-throw line. She was the only Penguin to reach double figures. UWM had four players reach double digits led by Lindsay Laur who finished with 19. Angela Rodriquez scored 13, Sami Tucker added 11 and Courtney Lindfors tossed in 10 for the Panthers. YSU pulled within 34-33 early in the second half on Brown's 3-pointer. From there, UWM stretched the lead back out to 12 by scoring 12 of the next 13 points. The Guins kept fighting and twice pulled as close as five points. The first was at 49-44 following a Kenya Middlebrooks 3-pointer and Macey Nortey steal and conversion with 7:53 remaining and the second was with 5:40 left, 52-47 following another Nortey bucket. However after Laur and Lindfors added baskets the Panthers never looked back using a 12-5 run over the next four minutes to seal the victory. Both teams traded early leads before the Panthers, who were leading 6-5, scored 10 unaswered points building an 18-5 cushion before Jones' free throws at 12:21 stopped the run. Bojana Dimitrov added the Guins' first field goal in nearly seven minutes to cut the deficit to 18-8. However, UWM went on another run scoring 10 of the next 12 points to take its biggest lead of the half at 28-10 following Laur's basket with 7:38 left in the opening half. But the Guins caught fire from the field and picked up the defensive intensity. In the final 7:16, YSU outscored Milwaukee 18-5 to get within five at the break. The run started when Liz Hornberger came off the bench and drilled consecutive 3-pointers. With 5:09 remaining before the half the Guins were behind 33-18. They scored the final 10 points of the half while the Panthers missed five shots and turned the ball over four times. Hornberger's third three of the half cut the deficit to 33-21 and Brown converted a three-point play to get within single digits. Brown followed with two more driving layups to close the gap to 33-28 with 2:10 left. The Penguins had three opportunities to pull closer before the break, but could not convert. In the first half, Brown had 12 points while grabbing six boards. Hornbecker came off the bench to go 3-of-3 from behind the arc and score nine points. Laur had 11 and Angela Rodriquez scored 10 to pace the Panthers who shot 42.9 percent (12-of-28) in the opening half. YSU connected on 10-of-28 shot opportunities (35.7 percent). YSU returns to the road when they visit Valparaiso on Thursday night. Tipoff for the contest is set for 8 p.m. at the ARC. |
| Penguins Put Up Strong Fight in Loss to 20th-Ranked Green Bay |
| Saturday, January 8 2011 |
| Courtesy of: YSU |
| The Youngstown State women's basketball team made a strong second-half push and never backed down all evening, but No. 20 Green Bay had too much firepower handing the Penguins a 71-57 defeat on Thursday night at the Beeghly Center. With the win, Green Bay improves to 14-1 overall and 3-0 in the Horizon League. The Penguins are now 2-12 and 0-3 entering Saturday's home game against Milwaukee. YSU cut a 24-point deficit down to 11 at the midway point of the second half on two occasions. However, the Phoenix used a final 9-0 spurt to seal the victory. Green Bay scored the first six points of the second half to lead 44-20, but the Guins would not go away working the lead down to 11 on two occasions at the midpoint of the period. Trailing 52-31 at the 14:14 mark, the Penguins scored 10 consecutive points to get within 52-41 at 10:32. Bojana Dimitrov started the run by draining a 3-pointer. Tieara Jones followed with a basket and Maryum Jenkins drained a three. Brown capped the run with a jumper from inside the paint. The Phoenix scored the next four points on before Brown and Kenya Middlebrooks answered with buckets to get YSU within 56-45 at the 8:29 mark. Green Bay scored the next nine points to increase its advantage to 65-45 with 5:16 left in the game. The Guins closed out the contest scoring the final six points. For the game, Brandi Brown and Bojana Dimitrov each had 15 points to pace the Penguins while Tieara Jones had a dozen. Julie Wotja scored a game-high 24 points for the Phoenix while Celeste Hoewisch added 18. YSU shot 50 percent making 22-of-44 shots and was a perfect 9-of-9 from the free-throw line. Green Bay was 29-of-61 for 47.5 percent