| Strong Effort Can't Complete Comeback as Guins Bow Out of Tourney |
| Tuesday, March 10 2009 |
| Courtesy of: |
| Milwaukee, Wis. -- The Youngstown State women's basketball team couldn't overcome a slow start offensively despite an intense comeback effort in the second half as it fell 70-49 to Milwaukee in the opening round of the Horizon League Women's Basketball Championship on Monday at the Klotsche Center. The Penguins, who trimmed a 23-point deficit to 15 with eight minutes left, saw their 2008-09 season end with a record of 3-27. Milwaukee moves on to play at No. 2 Butler on Wednesday in the tournament quarterfinals. YSU was held to 29.4 percent shooting for the game and 26.7 percent in the first half as Milwaukee built a 30-17 at halftime. Milwaukee shot 41.9 percent, including 46.7 percent in the second half, and hit 15-for-17 from the free-throw line. The Penguins were out rebounded 59-30 and outscored 19-4 in fast break points. Turquoise McCain had a double-double for Milwaukee, scoring 13 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Traci Edwards scored a game-high 17 points, and Lindsay Laur scored 13 off the bench. Nikita LaFleur had nine points, four blocks and two steals to lead YSU. The Penguins scored the first four points of the second half to get within nine points, their first time within 10 since the 14-minute mark of the first half. Edwards hit two free throws to get the lead back to 11, and Milwaukee went on to score 11 straight points over the next three minutes to lead 41-21. UWM led by as many as 23 before a Kelsey Gurganus 3-pointer with 8:17 remaining cut the deficit to 57-42 with 8:17 remaining. Jaquetta Westley's 3-pointer at the 6:22 mark made the score 60-45, but the Penguins could not get any closer as UWM scored six of the next seven. YSU forced Milwaukee into 23 turnovers and converted just 13, but it could only equate that that into a 14-13 edge in points off turnovers. The Penguins struggled to get things going on the offensive end in the first half as they shot 26.7 percent and fell behind 30-17 at the break. Edwards scored eight of Milwaukee's first 12 points as Milwaukee led 12-4 after her 3-pointer at the 14:56 mark. The Panthers pushed their lead to 16-4, and, after a Kenya Middlebrooks jumper made the score 16-6, went up 20-6 on McCain's fast-break layup. Another Middlebrooks jumper ended a four-minute scoring drought, and the Penguins were able to cut the margin to 10 twice before the end of the half. Edwards scored 10 points in the first half to lead all players, and she grabbed five rebounds as Milwaukee held a 30-13 edge on the glass. Twelve of those were offensive rebounds, but Milwaukee was only able to convert them into eight second-chance points. |
| Penguins to Play at Milwaukee Monday in Tourney's Opening Round |
| Sunday, March 8 2009 |
| Courtesy of: Test |
| Youngstown -- The No. 10-seeded Youngstown State women's basketball team will play at No. 7 Milwaukee in the opening round of the Horizon League Tournament on Monday at 8 p.m. EDT. The Penguins, who are coming off an inspired 54-38 victory on senior night against Valparaiso on Saturday, played well offensively in the two regular-season meetings with the Panthers. Nikita LaFleur and Tiara Scott both posted double-doubles when the teams met on Jan. 8 in Youngstown. YSU hung with Milwaukee for the first 34 minutes before losing 72-60. Four Penguins scored in double figures for the only time this season. LaFleur and Scott were both absent when the teams met on Feb. 7 in UWM's s78-51 win in Milwaukee. The Penguins executed well offensively, converting a season-low nine turnovers and firing 66 shots. They were only able to hit on 27.3 percent, and Milwaukee took advantage of its size advantage in the second half to blow the game open. YSU is 1-7 all-time in the Horizon League Tournament with its lone win coming last season against Detroit. The Penguins and Panthers have never met in the postseason. Milwaukee has lost four of its last five to drop to 12-17 overall and 7-11 in Horizon League contests. The Panthers, led by two-time defending league player of the year Traci Edwards, were picked to finish third in the preseason coaches' poll. |
| Lady Pens Close Regular Season With Impressive Win Over Valpo |
| Sunday, March 8 2009 |
| Courtesy of: |
| Youngstown -- The Youngstown State women's basketball team celebrated Senior Day with an impressive 54-38 victory at the expense of Valparaiso on Saturday afternoon at the Beeghly Center. The win, in the regular-season finale, snapped an 18-game losing streak and avenged a 43-point loss to the Crusaders in early January. The Penguins started five seniors -- Monique Godfrey, Kelsey Gurganus, Tiara Scott, Ashley Pendleton and Nikita LaFleur -- and the entire team feed off their energy putting together their largest margin of victory this season. Also, the 38 points allowed were the fewest since Dec. 29, 1990 against Malone (25). On offense, YSU shot 47.9 percent making 23-of-48 shots. From behind the 3-point arc, the Guins were 7-of-17, one off their season high. On defense, the Penguins held Valparaiso, the second-highest scoring team in the contest, to just 38 points. The Crusaders' previous season low was 44 and they averaged 68.4 points per game coming in. Valpo shot 23.2 percent