| Shooting Goes Cold in Second Half as Guins Fall to Winthrop |
| Thursday, December 23 2010 |
| Courtesy of: YSU |
| DeLand, Fla. -- The Youngstown State women's basketball team missed its final 23 field goal attempts and couldn't hold a 14-point second half lead in a 50-46 loss to Winthrop on Tuesday at the Stetson Hatter Holiday Classic. Youngstown State led 45-32 when Brandi Brown scored under the basket with 13:41 remaining, but the Penguins didn't score again until Maryum Jenkins hit a free throw with 6:09 remaining. That kept YSU up 46-43, but Winthrop scored the final seven points of the contest. Brown scored a team-high 13 points and was named to the all-tournament team. Jenkins finished with nine points. The Penguins led 34-25 at halftime and made five of their first eight attempts in the second half before they just couldn't find the bottom of the net. Winthrop went scoreless for more than four minutes after tying the score, and Kaitlyn Rubino gave the Eagles their first lead since early in the first half with 1:33 to go. YSU turned the ball over with 13 seconds left after forcing a turnover on the defensive end, and Lacey Lyons hit two free throws for Winthrop for the final margin. Things were clicking relatively well offensively for the Penguins for the first 27 minutes. They made 11 of their 22 attempts in the first half, and every starter had at least six points. YSU made five of its first eight attempts in the second half. The Eagles never scored in bunches as they only came away with points on back-to-back possessions twice in the second half. YSU committed just 14 turnovers, six of which came in the second half. The Guins did everything well enough to win except shoot. The Penguins finished making 30.2 percent of their attempts while Winthrop shot 40 percent. The Eagles were 9-for-16 from 3-point range for the game while Youngstown State was 7-for-27. Winthrop was shooting 26.7 percent from behind the arc coming into the game. All-tournament team member Dequesha McClanahan scored a game-high 17 points and had seven assists for Winthrop. The Penguins forced the Eagles into 21 turnovers, which they converted into a 24-4 edge in points off turnovers. The lead changed hands five times in the first 6:30 of the contest, but Jenkins scored five straight points as part of a 9-0 run for the Penguins that give them a 20-14 lead with 10:11 remaining. The Penguins enlarged their lead to 26-17 with 5:16 left when Macey Nortey buried her second triple of the half, and Kenya Middlebrooks nailed another trey at the 4:20 mark to up the margin to double digits for the first time at 29-17. Two Brown free throws capped an 11-0 run for the Penguins with 2:05 remaining that put them up 31-17. McClanahan hit a 3-pointer at the 1:51 mark to end a scoring drought for Winthrop that lasted more than six minutes, and she banked in a shot from half court at the buzzer to cut the margin to 34-25. Winthrop started by making six of its first eight shots, but the Eagles finished the half 10-for-24. They committed 11 first-half turnovers, which YSU converted into an 18-2 edge in points off turnovers. YSU shot 50 percent (11-for-22) in the first half and made six of its 13 attempts from beyond the 3-point arc. Youngstown State will open Horizon League play on Dec. 31 at Loyola. Tipoff against the Ramblers is set for 2 p.m. Eastern. |
| Stetson's Late Run Carries it to 79-67 Victory over Youngstown State |
| Tuesday, December 21 2010 |
| Courtesy of: YSU |
| DeLand, Fla. -- Stetson shot 48.4 percent to overcome 27 points from Youngstown State sophomore Brandi Brown in a 79-67 victory on Monday afternoon at the Hatter Holiday Classic at the Edmunds Center. YSU, down to eight players because of injuries, led 51-50 with 12:42 to play after Maryum Jenkins' trey gave her a career-high 16 points. The Penguins, though, had just four field goals the rest of the game, and Stetson closed out the contest by outscoring YSU 29-16. Center Natasha Graboski scored a career-high 26 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for Stetson, which improved to 4-5. She was 8-for-14 from the field for the game and 6-for-9 in the second half as she scored 18 points. She scored 16 of those points in the final 9:30. Brown also scored 18 points in the second half, and she grabbed 11 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season. After