Posts Tagged ‘Brandi Brown’

With the Holiday Season in the air on the Eve of Thanksgiving, Youngstown State’s Lady Penguins were scraping for reasons to be thankful.  The team had not won a game in its last 34 attempts, or 627 days,  although seem much improved over last season.  Drought Be Gone! The Lady Penguins used 87.5% free throw shooting and some hustle from the role players to get by Bucknell.

Bucknell lost 71-45 the last time these two teams met in 1992.  The margin would not be quite as big but was meaningful in so many ways.  It marked Bob Boldon‘s first victory as new coach.  It broke the drought of 34 losses in a row.  Perhaps the most important thing the win did was give a group of scrappy girls who never quit an inkling of confidence to build on.

In a statistically even first half, the Penguins looked better on offense than they had Saturday against IPFW, yet trailed 30-27. Brandi Brown was doing her best to end the drought with six boards and seven points at intermission.  Newcomer Heidi Schlegel also had seven for the Penguins at the break.  Bucknell was paced by Joyce Novacek‘s nine points and five rebounds.

Monica Touvelle hit a three-pointer at the 15:29 mark of the second half to give YSU a five point lead at 39-34.  Next trip down the floor, Kenya Middlebrooks drilled a three, and at the 13:52 mark, the Penguins were in front by the score of 42-38.  YSU held the lead until the 11:20 mark when Cosima Higham drove the lane to put the Bison up by a point, 45-44.

Liz Hornberger his a three from the corner to give the Penguins back the lead at 49-47 with 10:23 to go.  Hornberger hit her second three of the half to put YSU back on top 52-50.  Middlebrooks extended the lead with her ninth point of the night to extend the lead to 54-50 with 7:06 left in the game, and hold the phones, the chilled champagne might get uncorked in Youngstown.

With 5:36 left, Schlegel kept the Penguins safely ahead with her drive to the hoop that made it 57-53.  YSU was getting some bounces, finally, and upped their lead to 60-53 on a pair of Macey Nortey free throws as the Penguins were 15-18 from the line to this point.

With 1:54 left in the game, Youngstown State enjoyed a 64-55 lead and was just looking to run the clock out.  Free throw shooting was great all night and Schlegel hit a pair to move the lead to 66-55 with just over a minute left in the game.  Nortey stepped up and followed suit with a pair to make it 68-55.  The Penguins went 21-24 from the line to get the win and improve to 1-3 on the season.

After the game, Coach Boldon was complimentary and happy for the team. “They deserved to win tonight because of how hard they worked at practice this week.  I am a believer that hard work at practice should translate over to wins on game day, and they earned this starting two days ago.  I am very happy for the players and they will celebrate this victory, hopefully not too much, because we have practice at nine in the morning.”

Brandi Brown, who finished the game with 23 points and 11 rebounds was happy to get a win.  “It feels amazing.  It’s a humongous reward for how hard we have been working.  When everybody plays their role and listens to Coach Boldon, we can win.“

The Youngstown State University Women’s Basketball Team opened their home schedule on Saturday afternoon.  Working on busting up a 34 game losing streak, the Lady Penguins welcomed IPWF to the Beeghly Center.  The new coaching staff was in place and Bob Boldon knew that the only way to go was up.  Down as many as 14, the Penguins tied the game with four minutes left,  before eventually falling 73-61.

In the first half, the Mastodons took advantage of their size in the low post.  Stephanie Rosado scored 12 points and gathered seven rebounds.  The 6’2″ Junior forward squandered few chances when the ball was in her neck of the woods.  YSU got six points each from Brandi Brown and Maryum Jenkins in the opening half, but as a team, Youngstown State really struggled shooting only 27% from the floor and only hitting two of 13  from three-point range.  Conversely IPFW shot over 40% from the floor to compile a 34-22 lead at the intermission, which was also their biggest lead of the game.

As the second half progressed, the Penguins cut into the twelve-point lead more than once.  With 11:48 left in the game, the Penguins had the lead down to ten as Macey Nortey had a runaway lay up off of a Mastodon turnover. Heidi Schlegel cut it to eight at 51-43 with 8:56 left in the game on a nice cut to the hoop.

