YSU women can’t pull upset at Detroit
Staff report
Detroit
Kenya Middlebrooks had a game-tying 3-point attempt sail wide at the buzzer, and the Youngstown State women’s basketball team saw its rally attempt come up short at Detroit on Saturday, losing 67-64 to the Titans.
The Penguins trailed by 16 in the first half and 11 with 61/2 minutes left. Monica Touvelle hit three 3-pointers in just over a two-minute span to get the Penguins to within 63-60 with 3:34 remaining, but that’s as close as they would get.
The score remained 63-60 until Senee Shearer hit a 3 for Detroit at the end of the shot clock with 1:33 left to make the score 66-60. YSU turned the ball over on its next possession, and Jalesa Jones split a pair of free throws to put the Titans ahead 67-60 with 1:08 left.
Kelsea Fickiesen made two free throws with a minute remaining, and YSU regained possession by forcing a jump ball on the inbounds pass. Fickiesen was fouled on a bucket to make the score 67-64 with 45.3 seconds left, but she missed the free throw.
YSU’s defense forced Detroit into a shot-clock violation on its final possession, and Middlebrooks’ tying attempt was released just before the horn.
The Titans improved to 16-12 overall and 12-4 in Horizon League play, and they maintained a hold on second place in the conference standings. YSU dropped to 10-18 and 4-13, setting up a big contest at Cleveland State next week with seeding implications.
Heidi Schlegel scored 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds for YSU, which shot just 34.5 percent. Fickiesen added 13 points, and Touvelle scored all 12 of her points in the second half. Middlebrooks posted six assists.
Shearer led all scorers with 20 points and made six of Detroit’s eight 3-pointers. She and Jones, who scored 14 points in her final regular-season game at Calihan Hall, both played all 40 minutes.