from the field making just 13-of-56 attempts. From behind the 3-point arc it made just two of 20 attempts (10 percent). Freshman Camisha Alexander set the school record for most 3-pointers made by a freshman while lead the Guins with a dozen points. Alexander made all four of her attempts against the Crusaders to give her 41 for the year. In the second half, YSU (3-28 overall and 1-17 in the Horizon League) never backed down after leading by 12 points at the break. The Penguins kept their foot on the gas even when Valpo (16-13 and 10-8) cut the deficit to 33-24 with 11:06 left. YSU responded with three consecutive 3-pointers to end any doubt. Alexander drilled back-to-back treys before Kenya Middlebrooks drained just her second 3-pointer of the year to put YSU ahead 42-24. Sparked by their senior starters, the Penguins bolted out of the gate. YSU scored the first 13 points of the contest, highlighted by the first made 3-pointer of Tiara Scott's career. Leading 2-0, Scott swished a 21-footer just over two minutes into the contest and the good vibes spread throughout her teammates. Monique Godfrey, Macey Nortey and Kelsey Gurganus all followed suit with makes before Scott's second basket of the game gave the Guins their 13-0 lead. The Crusaders finally got on the scoreboard when Lauren Kenney made two free throws at the 12:24 mark. But YSU kept the pressure on scoring five straight points to build its biggest lead of the season at 18-2 on a Scott basket and a 3-pointer by Camisha Alexander. The Penguins made eight of their first 12 shots to build the 16-point cushion. YSU harassed Valparaiso into missing its 13 shots of the contest. Its first field goal finally connected 10:12 into the game when Kenney made a layup. Valpo was able to get within 20-11 at the 7:05 mark, but the Guins were able to build a 27-15 lead at the intermission. In the first half, Valpo made just 6-of-25 (24 percent) after starting 0-for-13. The Crusaders were just 1-of-11 from 3-point range. The Penguins shot a season-half-best 54.5 percent making 12-of-22 from the field. YSU dominated the boards grabbing 20 to Valpo's 10. It marked the third time Youngstown State led at the break this season. YSU will now try to carry the momentum of playing its most complete game of the year as it opens play in the Horizon League Tournament on Monday night at 8. The Penguins will either be at UIC or Milwaukee. The contest will be carried live on 570 WKBN AM. |
| Guins Put Forth Solid Effort Before Succumbing to Bulldogs |
| Friday, March 6 2009 |
| Courtesy of: |
| Youngstown -- The Youngstown State women's basketball team kept the contest tight against second-place Butler for more than 25 minutes. However, the Bulldogs found their shooting touch at the right time to get past the Penguins 61-42 on Thursday night at the Beeghly Center. YSU trailed by just five points at halftime and by eight with 12:33 remaining before Butler found warmed up from the field. The Bulldogs used a 17-6 run to push a 35-27 advantage to a 52-33 bulge with 7:22 remaining in the game and the closest the Guins could get the rest of the night was 14. With the victory, the Bulldogs improves to 19-10 overall and moves into sole position of second place in the Horizon League at 13-4. Butler also clinched the No. 2 seed in the upcoming conference tournament which starts next week. The Penguins are now 2-26 and 0-17. YSU will play at either UIC or Milwaukee in the first round on Monday. Senior Tiara Scott led the Penguins with 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the field. Freshman guard Macey Nortey led YSU with a career-best nine rebounds. Scott finished the contest with seven boards. For the Bulldogs, Lade Akande had a game-high 16 points while Brittany Bowen and Candyce Brown each scored 12. Butler missed all eight of its 3-point attempts in the first half, but in the second stanza made 4-of-10 attempts, two each by Bowen and Brown. On the night, YSU shot 30 percent (15-of-50) while Butler hit at a 41.1 percent clip (23-of-56). The Bulldogs shot 56 percent in the second half making 14-of-25 shots. Both teams made runs to keep the first half interesting. Kelsey Gurganus drained a 3-pointer to tie the contest at nine with 12:04 remaining in the half just before Butler made its run. The Bulldogs scored the next nine points to go ahead 18-9 when Lade Akande made a layup at the 7:46 mark. A Scott free throw stopped the spurt 30 seconds later, then YSU made its first field goal in six-and-a-half minutes when Scott's desperation 15-foot jumper as the shot clock was about to expire went in. Scott scored the Guins' next basket as well to trim the deficit to 18-14 at the 5:20 mark. Akande put the Bulldogs up 20-14 before Scott answered with her third straight field goal. Akande scored Butler's final field goal and Ashley Pendleton's free throw with 1:30 left made the score 22-17 at the break. Both teams shot under 30 percent from the field with the Bulldogs hitting 29 percent (9-of-31) and YSU making 25 percent (7-of-28). From the free-throw line the teams combined to go 6-of-13. The Penguins close out the regular season on Saturday when they play host to Valparaiso. Tipoff for Senior Day is set for 2:05 p.m. YSU will honor its six seniors and manager Matt Lipsack in a ceremony prior to the contest. |