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Penguins struggle
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Youngstown State’s Heidi Schlegel (15) goes for two points against American’s Stephanie Anya during the Penguins’ loss on Monday at Beeghly Center.
YOUNGSTOWN
The reporters covering the Youngstown State women’s basketball home opener Monday night had an easy job following the game — thanks to YSU coach Bob Boldon.
“There’s two stories for you guys to write,” he said following the Penguins 48-41 defeat to American. “There’s either one — offensively we stunk. Or secondly, you say that it’s early in the year and the offense that we run takes time, unfortunately.”
This respective story will focus on some of both.
The Penguins (2-3) turned the ball over nine times which led to 11 points for the Eagles (3-2). Also, they shot just 26.8 percent from the field and 17.2 percent from 3-point land. On free throws, YSU was 6-for-12.
“No matter how you slice it ... we just played bad offense,” Boldon said. “We turned the basketball over, we missed shots, we missed foul shots, we missed 3-pointers, we missed lay-ups. The only thing we didn’t miss tonight was the half-court shot.”
That’s because YSU didn’t take any.
To start the game, the Penguins created a turnover in the front court which led to a Brandi Brown jumpshot and a 2-0 lead for the home team. They only scored 15 points off 25 American turnovers, though.
Brown led all scorers with 14 points.
She is just one shy of her 1,000th career point. Brown also grabbed nine rebounds and had two assists. The Penguins did move the ball around the perimeter well, creating 10 assists.
Down 22-11 at the 7:08 mark of the first half, YSU’s Devan Matkin netted a three that sparked a 9-0 run over the next five minutes for the Penguins. She finished with six points.
Adding to Boldon’s storyline suggestions would be the strong defense brought on by the Penguins.
The 25 turnovers are one thing, but they also forced the Eagles into bad shots as they shot 29.2 percent from behind the arc in the second half.
“Each game we’ve gotten a little better on guarding and that’s promising,” Boldon said.
Youngstown State came out hot after half time when Kenya Middlebrooks drained a 3-pointer. Then, a jumper from Brown cut the Eagles’ six-point half time lead to one.
Each team suffered scoring droughts in a second half that featured three tie scores and three lead changes.
With about three minutes remaining and holding a 37-36 lead, Middlebrooks drove through the lane for the Penguins converting a heavily tested lay-up. Whistles blew and a foul was called. One referee called it a blocking foul on the American defender, the other under the basket said it was a charge on Middlebrooks.
A meeting between the two gave way to the charge call negating the basket. With possession, the Eagles scored and regained the lead for good.
“It took away potentially three points and they went down and scored a basket,” Boldon said. “That’s a big swing.”
The call drew jeers from Boldon and the 1,107 in attendance at the Beeghly Center.