At the 6:54 mark, Anne Boese drilled a three to put the Mastodons back up by 10.  The Penguins fought hard to stay in the game, and Brown nailed a three with 5:58 left in the game that suddenly found the Penguins only down three, at 54-51.  Brown hit a drive at the 5:20 mark to cut the lead to just one, and the people made some noise for the home team.  Brown, on a major roll,  kept the hot hand and tied the game at 55 when she followed her own miss for a put back and her 25th point.

IPFW did not roll over or go away.  The Mastodons went on a 7-0 run to take a 64-55 lead with 2:44 left in the game and never looked back.  The Mastodons were paced by Rosado, who tallied 22 points in the victory.  IPFW also got good a game from Jordan Zuppe who had a huge rooting section of her own, and 15 points.

Youngstown State was led  by Brown who finished the game with 29 points, which is a career high, and nine rebounds.  Jenkins and Nortey contributed eight points each.

IPFW, which stands for Indiana and Purdue at Fort Wayne, Indiana, improved to 2-1 on the season.  The Penguins fell to 0-3.  After the game, Coach Boldon addressed the media with the problems plaguing his team. “It’s a new system and I can’t expect us to look perfect.  I can assure you that we will not look perfect against Bucknell on Wednesday.  We didn’t play very good basketball in the first half and we need to get better at every facet of the game.  It’s a work in progress.”

Brown commented on her best-ever game.  “It is a new offense.  Last season I was strictly a post player, whereas this year Coach Boldon trusts everyone on the team to shoot threes. I like the versatility and know that being multi-dimensional is good for the offense.”

I’ll throw the prediction out there first. The YSU Lady Penguins are going to win 10 games this season.  Someone unfamiliar with the programs recent tailspin would scoff at a ten win season.  Those who haven’t seen this program celebrate a victory since 2008 understand that a few wins are steps in the right direction.

On a recent visit to a practice, I wondered how much the returning players remembered from last season.  New Coach, Bob Boldon, blew his whistle for a quick water break.  As the players approached the water dispenser, they went a little out of the way to say hi to me. Big deal?  To me, it was a nice gesture, but it proved that if they can remember a sports blogger from last season that they also retained a few memories to fuel and inspire a hard work ethic going into 2010.

Gone are the two boys who had to practice with the team so there would be enough bodies for a five-on-five drill.  Gone is Cindy Martin. Gone is the attitude that it just can’t be done.

Enter a new coach, a new attitude, a couple of new recruits, and a high-tech three-point shooting machine.  Enter girls who were hurt or had transfer issues.  Enter the bus while there is room, because it will be full in a few years.

Rachel Manuel and Kaitlyn March are the two players who graduated.  The returning women from last year are Macey Nortey, Kenya Middlebrooks, Boki Dimitrov, Makala Gasparek, Maryum Jenkins, and Brandi Brown.  The new faces are Shea Johnson, Kaitlin Rohrs, and Melissa Thompson who missed last year with injuries, and Youngstown native Tieara Jones sat out while meeting academic requirements as a transfer.  There are also three incoming freshmen – Liz Hornberger, Heidi Schlegel, and Boardman High graduate Monica Touvelle.

Coach Boldon is a good choice.  Talking to him is like talking to someone you have known for a couple of years.  After a couple of conversations with him, I applaud Ron Strollo on a solid selection to replace Martin.  Boldon is high on the three-point shot.  Expect every girl on the roster to be able to chuck up a long ball at any time.  There is a lot of motion in Boldon’s Playbook.  This is going to be a fun offense to watch once all of the pieces are in place and the players gain confidence in the system.

Can this team win?  “We have to change our culture. We have to develop and get better. Nobody wants to win more than the team wants to win. Nobody wants to win more than I want to win”, exclaimed Boldon.

Brandi Brown has been named to the Preseason Horizon League Second Team.  Coming off of a freshman season rarely seen at any college, Brown was the only player in the conference to average a double-double.  She was robbed of the Horizon League Newcomer of The Year award last season, and handed the runner-up ribbon in a statistical oversight.  I’m still not sure if all of the voters were from Detroit or if the award is given to a freshman on one of the best teams.  Either way, Brown will vindicate my sentiments with another big year.