and was 7-of-28 from behind the 3-point arc. YSU scored the first four points of the game and held a 6-5 margin on a Brown jumper just over four minutes into the contest. With 14:56 left in the opening half, Wotja's fastbreak layup gave the Phoenix a 7-6 lead it never trailed the rest of the night. UWGB scored six straight points before Jones's steal and layup cut the deficit to 11-8 with 11:57 remaining in the opening half. The Phoenix scored six straight points going on top 17-8 but a Brown basket and a Jenkins fastbreak layup following her own steal cut the margin to 17-12. Wotja followed with a layup and Jones answered with pull-up jumper along the baseline to get the Penguins within 19-14 with 8:32 left. However, the Guins encountered a 5:40 drought as Green Bay scored 10 consecutive points to gain control. A 3-pointer by Dimitrov stopped the run at the 2:52 mark cutting the deficit to 29-17. The Phoenix scored nine of the final 12 points to end the half taking a 38-20 lead into the locker room. In the first half, YSU shot 42.9 percent making 9-of-21 attempts. UWGB converted 47.2 percent of its attempts making 17-of-36 shots. The Phoenix had a 22-10 rebounding margin, but made just 3-of-16 3-point attempts. The Penguins return to action on Saturday when they play host Milwaukee. Tipoff at the Beeghly Center is set for 1:05 p.m. and can be heard on 570 WKBN and will be live on the Horizon League Network. |
| Middlebrooks Ties School Record With Seven Treys in 74-61 Loss at UIC |
| Monday, January 3 2011 |
| Courtesy of: YSU |
| Chicago -- UIC scored the final 20 points of the first half to offset a school-record-tying seven 3-pointers from Youngstown State junior Kenya Middlebrooks in a 74-61 victory over the Penguins on Sunday at the UIC Pavilion. UIC's Shameia Green scored 14 of her 22 first-half points during that run that spanned for just over the final five minutes of the period. YSU led 27-21 prior to the spurt after Monica Touvelle hit YSU's seventh 3-pointer of the period. The Penguins didn't score for the final 5:37 of the half, and UIC made nine buckets to close out the half after calling a 30-second timeout. Middlebrooks finished with a career-high 22 points, going 7-for-10 from 3-point range and 1-for-2 from the free throw line. She became the ninth player in school history to hit seven triples in a game. Brandi Brown finished with her second straight double-double, posting 17 points and 15 rebounds. Green finished with a game-high 32 points to lead four Flames in double figures. Leading 41-27 at halftime, UIC upped its lead to 20 for the second time in the second half when Green's bucket made the score 52-32. The Penguins started chipping away and cut the margin to 55-45 on Middlebrooks' free throw with 8:34 to play. The Penguins scored seven straight points to cut the score to 64-55, the smallest margin since the score was 36-27 with 1:35 left in the first period. The margin was still just nine at 66-57 with 2:12 remaining after two Bojana Dimitrov free throws. UIC closed out the game by scoring eight of the final 12 points, all of which came from the free-throw line. The Flames shot 50 percent from the field and outscored the Penguins 30-16 in the paint. YSU shot 35.7 percent overall and was 10-for-30 from behind the 3-point arc. The Flames scored the first six points of the game and led 12-5 when Jasmine Bailey hit two free throws with 14:31 left. YSU cut the margin to one twice before tying the contest at 18-18 on a Brown triple with 7:41 on the clock. That sparked a 12-3 run for YSU that also included two 3-pointers by Middlebrooks and Touvelle's trey. Briana Hinkle tied the score at 27-27 with 4:08 remaining, and Green scored the next nine points over a two-minute stretch. UIC finished the first half shooting 56.7 percent. YSU shot 38.5 percent and was 7-for-18 from 3-point range. Middlebrooks made seven of her first eight 3-point attempts and had two attempts in the final 10 minutes to break the record. She scored 16 points at the UIC Pavilion last year, which was a career high at the time. Youngstown State returns to Beeghly Center to play nationally-ranked Green Bay on Thursday at 7:05 p.m. |
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