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Better effort, but YSU can’t get elusive victory
By Jon Moffett
Youngstown
Youngstown State had just enough to make IPFW feel endangered, but not quite enough to make them extinct.
The Penguins tied the Mastodons with four minutes left, but let the opportunity for their first win in 34 tries slip away.
Instead, it was the Mastodons that charged to a 73-61 victory over the YSU women team in their home opener at the Beeghly Center on Saturday.
A basket by sophomore forward Brandi Brown tied the game with 4:41 left. But IPFW used a stretch of two minutes to amount a 9-0 run with Brown on the bench for a breather.
“It’s a little disappointing to have fought back and get yourselves in the game, and then give up points that way,” he said.
The Penguins (0-3) matched the Mastodons (2-1) point for point in the second half. But a slow start doomed them. The team shot 27 percent in the first half and 38 in the second. Both teams scored 39 points in the second half.
“We flat out just didn’t play very good basketball in the first half,” he said. “... But we talked about it at halfime, came out and show some improvement. So I was happy with that aspect of it.
“I’m just disappointed we had another game where we have the chance to close it out and we didn’t do it.”
Boldon said these early games, including two brutal opponents in Pitt and Bowling Green in the first two games, are preparation for conference play in January. While those games matter, they don’t have as much bearing as those against Horizon League opponents.
Conference play begins Dec. 31 at Loyola.
“It’s very much a work in progress. We’ve got a lot of young kids,” Boldon said. “Even our senior [Bojana Dimitrov] is young, because she’s never played in this system before.”
While Boldon is confident things will improve, he’s not making any excuses.
“We’ve got a lot of stuff to work on, and it’s the middle of November,” he said. “I’m not too bent out of shape about it because I thought in the second half we finally got the effort we needed to win the game. We didn’t execute to win the game, but we had the effort. And execution is something we can clean up.”
Brown scored a career and game-high 29 points, and 23 in the second half. That total is the highest in a single game since Heather Kramer scored 34 in 2006.
Boldon said his decision to sit Brown, who averaged a double-double last year as a freshman and is the team’s leading scorer, was to simply keep her fresh for what he hoped was a stretch run.
“I need to have her out there for about 40 minutes if I could,” Boldon said. “But she can’t play 40 minutes right now. There was 4:23 on the clock, and I thought I’d catch a quick break for her.”
Boldon admitted that the offense runs more effectively with Brown on the floor. The Pomona, Calif., native has stepped into a leadership role and is thriving in the fast-paced, fluid offense.