Youngstown State University looked pretty solid despite dropping a hard-fought contest to Wright State, 64-61.  Brandi Brown scored 23 points for YSU, but the Penguins were not able to get a good shot with six seconds left and fell to 3-16 and 1-7 in the Horizon League.

The first half was pretty much a coin flip with Wright State calling “heads” and guessing properly.  The Raiders took a one point lead into the locker room, 32-31, but the statistics for the opposing teams were not similar.  Wright State held a 23-12 rebounding adantage, while the Penguins enjoyed a 9-3 advantage in steals.  The Raiders got nine boards from Shaunda Sandifer and ten points from Molly Fox. The Penguins got nine points each from Brandi Brown and Kenya Middlebrooks.  It was surprising that the score was so close at the half when Wright State shot nearly 10% better from the floor than YSU.

With 14:34 left in the game, Middlebrooks hit a three to give YSU a 42-37 lead, their largest of the game to that point.  Maryum Jenkins pushed the lead to 49-43 with just under eleven minutes to go in the game when she buried a three.

With 8:47 left in the game, Wright State grabbed their first lead of the second half, 52-51, when LaShawna Thomas hit a couple of baskets for the visitors.  The Penguins would reclaim a one-point lead with 7:27 left when Brandi Brown gathered in a long rebound on the offensive end and dribbled through three Raider defenders like orange cones for a layup. Thomas tied the contest at 57 when she hit one of two free throws with 4:24 left.

After the game, Coach Boldon talked being competitive.  “Yeah, we played well, but it is still a loss. Until we get tired of losing it will not change and it really has to.  We got some good shots, but the last play was not very good, and I take responsibility for that.”

The Penguins got another solid night out of Brandi Brown, who just continually punches her card and works hard until the final whistle has been blown.  Brown’s evening consisted of 23 points and eight rebounds and the reigning Horizon League Player of The Week was just everywhere on both sides of the court.  Kenya Middlebrooks finished with 14 points.

Wright State got a good night from LaShawna Thomas who knocked down 17 points, as did her teammate Molly Fox.  Maria Bennett also chipped in 15 points for the Raiders who improved to 11-6 overall and 4-2 in the Horizon League.

The Penguins tee it up again Saturday against Detroit as part of a mens-womens doubleheader starting at 5.