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Explosive first half gives Penguins first season sweep in three years
The Vindicator (Youngstown)
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Youngstown Penguin Tieara Jones drives to the hoop and is defended by Valparaiso's Maegan Callaway.
By Jon Moffett
YOUNGSTOWN
It was streak-end weekend for several Ohio teams, including the Youngstown State women’s basketball team.
Just a day after the Cleveland Cavaliers broke their NBA-record 26-game skid, and hours after the Ohio State men’s team suffered its first loss of the year, the women broke their own losing streak with a 79-76 victory over Valparaiso at the Beeghly Center on Saturday.
The victory broke a seven-game skid and gave the Penguins their second win over the Crusaders this season and first series sweep of conference opponent in three years. The last time the Penguins swept a conference rival was in 2008 — against Valparaiso.
The Penguins (4-20, 2-11 Horizon League) came out fast and dropped seven points on the Crusaders before they could blink. It was a major change after the Penguins had been outscored 38-0 in first minutes of their past two contests against Butler and Green Bay.
“I think the kids really took to heart the idea of coming out ready to play from the beginning,” coach Bob Boldon said. “You saw a completely different team offensively in the first five possessions than you have the past two weeks. I think that really set the tone for the game and it just changed the whole game.”
Brandi Brown again led the team in scoring with her 12th 20-point game of the year, finishing with 28. And an unlikely sidekick showed up with sports goggles instead of a mask.
Junior guard Kenya Middlebrooks stole the rest of the spotlight with a career-high 23 points. Middlebrooks was 7-of-15 from beyond the arc and gave the Penguins the offensive spark Boldon has been looking for all season.
It was the first time two Penguin players had 20 or more points in the same game since 2008. Middlebrooks’ seven 3-pointers matched the school record, which she tied earlier this season. She becomes only the second player in YSU history to make seven twice in her career.
Middlebrooks said she was unaware how many shots she hit during the game, which the Penguins never trailed and led by as many as 16. She was just happy the shots were going in.
“It’s so good because it was with a win,” she said. “If we didn’t win it wouldn’t be that amazing. But it’s really wonderful right now.”
The Crusaders (6-10, 3-10) did their best to avoid being swept by the Penguins. A pair of free throws by YSU senior Bojana Dimitrov put the Penguins up three, but Valpo had 5.5 seconds to make something happen.
Valpo’s Ashley Timmerman, who made 3-of-6 deep attempts prior, got a good look and heaved up the potential game-tying shot. But the shot clanked off the far side of the rim and bounced harmlessly to the court.
“I was just thinking ‘I hope you miss. Please miss,’” Middlebrooks said. “That was just the basic thing because she can knock them down.”
The Penguins did a lot of the knocking down in the first half. The team had its best shooting performance with a 63 percent effort in the first half and finished with a 48-percent efficiency.
Defensively, the Penguins achieved a rare feat: they outrebounded an opponent. Tieara Jones and Macey Nortey each brought down six of the team’s 37 boards. Valpo had 34.
Nortey also had six assists and Jones had four assists, three steals and a pair of blocks.
Boldon said the team showed its growing maturity by handling a frantic second half which saw a 10-point lead whittled to one in the waning minutes. But the team didn’t fold, and he said their composure and attitude was impressive and was a major part in walking out with the win.
When asked how he planned to celebrate the first season sweep of a conference rival in his YSU career, Boldon said he planned to head up to Cleveland and watch the Cavaliers.
“I think I’m going to talk to [Cavaliers coach] Byron Scott about how it feels to win games so long between each other,” he said with a laugh.