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Better offense is goal of YSU women’s team
youngstown
The Youngstown State women’s basketball team likes to shoot the ball — a lot.
Last year, the Penguins took the most shots of any Horizon League team, but finished last in field goal percenatge at 35.1 percent. From behind the arc, they were aggressive, also. Making just 27.6 percent of 3-pointers didn’t translate to many wins, though.
YSU finished with six notches in the win column.
A more consistent offense is on coach Bob Boldon’s wish list for the 2011-12 season and he’s already seeing that coming to fruition.
“We always said, from the time I got here, that we’re going to shoot the ball,” Boldon said. “Sometimes we were just shooting a quantity of shots rather than shooting a good quality of shots. We got kids that have been in the system for a year and have gotten to be better shooters. We’re light years ahead of where we were last year on this date.”
Boldon, in his second year leading the Penguins, sees a renewed confidence in his team. Much of the struggles from last year could be attributed to learning a new system. Now, with four returning starters, new angles and additions to the offense are being added to what Boldon called a “vanilla” offense.
“We got into the basics and got enough to compete,” he said. “This year I like to think we can get a little more sophisticated and throw in a few more wrinkles. We went through dry spells last year and you hope that by having few more wrinkles, you can get out of them.”
With a more experienced team, the Penguins are also bringing in some fresh faces. Four freshman come aboard, including Kelsea Fickieson, a four time first-team all-state honoree at St. Marys High School in West Virginia.
“I think I speak for all the newcomers when I say that we just want to better the team in any way,” Fickieson said. “Whether that [is] pushing people in practice, making them better and throwing in our few minutes on the floor … that’s what we’re here for.”
Having new bodies in the mix is definitely a benefit, Boldon said. Senior Tiera Jones and junior Brandi Brown led the team in playing time last year. Each averaged 32 minutes per game.
“They’re two players that I think will benefit from added depth,” Boldon said. “What we did last year was unfair to their ability. Brandi and T would rebound the ball very well for us, then there was times that they didn’t even go in and rebound because they knew it’d be 38 minutes before I let them come out. One of the things that they hate is when I don’t yell at them for not playing hard and I let them get away with stuff.”
Added Jones: “I like to play a lot, but that is good, though. When you’re struggling trying to get things done and it’s not coming because you don’t have the legs,” said the Rayen School graduate of an added rest period during games.
She was second on the team in assists with 69, and likes the new dimensions of the Penguin offense.
“We feel more relaxed with our offense, [but] I don’t think it will ever be easy. It’s just constant movement. At the same time, you get a better understanding of what you are supposed to do. You think quicker. You’ll be in those spots that you need to be in and it won’t be so frantic on the floor.”
Brown, the Horizon League’s leading scorer in 2010-11, is a conference player of the year candidate. She is just 61 points away from 1,000 in her career. It’s something she’s not worried about achieving — she just wants to win.
“That would be the best thing for this team and not the individual success,” she said. “You can’t just really talk about the goals you have or talk about what you want to see. It’s putting some motion behind those things and putting action behind the words that you speak.”