43
Not the same old Penguins
The Vindicator (Youngstown)
Photo
YSU Penguin Brandi Brown finds a hole between her defenders Adrian Ritchie (13) and Kayla Tetschlag of Green Bay and shoots.
GAME TIME
Next: YSU vs. Milwaukee, Saturday, 1:05 p.m.
YSU shows fight in loss to No. 20 Green Bay
By Jon Moffett
YOUNGSTOWN
Bojana Dimitrov sat in front of the media to talk about another great effort that fell short of a win for the Youngstown State women’s basketball team.
But this time, she said there was a different feeling to it. The Penguins had just lost to Green Bay, who entered the game ranked No. 20 in the nation. But even after a 71-57 loss, the lone senior said it wasn’t the same old Penguins.
“Everybody saw that we played a great team. They are a high-ranked team in the nation,” Dimitrov said. “I would really like to give credit to my teammates for their energy. But of course, we’re not just pleased with that.”
It was one of those woulda, shoulda coulda games for the Penguins, who fell to 2-12 and remained winless in the Horizon League at 0-3. YSU had 32 turnovers, which led to 43 points for the Phoenix (14-1, and 3-0 Horizon League). Still, the game never felt out of reach.
Tenacious defense and a rare night of sharp shooting caught Green Bay by surprise on an uncharacteristic off night.
The Penguins had 13 steals and shot 50 percent from the field — a great improvement from shooting percentages earlier this season. Maybe it was the feel of a nationally-ranked team in the Beeghly Center.
Or maybe it’s because the team is starting to show some fight under a fiery coach and energetic gameplan.
Dimitrov, who along with Brandi Brown led the team with 15 points, admitted the team probably would have mentally surrendered the game last season if they trailed by 18 at the half, as was the case Thursday. But the Penguins came out with a purpose and fought back.
“I think things changed and we have a good leader,” she said. “I believe a good leader inspires the others to act. And I think Coach [Bob] Boldon does a good job.”
Boldon said he was happy with the effort, but was disappointed by the amount of turnovers. He said teams rarely win the game by giving a good team so many free chances for points.
“I thought the effort was probably good enough to win the game,” he said. “But obviously if you look at the stat sheet, you figure out why we lost the game. But I think we’re growing up a little bit, maturing a little bit and it’s nice to see.
“It’s a process, a frustrating process. We’ve had some bad games and we’ve had some bad losses,” he added. “And I don’t know if this is necessarily one of those.”
The Penguins and Phoenix will face off again Feb. 4 for the rematch. They’ll be looking for their first win over coach Matt Bollant (7-0).
Boldon said his team can make some noise if they play with the same intensity and cut down on their miscues.
“For parts of the game, and unfortunately the whole game counts, we played very well with a team that I have a lot of resect for,” he said.
“To be able to compete with a team like that, and see that, is what we’re striving to be,” hhe added. “I think it’s very positive to go toe-to-toe with a team like that for as long as we did.”