Posts Tagged ‘Kenya Middlebrooks’

The Youngstown State University Lady Penguins have been short on numbers all year long.  In the Horizon League  opening game Saturday, only seven players dressed.  For a half, seven players was good enough.  In a mediocre second half, depth might have been a welcome option.  Milwaukee used good depth and a strong low post game to get by a scrappy Youngstown State group, 68-59.

Early on, YSU did a decent job shooting and trailed only 18-17 against a much taller Milwaukee team.  Boki Dimitrov hit a couple of baskets to keep YSU close.  The Lady Penguins were doing a good job cutting off low-post passes and maximizing the size they did have as Brandi Brown and Rachael Manuel were rebounding and stealing.

With 7:41 left in the first half, Youngstwon State held a 19-18 lead.  The Lady Penguins were really hustling and diving after loose balls all over the court.  Maryum Jenkins and Kenya Middlebrooks were both slow getting up after hustling for loose balls, a scary prospect considering the shallowness of the Lady Penguin bench.  As YSU held a lead deep into the first half, it was hard not to notice the coaches and players had smiles on their faces and were having genuine fun.

At the half, the Panthers and Penguins were deadlocked at 25.  Brown and Ashley Imperiale had 10 points each for their respective teams at the break.

Milwaukee used a 12-3 run to open the second half and established a 37-28 lead.  The Panthers were taking advantage of several second-chance opportunities and taking shots much closer to the hoop than they had in the first half.

The fatigue factor and roster size started to take their toll in the second half.  Milwaukee had a current of fresh bodies on the court while YSU was winded and gasping by the 10:00 mark. 

YSU really struggled from 3-point territory shooting less than 12% for the game.  The Penguins dropped to 0-12 on the season, while Milwaukee improved to 6-6 by winning the Horizon Conference opener for both teams.

After the game, Penguins Coach Cindy Martin expressed her thoughts of the comendable effort of the Lady Penguins.  “I wish I could go back and change two things.  One was the intensity that we lacked to start the second half.  The other thing was to attack and go right at them instead of trying to avoid making a mistake and playing tentatvely.”

Milwaukee was led by Imperiale who finished the game with 16 points.  Danielle Jorgensen added 14.

YSU got 18 points and 14 rebounds from Brandi Brown.  Brown made no excuses for the loss.  “We just came out flat in the second half and it took us a few minutes to regain the intensity that we played with in the first half.”

YSU (0-7) and #19 Pitt (6-0) are two teams on very opposite ends of the spectrum. Pitt will contend for a national championship this season, while YSU will just try to get through the season with enough healthy bodies to field a team.  The result was an 89-37 verdict for the Panthers.  YSU played hard, but Pitt has more size than some Division-I men’s teams.  Couple the size factor with only seven Penguins dressing for this game (Boki Dimitrov, the Penguins leading score, sat out injured) and you come out with a 52 point deficit.

Pitt started very strong, controlling the boards on both sides of the court in running out to a 9-2 lead with 15:02 left in the first half. The two teams would remain scoreless over the next 3:00. Pitt was missing layups and YSU was working very hard to get loose balls. An encouraging sign was the presence of Kaitlyn March, a Senior, who has been having issues with her shins dating back to last season.  March played good minutes and scrapped for Youngstown State.

At the 7:08 mark of the first half, Pitt extended their lead to 26-8, using some great perimeter shooting from Chelsea Cole and Shayla Scott. Selena Nwude played the role of big person underneath for Pitt. Nwude had eight points, mostly on second chance putbacks. To this point, YSU was struggling to get good looks at the basket because Pitt was so much taller and playing ferociously in their zone defense.

Canfield native, Kate Popovec (pictured above), completed a three-point play when she gathered an offensive rebound and laid the ball up while being hacked.  After the game Popovec commented on playing near home.  “It was really special to have a chance to play in front of so many friends and family members.  YSU played better than the score will tell you, they were diving after loose balls and hustling everywhere.  We [Pitt] expect to do more than we did last season.  Two Sweet 16’s in a row was nice, but now we expect to get farther and hopefully win the national championship this season.”

Pitt, ranked #19 in the country, was just too much for the Lady Penguins in the first half as the Panthers held a commanding 47-19 lead. To build their lead, Pitt used 52% shooting from the field, 37% shooting from three, and outrebounded YSU 31-12.

Give credit to Youngstown State for playing hard. This was a monumental task even if there were 13 players in uniform.

At the 11:32 mark of the second half, YSU trailed by the score of 60-24. Pitt was duplicating what worked in the first half, taking advantage of second chances on offense and limiting the shot selection for the Penguins.

Pitt took advantage of the size differential down the stretch and the YSU Lady Penguins played the last eight minutes looking fatigued.  Too much Pitt tonight and a final result of 89-37 in favor of the Panthers.

Pepper Wilson paced Pitt with 13 points, Popovec and Jania Sims chipped in with 11 points each.

