YSU women sign four for 2012-13

Staff report

Youngstown

Youngstown State signed four players recently during the early signing period for women’s basketball.

Coach Bob Boldon and his staff received commitments from Amanda Barger of Gurnee, Ill.; Brooke Gardner of Chesterton, Ind., and Kelsea Newman of Perrysburg, and junior college transfer Karen Flagg of Chester, Pa.

“My staff did an excellent job of recruiting and getting to know these kids and their families,” Boldon said. “They’re four young ladies that we’re really excited about adding to our program. We got four kids who can shoot and are pretty versatile. They also give a little more size on our team.”

Barger, a 5-foot-10 guard, averaged nine points, four rebounds, three steals and four assists her junior year as she earned honorable mention all-conference accolades for Warren High. She upped that to 12 points and six rebounds per game during the AAU season at Midwest Elite Basketball.

Gardner, a 2011 graduate of Chesterton High near Valparaiso, originally committed to UIC over Indiana State. When UIC went through a coaching change, Gardner decided to attended La Lumiere School in Indiana, where she is achieving Magna Cum Laude honors. As a senior at Chesterton, the 5-foot-9 guard averaged 18 points, six assists, five steals and nine rebounds.

Newman, a 5-11 forward, has already set Perrysburg’s record for 3-pointers in a season (45) and a career (119). Last season as a junior, she led the Yellow Jackets with 13.6 points and 6.1 rebounds as she earned honorable mention All-Ohio.

Flagg is a 6-0 sophomore forward at Daytona State (Fla.) College, averaging 16 points and 9.5 rebounds early in the season. Last season, she played in 22 games and averaged 7.6 points and 5.8 rebounds.