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YSU women lose 61-42 to Butler, streak at 18
Gallery
By Pete Mollica
YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State women’s basketball coach Cindy Martin said the Penguins made a big improvement this week.
Unfortunately for the Penguins that wasn’t shown on the court Thursday night in a 61-42 loss to Butler before a sparse crowd at Beeghly Center.
Martin said her team made great strides since losing to Butler, 84-50, on Jan. 5 in Indianapolis.
Thursday’s setback was the 18th consecutive loss for Youngstown State — 17 of which have come versus the Horizon League — and left the Penguins with a record of 2-26 entering the regular season final Saturday afternoon at Beeghly against Valparaiso.
Butler (18-10, 13-4) used an aggressive defense to keep the Penguins off balance most of the game and the contest was close only because the Bulldogs were shooting almost as bad as the Penguins .
“You think they were aggressive tonight, you should have seen them the first time we played then,” Martin said of Butler. “[Coach] Beth Couture does an outstanding job with them and yes, the fact that they were a little off with their shooting in the first half made things a little better for us.
The Penguins shot just 25 percent from the field (7-of-28) in the first 20 minutes and committed 12 turnovers, yet trailed just 22-17 at the intermission.
“We knew that they weren’t going to stay cold forever, but we never were able to get anything going ourselves,” Martin said.
“We rebounded well against a team that lives off the glass,” she added. “They beat us by almost 40 points up at their place the first time around, and [Thursday] we were still within single digits midway through the second half.”
Senior Tiara Scott led the way for the Penguins and was the only player in double figures with 14 points. The Penguins finished the game 15-of-50 from the field for 30 percent and were just 1-of-7 from 3-point range. They did outrebound the Bulldogs 42-37, with 5-foot-1 Macey Nortey leading the way with nine rebounds.
The Penguins only led once in the contest and that was when senior Nikita LaFleur scored the game’s opening basket. The Bulldogs scored the next three baskets and were never headed again, although the game was tied at 6 and 9 before Butler went on a 9-0 run for an 18-9 lead with 7:45 left in the half.
The Penguins got the lead down to four points (20-16) late in the first half.
Butler could have broken the game open early in the second half, but the Bulldogs couldn’t make a free throw, missing six of seven in one stretch. Butler finally got the lead to 10 points (35-25) with 12:54 left and then 15 points (46-31) with 9:24 remaining.
Butler’s biggest lead was 19 points, which they hit first at 52-33 with 7:29 left in the game. The Penguins did not score over the final two minutes of the contest.
Butler was led by senior Lade Akande with 16 points, while Brittany Bowen and Candyce Brown each added 12 points.
Now the Penguins go into the season finale trying to snap the losing streak against Valparaiso, a team that defeated YSU 86-43 back Jan. 3 at Valparaiso.
“We’re a different team now,” said Martin. “We feel that this will be the game, but we go into every game feeling we are going to win, only this is the last chance.”
The Penguins, as the No. 10 seed, will play at the as-yet undetermined No. 7 in the league tournament Monday night.
mollica@vindy.com