Martin encourages fans to watch women in person

By Jon Moffett

YOUNGSTOWN — Head coach Cindy Martin has some advice for those frustrated fans of her Youngstown State women’s basketball team.

“I do understand that fans want to see wins here at Youngstown State. To those fans who are a little frustrated, I encourage you to ... come watch these young ladies play and you’ll see how much they’re improving,” said Martin, who doesn’t want fans to rely solely on media reports or boxscores. “You can’t cheer against them”

The Penguins (0-18 and 0-7 in the Horizon League) are playing tough, despite never dressing more than a maximum of eight players, Martin said.

Martin said perhaps the biggest area of improvement has been the team defense. Martin said the team’s last game, a 57-43 loss at Cleveland State, was especially impressive.

“I was very, very pleased with our defense and our game plan, and that we executed it to a tee for pretty much 40 minutes defensively,” she said. “I think that’s something we can definitely grow on, and build on.”

YSU held the Vikings to 28.3 percent shooting from the floor with a smothering game plan. Martin said she and her assistant coaches have been installing new defensive schemes and elements to the game plan.

“I think we’re teaching them some new ways to play defense more than anything else,” Martin said.

While the defense has been coming around, Martin said the team’s ball handling and shooting have to improve for the record to do so.

Martin said she had a meeting with sophomore guard Macey Nortey and, after completing a team handshake, both smiled and said the team needed a win.

“I think everybody is very positive,” she said. “Our spirits are good, we all want to win and we all know we need a win.”

The Penguins remain on the road for away games against Detroit Jan. 28 and Wright State Jan. 30.

jmoffett@vindy.com