Jenkins' 3-pointer gave the Penguins a one-point advantage, Stetson scored two quick baskets as part of a 6-0 run. YSU didn't have another field goal until Kenya Middlebrooks' trey at the 8:15 mark made the score 60-56. Brown hit a bucket to make the score 67-63 with 5:55 left, but Stetson scored the next eight points to go up 75-63 on two Graboski free throws with 3:08 remaining. The senior Hatter had the final six points of the 8-0 run. Two Tieara Jones free throws cut the margin to 10 with 2:52 left, but that's as close as YSU was able to get. The Penguins made a season-high 12 of its 31 attempts from beyond the arc, which allowed them to stay in the contest. The 79 points Stetson scored were the most by a YSU opponent in the last seven games. Middlebrooks added 11 points for YSU, but no other player scored more than six. Victoria McGowan had 14 points on 6-for-8 shooting, and Tierra Brown had 11 for Stetson. Stetson outrebounded the Penguins 54-34. YSU forced 14 steals to create a 21-8 edge in points off turnovers. Stetson had a scoring advantage of 38-14 in the paint. Youngstown State battled through a physical first half and fast start by Stetson to go into the locker room down just 37-33. Jenkins was 4-for-5 from the field for 10 points, which was already a season-high, to go along with four steals for the Penguins. Stetson made its first four shots – a 3-pointer and three buckets in transition – and led 16-8 after starting 7-for-9 from the field. YSU stayed within eight, and, after forcing five straight turnovers, cut the margin to 16-14 on Jones' bucket at the 13:11 mark. Stetson went without a field goal for more than five minutes during that stretch. The Hatters went back up by seven and led 26-19 after an Ashley Dennis bucket at the 8:29 mark. YSU tied the score at 30-30 when Jenkins hit a bucket and Middlebrooks nailed a trey on back-to-back possessions. Stetson scored the next seven points to go up 37-30 with 27 seconds remaining, but Monica Touvelle hit a 3-pointer in the corner with three seconds left in the half to cut the margin to four. Stetson shot 51.9 percent in the first half, making 14 of its 27 attempts. Youngstown State will play Winthrop on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. to conclude its stay at the Hatter Holiday Classic. |
| Western Michigan Rallies to Steal Overtime Victory from YSU, 69-64 |
| Monday, December 13 2010 |
| Courtesy of: YSU |
| Kalamazoo, Mich. -- Western Michigan rallied from a 21-point halftime deficit and made 31-of-32 from the free-throw line to defeat the Youngstown State women's basketball team 69-64 in overtime on Sunday at University Arena. The Broncos made just three field goals in the final 12:14 of game action, including overtime, but they went 17-for-18 from the stripe during that span. Youngstown State led by as many as 24 in the second half, and the Penguins still maintained a 10-point advantage inside of four-and-a-half minutes remaining. They had a 58-53 lead with under two minutes left when all that could go wrong went wrong. YSU committed a turnover after rebounding WMU's first missed free throw of the game, and a missed layup followed a defensive stop. Still, YSU was in position to win when a foul call turned the game. Brenna Bankston missed a 3-pointer for Western Michigan, and YSU's Brandi Brown grabbed the rebound. She was immediately trapped by two Broncos waving their arms, and a foul was called. Maria Iaquaniello was on the floor, and the officials checked the replay monitor to see if Brown had elbowed her in the head on a clear-out. After viewing a high-angle camera shot, the officials determined that Brown made contact with Iaquaniello's head and, by rule, called an intentional foul on YSU's forward. That was Brown's fifth foul, and the Broncos were awarded two free throws and possession. Iaquaniello made both charity tosses, and Taylor Manley hit a game-tying triple with 56 seconds left to complete a five-point swing. Both teams missed a shot in the final 30 seconds, and YSU had gone from up five points with possession with 1:12 remaining to overtime. Heidi Schlegel scored the first two buckets in the extra period to put YSU up 62-58, but the Penguins were outscored 11-2 the rest the way. Manley hit a 3-pointer off an offensive rebound, and, after Macey Nortey split a pair of free throws, Iaquaniello hit a jumper