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YSU women fall in Holiday Classic
YSU women’s basketball preview
Today’s game
Matchup: YSU (2-7) vs Winthrop (3-6)
Tip-off: 3:30 p.m. at the Edmunds Center, DeLand, Fla., as part of the Hatter Holiday Classic.
Radio/TV: Horizon League TV.
Coaches: YSU — Bob Boldon 2-7 in one year at YSU, 633-429 career; Winthrop — Bud Childers is in his seventh year with the school. His record is unknown.
YSU starters: Macey Nortey (4.7 points per game, 1.5 rebounds per game) 5-3 junior guard, Maryum Jenkins (4.9 ppg, 3.5 rpg) 5-10 sophomore guard, Bojana Dimitrov (7.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg) 5-7 senior guard, Tiera Jones (6.9 ppg, 4.9 rpg) 6-0 junior forward, Brandi Brown (16.2 ppg, 8.7 rpg) 5-11 sophomore forward.
Opponent starters: Dequesha McClanahan (10.6 ppg, 4.7 rpg) 5-8 freshman guard, Mary Hathaway (5.9 ppg, 3.6 rpg) 6-0 senior guard, Lacey Lyons (7.6, ppg, 2.3 rpg) 5-11 senior guard, TaQuoia Hammick (3.1 ppg, 5.8 rpg) 6-3 junior center, Ashley Cox (5.3 ppg, 4.4 rpg) 6-2 junior forward.
Next game: YSU will travel to Loyola for a 2 p.m. Horizon League game on Dec. 31.
Staff report
DeLand, FLA.
The Youngstown State women’s basketball team opened the Hatter Holiday Classic with a 79-67 loss to host Stetson University on Monday.
The Hatters (4-5) used a late run to survive a solid effort by dynamic YSU sophomore Brandi Brown. The Penguins (2-9) will remain in Florida for one more game today against Winthrop, at 3:30 p.m.
The Hatters used an 29-16 run late in the game to put it out of reach. Brown led both the team and the game with 27 points, and also had 11 rebounds, which was good for second-best for the game.
It was the fourth double-double for Brown this season after averaging at least 10 points and 10 rebounds last year.
Fellow sophomore Maryum Jenkins scored a career-high 16 points for the Penguins, making 4-of-6 shots from beyond the arc. Jenkins also had three rebounds, five steals and two assists. Junior guard Kenya Middlebrooks finished with 11 points.
Boardman graduate Monica Touvelle, a freshman, made two 3-pointers to give her six points on the night. She has 26 points on the year, 18 of which have come from long range.
The Hatters got a double-double from one of their starters. Center Natasha Graboski scored a career-high 26 points and brought down 11 rebounds. As a team, the Hatters brought down 54 rebounds, compare to the 34 by YSU.
Again shooting was an issue for the Penguins, who have struggled in that facet of the game for most of the season. The team shot just 31 percent from the field. Stetson shot 48 percent from the field. The Penguins did have the advantage from long range, making 39 percent of their 3-pointers. Stetson made just 25 percent of its such shots.
Graboski went 8-of-14 from the field, including one successful shot from long range on three attempts. Brown went 9-of-24 from the field, including 3-of-8 from deep.
The Penguins were limited to just eight players because of injuries in their inaugural meeting with the Hatters.
The Penguins committed eight fewer turnovers (12 to 20) than the Hatters and had twice as many steals (14 to seven) but were unable to overcome the deficit.
YSU returns home Jan. 6.