Expect a higher-quality and more refined team to win at least ten games this season.

• The 2010 YSU Football season closes out this Saturday with a home game against Indiana State.  The game will honor seniors who played football, marched in the band, or cheered this season.
• South Dakota has accepted an invitation to join the Missouri Valley Football Conference beginning with the 2012-13 academic year.  USD received a formal invitation from Conference Commissioner Patty Viverito last Wednesday and accepted on Thursday.
• Youngstown State junior Kelsey Kempton was named First-Team ESPN the Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District IV, announced by the Academic All-America® Committee.  Kempton, who carries a 4.0 grade-point average with a major in exercise science, is the first Youngstown State women’s ssoccer player to be named to the first-team and just the second player in history to earn academic all-district honors.
• Youngstown State freshman Allison Ludwig was named to the Horizon League Women’s Soccer All-Newcomer Team.  Ludwig, who missed five league games due to a broken hand, tied a YSU freshman record and ranked fourth in the Horizon League with eight goals in 2010.

Nothing is easy. Taking over something that never worked right in the first place and trying to fix it is even harder. Bob Boldon has accepted the challenge of reviving a deflated YSU Women’s Basketball program with open arms.  In fact, Boldon expects to win, as soon as possible.  Hard to believe that the Sophomore girls on this team have never won a game.  In fact, going into this season it will be almost two full years since the team’s Juniors can recall what it was like to win.  Boldon is refreshing. I was ready to suit up for him after our talk, he will provide motivation and technique that this program has sorely missed.

Paneech: Let’s start out talking about where you have been and what you have picked up to help you become better prepared to be a Division I basketball coach.

Boldon: Lambuth was my second head coaching job.  It was good, because it helped me realize all of the things that I did wrong at my first head coaching job.  We played in a National Championship game, which was a great experience.  My first job was at Monticello, a team that only won one conference game the year before I got there, it was  complete rebuilding project.  We finished in third place my first year.  Every team I ever coached could score, offense comes easy to me, but I realized that I needed to become a better defensive coach.

Paneech: Presently, you have taken on the “Bill Parcells” role of taking a mess and making it happen.  Will it work at YSU?

Boldon: I want to be successful, and there are going to be people who say it can’t be done.  I have a staff with expectations to be successful.  It’s hard to make any real predictions until I get to know the players.  I expect to win every game we play.  My staff and I have watched almost all of last year’s conference games, and defense is an issue.  Offensively, the shooting percentages were horrendous.   We are going to be a good three-point shooting team, and that is something that can’t just happen, magically. The players have to take responsibility and games are won on days like today, not on the day of a game.

Paneech: What kind of player will you go out and look for?  A three-point specialist, a defensive stopper, a good rebounder?  Where is the biggest need at right now?

Boldon: We are looking for shooters and want to improve the offense immediately.  We will get better defensively by working hard at it and learning proper positioning, but the shooter is something we want.  As far as I know there will be 14 girls here on the first day of school ready to go.  Anything less than that number would really be a surprise to me.  Shooter is on the top of the list.

Paneech: How demoralizing is it for a player on a team to go 0-30 and can they be turned into winners after that?

Boldon: I think they have embraced the fresh start.  They know that this new staff has set forth different expectations, and at least those expectations are coming from a different person, if nothing else. Going through a year like that had to be tough and moving forward I’m sure it is something that none of them want to experience ever again.

Paneech: Have you adjusted to Youngstown yet?  Are there things here that you like already?

Boldon: We are here now and we have been ordering in a lot trying to get the house in order, it is a wreck.  I keep hearing about how I have to get to the Canfield Fair and how much my kids will enjoy it.

Paneech:  Yeah, the Canfield Fair is pretty unique, it is one of the few places you can go pet a pig and be eating a sausage sandwich five minutes later.

Boldon: (laughing) Yeah, that is a little bit ironic I guess.  I like the community  and the people are very supportive.  My staff and I try to go different places and have lunch, it’s been really good so far.  The community is really buzzing about the football team and that new staff, and their season comes first, and I am excited as it is one of my favorite sports.  The football team at any college set the tone and can get people geared up for the Winter sports.