to tie the score at 63. YSU turned the ball over on its next possession, and Manley hit two free throws on the other end to give Western Michigan its first lead of the game with 26 seconds left. Kenya Middlebrooks was fouled on YSU's possession, but she missed her first free throw and WMU maintained a 65-64 lead. Manley made two more free throws with 10 seconds left, and Schlegel's 3-point attempt was off the mark with under five seconds remaining. YSU fouled, and Bankston made two free throws for the final margin. Schlegel scored a career-high and game-high 18 points to lead four Penguins in double figures. Bojana Dimitrov scored 17, Tieara Jones had 11 and Brown had 10. Dimitrov and Brown fouled out in regulation, and Jones fouled out with 27 seconds left in overtime. Macey Nortey also fouled out as YSU was whistled 25 times for infractions. Manley had 16 points despite going 4-for-19 from the field. She led five Broncos in double figures. WMU was 31-for-32 from the line while YSU was 10-for-19. The Broncos had 18 team fouls but only 10 after halftime. YSU had 19 fouls in the final 25 minutes. YSU outshot the Broncos 41.8 percent to 26.2 percent. Youngstown State played outstanding defense in the first half to limit the Broncos to 13 points in the first 20 minutes. That kept the Guins in the game until the offense picked up. YSU took a 5-0 lead on Brown's free throw at the 17:11 mark, but the Penguins had just two points over the next nine minutes. Western Michigan was only able to go up 9-7, and YSU scored on five straight possessions to go up 21-9. Schlegel scored 11 points in a 2:18 span and hit four treys during that stretch. She buried three treys, with a Dimitrov triple sandwiched in, and she cut to the basket for a deuce. Schlegel added a free throw at the 4:49 mark to cap a 15-0 run. Maria Iaquaniello hit a bucket with 2:30 to end a scoring drought for WMU that lasted more than eight minutes, and Cleary hit a bucket to cut the margin to 25-13. The Penguins then hit three more treys in the final 1:10 to push their advantage to 34-13 at the break. Brown hit a trey for her first field goal of the contest, and the next two triples beat buzzers. Tieara Jones hit one from the left wing just before the shot clock hit zero, and Bojana Dimitrov hit one from straight on with left than a second remaining. YSU started the first half 3-of-15 from the field, but the Penguins made nine of their last 14 attempts. All seven of their 3-pointers came in the final 8:15. Dimitrov's third 3-pointer of the game put YSU up 39-15 less than a minute into the second half, but WMU showed that it was going to play with more intensity early in the half. The Broncos scored six straight points to chisel the lead down to 41-27, and another 6-0 run later in the period trimmed the margin to 13. The Broncos scored seven straight points to get to within single digits at 54-45 and another 6-0 run made the score 56-52 with 1:57 left. Middlebrooks hit a lay-up with 1:51 left to put YSU up 58-52 and stop a four-minute scoring drought. Aurielle Anderson then split a pair of free throws with 1:44 remaining to set up the final sequence. Brown had a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds. Schlegel was 7-for-11 from the field and gad four of YSU's 15 steals. The Penguins committed 29 turnovers. DeAirra Goss added 12 points and 10 rebounds for Western Michigan. The Broncos grabbed 22 offensive rebounds and turned that into a 19-8 edge in second-chance points. Schlegel's previous career high was 11 points against Bucknell. Youngstown State will return home to face Akron on Thursday at 7:05 p.m. |
| Offense Can't Get Going as Women's Basketball Falls 57-41 at American |
| Sunday, December 5 2010 |
| Courtesy of: YSU |
