43
Shooting woes plaguing women
The Vindicator (Youngstown)
Photo
YSU's Macey Nortey drives past Bucknell's Alyssa Dunn during first half action Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2010.
The Vindicator (Youngstown)
Photo
YSU's Kenya Middlebrooks is hemmed in by IPFW's #50 Sydney Weinert and #33 Jordan Zuppe during first half action Saturday, Dec. 4, 2010, at YSU.
By Joe Scalzo
YOUNGSTOWN
After two straight double-digit losses, YSU women’s basketball coach Bob Boldon was asked whether he could pinpoint one area where his team was really struggling.
He grinned.
“Is this a loaded question?” Boldon said. “If we could shoot the ball better, we’d win more games.
“I mean, I wish it was something more clever.”
In Saturday’s 57-41 loss to American, the Eagles held the Penguins to 24.6 percent shooting, including an 0-for-9 effort from sophomore forward Brandi Brown, who entered the game as the Horizon League’s leading scorer.
Amazingly, the Penguins actually shot better against American than they did in a 77-39 loss to Kent State, when they made 23.5 percent from the field.
“Really, teams are starting to guard the paint,” Boldon said. “At times, it looks like there’s six or seven of them in the paint. We can’t get them out of paint.
“I don’t know if we’ve given them a reason to get out of the paint.”
In fairness to YSU, both American (which has been in the NCAA tournament the past three years) and Kent State (which is off to the best start in school history) were both good teams. Boldon felt his players let themselves get bullied by Kent State but he was encouraged by their effort against the Eagles, particularly on defense.
“Even though we got the same results, I thought we showed more character down there,” said Boldon, whose team has this week off because of finals. “We took some steps backward against Kent but we moved forward a bit at American.
“It’ll be interesting to see what we can do after finals when we hit the road again.”
YSU’s next game is Sunday at Western Michigan, the first of two straight games against Mid-American Conference teams. The Penguins are 1-2 against the MAC this year, beating Ohio and losing to Kent State and Bowling Green. They’ll play host to Akron on Dec. 16.
“They’re a pretty typical MAC team,” Boldon said of Western Michigan. “They’re pretty strong, pretty athletic and they’re gonna be physical with us. It’s about us learning to deal with those things.
“We’re on the road, it’s probably going to be cold and snowy up there and that’s gonna add to it a little bit. Hopefully we can get a more workmanlike attitude.”
They also need to make a few more shots, obviously. YSU is shooting just .299 from the field this season, including just .194 from the 3-point line. Some of it is due to learning a new offense — Boldon said the players are still learning when to drive, when to shoot and when to pass — and some of it is due to a lack of pure scorers on the roster.
Regardless, that percentage needs to improve.
“There’s a responsibility of ... when they’re not guarding you, you’ve gotta be able to do something about that,” Boldon said.
Boldon knows it appears his team took two steps forward (with wins over Bucknell and Ohio) and two steps back, but he’s seeing incremental growth.
“Hopefully we’re only taking a step and three-quarters back and we’re getting a little bit better before we play again,” he said.