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Loss sets up rematch for YSU
By joe scalzo
Cleveland
According to Youngstown State women’s basketball coach Bob Boldon, there’s a pretty simple reason why his Penguins lost to Cleveland State in Saturday’s regular-season finale.
“We just weren’t very good,” Boldon said.
And, according to Boldon, there’s a pretty simple reason why the Penguins ended the regular season with eight straight losses.
“We’re by no means a good team,” he said. “We haven’t been a good team for several years.”
Depressed yet? If not, keep reading. Because Saturday’s 79-69 loss at the Wolstein Center was one of the most disappointing of a once-promising season.
The Penguins (10-19, 4-14 Horizon) were lethargic from the start, falling behind by 14 points in the first seven minutes before rallying to take a one-point lead with 10 minutes left in the second half.
From there, the Vikings (11-18, 6-12) outscored YSU 20-9.
“We didn’t play very hard and we had a lot of turnovers, which ... that’s not good,” said freshman Heidi Schlegel, who led YSU in scoring (16), rebounds (12) and steals (six). “We didn’t play for each other today.”
The Penguins, who finished last in the 10-team conference, will play at Cleveland State on Monday at 7 p.m. in the first round of the Horizon League tournament. Had YSU won, it would have played host to Valparaiso on Monday night.
When asked what YSU needs to do better in Monday’s rematch, Schlegel said, “Take care of the ball and play harder as a team.
“There’s no magic solution.”
Playing against the league’s worst defense, the Penguins matched their season-high with 28 turnovers, with just 12 of those coming off Viking steals. They also made just 3 of 14 from behind the arc — a season-low in both categories.
Junior Brandi Brown had 13 points and nine rebounds but made 4 of 12 from the field with four turnovers, continuing a recent slump. Over the last seven games, Brown has made 30 of 91 from the field (33 percent).
“She’s having a hard time,” Boldon said of Brown. “Teams are guarding her very well and she’s just having a hard time scoring.”
But the problem isn’t just Brown, who has carried the Penguins for most of her three seasons. Senior Kenya Middlebrooks, who entered averaging 11.5 points per game, made just 1 of 5 on Saturday and finished with two points. And only one player — senior Macey Nortey — shot .500 from the field.
Shalonda Winton scored 25 points to lead CSU (11-18, 6-12), which shot 63 percent from the field in the first half.
“I wasn’t surprised by effort we got from them [the Vikings] tonight on senior night,” Boldon said. “They’re well-coached, they’re a good team and they run the motion [offense] very, very well.”