Paneech: You go through the interview process with Mr. Strollo (above), does he tell you that you have to win and win now?  Does he want you to build from the ground up?  Or does he want anything better than the last few years to be the band-aid for now?

Boldon: Mr. Strollo showed the same expectations as I did in that we both want to win ball games.  There is nobody in this administration who wants to win more than I do, and I say that for my staff as well.  They all left jobs to come here and turn this around, and they did not come here to lose.  The idea that it is going to take three, four, or even five years is something that we are not going to lean on.

Paneech: Do you ever play those little nightmare scenarios in your head where you are coaching that first game and look around to see about twenty people?

Boldon: Not really.  If there is nobody at our first couple of games, I can’t say I blame them for not coming.  I’m not in a rush to get to Jacob’s Field these days.  After we win a couple of games, I would expect the interest to grow.

One Word Answers

Favorite Beverage: v-8 Splash.

Worst Habit: Biting My Nails.

Favorite Meal of The Day: Lunch, but I like ’em all.

Best Basketball Movie Ever: Hoosiers.

Biggest Phobia: Snakes.

Best Show On Television: The Mentalist.

Favorite NBA Team: The Cavs.

Game You Want To Make An Impression With: Opener vs Pitt.

Favorite Fast Food: Subway.

John Wooden would have had trouble winning a game with seven players dressed.  Pat Summitt would have quit midseason.  Phil Jackson would have went nuts.  Cindy Martin stuck it out.

With two years remaining on her contract, Coach Cindy Martin has resigned as head basketball coach at Youngstown State University.  In two seasons, Martin compiled a record of 3 wins and 57 losses, including an obstacle filled 0-30 campaign this year.  Beyond the numbers, so many factors worked against Martin in her two years.  This year, the numbers were a mess.  Having really only two post players made the Lady Penguins weak in the middle, especially when one would go out for a breather, or God forbid, foul trouble.

Martin only had two Seniors, Rachael Manuel and Kaitlyn March.  March dressed but was limited because of shin problems, and Manuel has been an improving work in progress since she got here.  Many of the players on the team were not even her recruits.  Credit her and the staff for finding Brandi Brown, a Horizon League Newcomer of  The Year finalist.

It’s a real shame that Martin has opted to go.  Those on the inside will tell you that there is nobody you will ever meet more competitive than Coach Martin.  Press conference after press conference, she always managed to take something positive and build on it.  She never used the numbers disadvantage as a crutch or an excuse.  Martin also never said a negative word about Youngstown, her staff, or her players because she believed in all of them.

Director of Athletics, Ron Strollo, said the choice to resign was Martin’s.  “We were surprised at Coach Martin’s decision to resign at this time.  She accepted a difficult challenge in rebuilding the winning tradition of YSU women’s basketball, and she and her staff worked tirelessly the past two years toward that end. We understand the end results of this past season put their efforts to the test, but a full examination of the extenuating circumstances that led to this year’s outcomes makes those familiar with the situation supportive of the progress she made.”

“I have decided to step down from my position because I feel in my heart it is what’s best for the program at this time,” Martin said. “I want to thank Youngstown State University and the athletic department for the wonderful opportunity. We signed back-to-back recruiting classes that are committed to their successes both on and off the court.”

Martin’s influence was obvious in her players who completed 30 community service projects over the past two years.  Academics were also important to the Lady Penguins as the team had a combined 3.29 GPA.

Best of luck to Cindy Martin!  She has paved the groundwork for the future of YSU Basketball over the next few years.

There was not too much to brag about if you followed the Youngstown State Lady Penguins.  Only dressing seven girls for most of the season, minutes were piled on starters and fatigue naturally took its toll on human bodies.  The result was a nightmare of a season, a winless campaign.  One ray of hope was Brandi Brown, the true Freshman from California who posted double-doubles almost every other game.

Brandi Brown was bypassed in the Horizon League awards for Newcomer of The Year honors.  This recognition went to Yar Shayok of Detroit, who just played at Youngstown State last week and had a good game.  This editorial is, by no means, intended to downplay Shayok’s recognition as a great future player for Detroit, but rather to question why she received the award instead of YSU’s Brown.

