Youngstown State University and Butler came into a basketball game with nearly identical records.  They played nearly an identical first half on the stat sheets, and consequently, this game went right down to the wire.  When the dust cleared and the threes finally finished flying, Butler came away with a 65-63 win.  Mandy McDivitt hit a big three with 2.3 seconds left to provide the difference in the game that could have really gone either way.

“Give her [McDivitt] credit”, exclaimed Boldon after the game.  “She made, in my opinion, a very tough shot.  From a purist perspective, it is a nice moment that she will remember for the rest of her life.  From my perspective, it stinks.”

In the first half, YSU opened the lead to as big as eight, but the Bulldogs erased the deficit and took a halftime lead of 29-27.  Heidi Schlegel had nine points to lead the Lady Penguins scoring attack.  Brandi Brown had eight on 3-4 shooting and a pair of free throws.  Butler got ten first half points out of Devin Brierly and nine more out of Mandy McDivitt.  Statistically, the first half stats showed that the records of these two teams wasn’t the only thing they had in common.  Butler chucked up 17 threes, while the Penguins attempted 15.  Neither team attempted more than four first half free throws and both seemed reliant on the long ball.

In the second half, Butler changed up the defensive scheme and they were using a full-court press to slow YSU down.  It worked as the Penguins scrambled to cross mid-court and had about half of the normal time on the shot clock to run their half court offense.  Butler opened the second half with an 11-3 run and by the time the second half was below ten minutes, the Bulldogs held a 50-43 lead.    Brierly and McDivitt were getting their threes to fall to increase the lead over that period of time.

Macey Nortey connected on a three with 9:20 to go in the game to make it 50-46.  Sarah Hamm hit a bucket for Butler with just over two minutes to go in the game that stretched the lead to 58-55, but the next trip up the floor, the Lady Penguins tied the game at 58 on a three from Monica Touvelle.  Hamm regained the lead fo Butler with another layup to make it 60-58.

Kenya Middlebrooks, aka ‘Miss Clutch’ lately, drilled a three with just over a minute to go in the game to give YSU their first lead since the first half, but it was short-lived as Butler was able to work the post for another easy deuce to regain a 62-61 lead.  With 28 seconds left in the game and the Penguins trailing by just one, Brown drove to the hoop and was fouled.  The Horizon League Preseason Player of The Year promptly swished two charity tosses to give her team the 63-62 lead.  Butler failed to score and with nine seconds left in the game, Schlegel was fouled.  Schlegel missed the front end of the one-and-one.  Butler rebounded and McDivitt hit a big three to give the Bulldogs a a two-point lead with 2.3 seconds remaining.

YSU inbounded to half court where Brown caught the ball and quickly dished it to Nortey on the right between the circles.  Nortey, with pressure in her face, could not get the ball to an open Middlebrooks in the right corner with enough time to get a shot off and Butler survived the last-ditch effort.

The Penguins got 23 points from Brown, who again provided the majority of the spark for the Penguins offense.  Schlegel (above) finished the game with 13 markers. Kenya Middlebrooks had a balanced effort for the Penguins as she scored 7 points, had 5 rebounds and 3 assists.

Butler got good production out of tgeir senior guard, Brierly, who finished the contest with 22 points.  McDivitt played big off of the Bulldog bench, contributing 18 points.

“We wanted to take Hamm out of the game”, said Boldon.  “We were successful in doing so but we were not able to stop everything else, they beat us in other ways.  You pick and choose your battles and it this loss is still a part of the process.”

The Lady Penguins hit the road for a pair of games, heading to UIC and Loyola.  They return home to face Milwaukee on February 16.