| Washington, D.C. -- The Youngstown State women's basketball team shot 24.6 percent to spoil a solid defensive effort in a 57-41 loss to American at Bender Arena on Saturday. The Penguins held the Eagles to 35.7 percent and held their top two scorers to a combined nine points. Alexis Dobbs stepped up to score 14 points and hit four of American's nine 3-pointers. Kenya Middlebrooks scored a season-high 16 points, but not other YSU player had more than six. Brandi Brown, the Horizon League's leading scorer, was held scoreless and went 0-for-9 from the field. The sophomore forward grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds, and the Penguins won the rebounding battle 41-37. Neither team started either half well on the offensive end. American scored the first six points of the second period and held YSU scoreless until Heigi Schlegel hit a jumper with 13:32 remaining. American then scored the next eight points to up its advantage to 41-24 and cap a 14-2 run to start the second half. Dobbs hit a triple to put American up 49-27 with 9:47 left, but the Eagles went scoreless until she hit another 3-pointer with 4:05 remaining. YSU was able to chip away, but the Guins were only able to cut the deficit to 10 before Dobbs' trey. Dobb's bucket keyed a 7-0 run for the Eagles that put them up 53-36 with 2:51 to play. American's Tori Halvorsen hit the only bucket in the first five minutes of the first half, a triple at the 16:13 mark. AU then went without a field goal until Dobbs' 3-pointer with 11:18 remaining. Schlegel had YSU's first bucket with 14:33 remaining, and the Guins scored six straight points to go up 8-4 with 11:45 left on Maryum Jenkins' steal and lay-up. YSU led 14-9 after Tieara Jones' put-back, but American scored the next seven points to go up 16-14 at the 6:44 mark. A Middlebrooks trey put YSU back up 17-16 with 6:33 left, but the Eagles scored the next eight points and led 25-17 at the 4:11 mark. Macey Nortey hit two free throws and Boki Dimitrov buried a trey to cut the margin to 25-22 with 1:57 left. The Eagles got two free throws with 4.2 seconds left for the halftime margin. Youngstown State shot 30.8 percent in the opening half, and American shot 29.6 percent. The Eagles had two more triples and scored three more points from the free-throw line. Dobbs had a half-high eight points, which all came in a four-minute span, for American. Middlebrooks had seven to lead YSU. Brown was 0-for-4 from the field in the first half but led all players with five rebounds. Youngstown State will break from game action for finals week. The Penguins will play at Western Michigan on Dec. 12 at 2 p.m. |
| Long Scoring Drought Does In Guins in 77-39 Loss at Kent State |
| Thursday, December 2 2010 |
| Courtesy of: YSU |
| Kent, Ohio -- The Youngstown State women's basketball team went scoreless for an 11-and-a-half minute stretch in the first half, and Kent State used a 23-0 run during that span en route to a 77-39 victory on Wednesday evening at the M.A.C. Center. YSU sophomore Brandi Brown notched her second double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Monica Touvelle was next in line with 12 points. Taylor Stanton led five Kent State players scoring in double figures with 14 points. The Golden Flashes improved their best start in school history to 6-0 while Youngstown State dropped to 2-4. YSU scored nine of the first 11 points and led 9-2 on Brown's triple in the left corner at the 17:05 mark. The Guins scored nine straight points in the stretch. Brown hit a jumper with 14:46 left to put YSU ahead 13-8, but the Penguins went scoreless for 11-and-a-half minutes until she hit a trey with 3:09 remaining. By that time, Kent State had scored 23 straight points and took a 31-13 lead. The Penguins made five of their first nine field goals and six of their first 12, but they missed their next 18 attempts. YSU was 2-for-19 from outside the arc, and many of those misses came during the scoreless drought as the Guins settled for outside shots on Kent State's zone. YSU was 9-for-35 overall in the first half for 25.7 percent while Kent State was 15-for-32 for 46.9 percent. Brown had 12 points and six rebounds in the first half, which led all players. She also picked up her third foul with 1:20 left in the period. Gibson had eight points, five rebounds and four assists in the opening period to lead Kent State. YSU scored seven straight points early in the second half to trim the deficit to 11 with 17:28 left, but Kent State matched that with its own 7-0 run to go up 45-27 at the 15:33 mark. The Golden Flashes went up by 20 for the first time when Humes hit two free throws 13:09 left. Youngstown State shot 23.5 percent from the field while Kent State shot 51.8 percent. YSU was 5-for-38 from beyond the 3-point arc. Kent State outscored YSU 15-2 from the free-throw line. Youngstown State continues its three-game road trip at American on Saturday at 2 p.m. Live audio of the contest will be streamed on YSUsports.com. |