Brown was the leader in the entire conference in rebounding with a 10.8 RPG average.  THE ENTIRE CONFERENCE, not just the Freshmen.  Shouldn’t that merit her an award to first or second team all-Horizon League?  Dennis Rodman never averaged more than ten points a game in any season, yet was named to the NBA’s All-Star team several times because of his rebounding and defensive presence.  Brandi Brown is not Dennis Rodman, don’t take that analogy out of context, she is actually good on both ends of the floor.

Brown also led all Freshman in scoring with 11.6 points per game.  So she was the leader of the Freshman scoring race, and the Horizon League leader in rebounds and does not garner this award?  Did Yar Shayok play the immunity idol here? 

I am not sure what more the Horizon League wanted Brown to do to prove she was the best Freshman in the league.  Was this a political choice?  Because Detroit played well enough to win some games, the award is defaulted to a Freshman on the team with the best record?

If the choice was made because Youngstown State did not win a game, then the league should consider changing the name of the award to “Best Freshman on A Winning Team with The Best Supporting Cast”.

What made Brandi Brown’s year even more special is that when she got three fouls, she was forced to ease up and play cautiously.  How did she manage to put all of those numbers up playing hurt, tired, and sometimes in foul trouble?

Boo Horizon League.  I don’t care if Youngstown State won a game or not.  This is not a team award, it is an individual accolade, and you robbed the true Newcomer of The Year based on the statistics.  Leading rebounder in the league, top Freshman scorer, obstacle central with no depth, and you managed to keep Youngstown State down, yet again.

 

Kaitlyn March came into her Senior Day game with only 45 points on the season.  Hampered by shin injuries, her playing time was often limited to five minutes per half for a majority of the year.  March came out firing a career-high 21 points, and tied the Youngstown State record for threes in a game with seven,  but it would not be enough as the Lady Penguins dropped to 0-27 on the season with an 80-62 setback in the final home game of the season.  The other Senior, Rachel Manuel, has played hard and improved throughout the season providing valuable minutes on a short-stacked team.  The two veterans played in their final home game Saturday and are pictured above with family.

On Saturday, March had 12 points on 4-4 three-point shooting, a career best, in the first twelve minutes of the game. Despite the early heroics, YSU trailed with 7:51 left in the game, 20-18, against a very good Detroit team.

Detroit (15-13, 13-4) surged forward to take a 30-22 lead when Tayler Langham drove and was fouled to complete a three-point play with 4:51 left in the first half.  Detroit used a 17-4 run to climb to a 39-22 lead.  March nailed another three giving her 15 points in the first half, a career-high.  At the half, Detroit held a 41-25 lead.

The difference in the first half was the 20 points that Detroit cashed in off of 13 YSU turnovers.

Detroit pushed the lead to 51-34 with 15:11 left in the game.  Yar Shayok beat everyone back to the Titans basket and received a long outlet pass to get the layup. Shayok had eight points, all in the second half.

YSU cut the Detroit lead to 10 at 59-49, with 10:56 left in the game.  Kaitlyn March hit a couple more threes, giving her seven for the game and 21 points, March was off the hook.  Brandi Brown (pictured) posted her 13th double-double of the season when she yanked down her tenth rebound with 8:57 left in the game. Brown finished the game with 14 rebounds and 19 points.

Regardless of the outcome, Youngstown State showed tremendous heart in this game and played like anything but an 0-27 team.

With 2:09 left in the game, the Penguins were down 73-61.  March saved all of her magic for Senior Day. The other Senior, Rachel Manuel deserved props for her tireless efforts as well.  Voted “most-improved” player, Manuel has been an obstruction in the paint for opposing teams. Congratulations to both ladies and wishes of success for their futures.

After a 57-38 loss to Wright State on Thursday, Youngstown State Coach Cindy Martin and her staff (pictured), who I still feel will prove worthy in the end, scraped for positives.  “Wright State executed their gameplan tonight.  I am proud of the effort we had on defense, but we turned the ball over too many times and missed layups, I think we beat ourselves a little”, declared Coach Martin after the loss.

Turnovers plagued Martin’s Penguins, but the points off of those turnovers killed any chance YSU had to end their season-long 26 game skid. 

