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Penguins get so close
YOUNGSTOWN STATE BASKETBALL
Double-doubles by Brown and Manuel were not enough for the winless Penguins.
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EFFORT DOUBLED: Loyola’s Brittany Boeke (55) blocks Brandi Brown (42) of Youngstown State as Brown goes for the basket during Thursday’s game at YSU’s Beeghly Center. Brown posted a double-double for the Penguins, who were narrowly defeated by the Ramblers, 63-59.
By JON MOFFETT
Vindicator Sports Staff
YOUNGSTOWN — The Youngstown State women’s basketball team may not have gotten the monkey of their back just yet, but at least it’s lessening its grip.
The Penguins (0-21, 0-10 Horizon League) played a tough game against Loyola and walked out of the Beeghly Center with a 63-59 defeat Thursday.
Asked after the game if a close loss was harder to stomach than a blowout, coach Cindy Martin said it always feels better to play it close.
“This is much easier to deal with,” she said. “Any time you can be in a tight game and execute, and for us not being in a tight game yet all year, I thought the ladies had tremendous poise and confidence.”
YSU played inspired despite dressing only seven players. The return of junior Bojana Dimitrov was negated by the absence of freshman Maryum Jenkins, who missed the game because of a death in the family.
Four Penguins finished with double-digit point totals and two earned double-doubles.
Freshman Brandi Brown had 13 points and 10 rebounds while senior Rachel Manuel finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds. It was Manuel’s first career double-double.
“It felt good,” Manuel said. “I felt like the game was going well tonight and the flow between our team was really good, and we were right there with [Loyola].”
Manuel, a native of Grayslake, Ill., said her achievement would have felt better with a win, but was proud of her accomplishment and, more importantly, the team’s effort.
Joining Brown and Manuel in the double points club were sophomore Kenya Middlebrooks, with 11, and the Dimitrov, who had a team-high 14 points.
The Serbian spark plug saw her first action since a leg injury left her unavailable for most of January.
The Penguins were tied with the Ramblers (11-10, 5-5) late in the game until Loyola freshman Elyse VanBogaert, who led the game with 18 points, hit a jumper to put her team up by two with 31 seconds left.
The Penguins got the ball, but were not able to hit a shot in four attempts on the next possession, including a 3-pointer by Dimitrov.
Martin said for a team not used to such a pressure situation that she was proud the Penguins remained composed.
“We were able to get some really, really good looks, we just didn’t get them to fall there in those last few minutes,” she said. “It went exactly how I wanted it to go, we just didn’t have the ball bouncing for us there at the very end.”
Martin said the outcome was a “moral victory” and that the team would use it as a building block.
The Penguins pulled down more rebounds (36) and had a better free throw percentage (65) than the Ramblers (31 and 43, respectively), but had three more turnovers (14) than Loyola (11).
Overall, Martin said the team showed it is on the verge of turning the corner this season.
“We had several huge moral victories for our team, and I feel really good about the progress that we’ve made,” she said.
Martin also said she had missed being able to draw up late-game plays, but had the chance to do so Thursday.
“That’s my favorite thing about coaching basketball,” she said smiling. “I used to do that a lot as an assistant and I was just excited I got to pull a couple of them out.”
The Penguins will remain home as they play host to UIC on Saturday at 2:05 p.m.
jmoffett@vindy.com