Wright State held a 18-10 lead with 9:07 left in the first half.  The Raiders were taking better shots than the Penguins in the early going.  The higher percentage shots were mainly layups and short jumpers. Youngstown State, conversely, was unsuccessful in getting the ball to Brandi Brown in the post.

The Raiders upped their margin to ten points at 28-18 with 3:47 left in the first half.  Macey Nortey hit a nice baseline jumper to cut into the Raider lead.  However, the Penguins committed 13 first-half turnovers. Off of those miscues, Wright State held a 16-0 advantage in points off of turnovers.

With 10:39 left in the game, Kenya Middlebrooks hit a three which cut the Wright State lead to 14, at 44-30.  Both teams struggled on offense over the next six minutes.  With 4:21 remaining, YSU trailed 49-33.

Wright State, only dressing seven players, lost 6’1″ Molly Fox with just over four minutes left in the game. Boki Dimitrov hit a three to make it 52-36.  LaShawna Thomas picked up the slack for Wright State, scoring three consecutive baskets and keeping the margin comfortably in the double-digits for the Raiders.

Youngstown State could only muster one point off of 14 Wright State turnovers.  Wright State, on the other hand, finished with 21 points off of 19 YSU errors, the difference in the game.

Wright State 57, YSU 38, for a final as the Penguins dropped to 0-26 and just cant seem to knock the monkey off of their backs.

Saturday will be the last attempt at home as Youngstown State welcomes Detroit, tipoff for that contest is set for 4:35, or a half-hour after the men’s game in the Senior Day doubleheader.

Youngstown State’s Lady Penguins returned home for a matinee against Cleveland State.  For the Penguins, it was another chance at ‘the end’ of the streak, aka, the losing streak that has plagued the Penguins since 2009.  YSU would have to wait until Thursday for another shot as Cleveland State overwhelmed the Lady Penguins by posting a 68-38 win.

Saturday also served as Youngstown State Alumni Day.  Former Lady Penguin standouts from the past were honored at halftime.  Current Penguin, Boki Dimitrov, commented on the festivities. “It’s really nice to be around all of the ladies who have played here. I liked meeting them and am happy they came out today.”

Youngstown State hung with the Vikings in the early going as the score was tied at 8-8 with eight minutes elapsed in the first half. However, Cleveland State applied daunting full-court pressure giving the Penguins fits to even get into their half-court offense.

At the half, the Vikings (13-12, 8-6 HL) were comfortably ahead at 33-17.  Angel Roque provided a spark off of the bench for the Vikings by connecting on three of four first half three-point shots.  The Lady Penguins were paced by Kenya Middlebrooks and Brandi Brown who combined for 13 points and 12 rebounds.  Youngstown State only shot 24% from the field in the half.

With 15:26 left in the game, Cleveland State expanded their lead to 25 points, holding a 44-19 lead.  Brandi Brown, Youngstown State’s most consistent player all season, posted her twelfth double-double when she yanked down her tenth rebound with 14:21 left.  Brown finished the game with 16 points and 11 rebounds.

The Vikings had nine players with anywhere from 6-11 points showing a very well-balanced attack.  Angel Roque took top scoring honors with 11 points, all in the first half.  Her sister, Jessica Roque finished with seven points and seven rebounds.

Kenya Middlebrooks had a nice game for Youngstown State finishing with 11 points and eight rebounds. Only four of the eight Penguins who dressed scored a point.

Cleveland State must have felt like they were in a contest to see how many points they could win by. The Vikings hoisted three-pointers in five consecutive trips up the floor.  At least they stopped pressing with a 63-33 lead and 2:56 left in the game.  Hopefully, Coach Martin etches some mental notes about things like this so when she has a bench and options, she can return the favor of bullying a team.

After the game, Martin commented on the constant threes and pressure in the second half.  “I am not mad at all. It’s a part of the game for their coaches to have players play their game, which is pretty much layups and threes. If I were in that situation, I would want my team to work hard and try to improve, I don’t believe there was any intent to do anything outside of their normal gameplan.”

Youngstown State welcomes Wright State to Beeghly Center on Thursday as the first game of a doubleheader to be followed by the men.