Youngstown State got 10 points and seven rebounds from Brandi Brown who played well against the larger competition. 

After the game, Coach Cindy Martin talked about the game.  “We are not quitters and we don’t lay down.  Pitt is #19 for a reason, they have a great team.  They [Pitt] were struggling with their shooting the last couple of games and they picked tonight to be on fire.  They are a big team and they are going to do well in the Big East, and I wish them luck.”

My heart really goes out to Coach Cindy Martin.  This is a really bad situation to be in with such limited combinations.  Next year when the transfers are completed, the injuries are healed, and the numbers are quantitively fair, Youngstown will get a glimpse of what kind of results the work ethic Coach Martin and her staff yield.  Unfortunately, at least to this point, the numbers game is too much.

Coach Cindy Martin knows that her 2009-10 Lady Penguins team has the potential to win more than the three games last year’s squad walked away with.  Marked improvement over last year against Kent State is proof to the naysayers.  The scrappy YSU women are playing shorthanded with really only seven able bodies right now and fought until the end.  The result was respectable, albeit a loss, as Kent State came away with a 71-55 victory at the Beeghly Center.

The Lady Penguins held the lead for the majority of the first half.  Kent State nabbed the lead at the 13:10 mark, taking a 14-13 lead.  A pair of Rachael Manuel free throws ended a long Youngstown State drought and put an end to the Golden Flashes run.  Macey Nortey hit a nice underhand running layup when she was fouled and hit the bonus toss to pull YSU to within two, a 20-18 deficit.   Kent closed out the half on an 11-4 run and took a 31-22 lead into the break. 

YSU was only 6-29 from the field in the half combined with 11 turnovers and was having an issue with fouls.  Dressing only eight players and having a couple of them with three fouls has to cut back on the aggression YSU would be able to play with defensively in the second half.  Kent’s bench outscored YSU’s 15-0 in the opening half. 

Youngstown State battled to keep things close in the second half, but Kent would not yield any ground.  At the 11:50 mark, the Golden Flashes extended their halftime lead by a point to a 46-36 advantage. 

Kent State would start to pull away, but YSU would show some fight and battle back from trailing by 18 to just 13 on a Nortey three.  Nortey, who finished with a career high 20 points for the Penguins,  then connected on a pair of free throws to chop the lead back to 11.  The lack of numbers and fatigue factor were both seemingly working against YSU with about five minutes left in the game.  Kent State had five offensive rebounds and six shots on one trip down the floor.

When all of the remaining time elapsed, Kent State claimed the victory with a 70-55 verdict.  Give the Lady Penguins some credit for hanging in there against Kent when they could have easily thrown in the towel several times earlier in the game.

Nortey collected her 20 points for YSU on 7-15 shooting and 5-6 on her free throws.    Kent State was paced by Jamilah Humes who tallied 14 for the Golden Flashes.

Coach Martin was not completely disappointed with the effort.  “I am not satisfied, I won’t be satisfied until we cut down the nets here at Youngstown State.  I am happy and proud.  The ladies have alot of fiestiness and we did well with our late game situations.  Last year we lost 95-58 to Kent State, they have a great program over there, so yes, I am happy with the effort tonight.”

Youngstown State (0-3) hosts Canisius this Sunday at 2 p.m. in hopes of getting that elusive first win on the year.  Hang in there Coach Martin, your hard work will pay off eventually.

The Youngstown State Women’s Basketball Team opens a fresh season.  For Coach Cindy Martin, it is a chance to show people that this year’s team can overcome a brutal shortage of bodies and succeed.  The Lady Penguins have not had a winning season since the 1999-2000 campaign in which they earned an NCAA Tournament berth.  Since that appearance, YSU has had 20 losses in a year four times including last season’s 3-27 mark.

Only six players on the current roster have any Division I playing experience and only eight players are able to dress.  The numbers game may create some problems for Coach Martin at some point this season.  In the case that a player were to injure herself or foul out, the other players understand they may be playing 45 minutes a contest.

Martin is a hard-working coach and the “things can only get better” or the “woe is me” labels are tags she probably would not welcome.  “I’m excited for a fresh start.  Our execution on offense has been really good and we have come a long way developing our fastbreak.  Elon and High Point are good teams to start with and it would be great to start out 2-0.  They are both good teams and we feel like we will have a chance to be in both of those games.”

Kenya Middlebrooks (left) and Rachael Manuel (right) discussed the expectations and where improvement will be most obvious this season.  Middlebrooks replied, “We push each other very hard every day.  We are a close team that is really communicating well.  There will be improvements defensively and with our rebounding.”

Manuel, one of only two Seniors, commented on the conditioning when a team has to play so many minutes, “We will be playing alot of minutes together, and we are obviously a close group.  We are in really great shape and can handle the minutes.”

Martin is one I would never doubt.  She is a fiery leader with alot of character and it seems to be rubbing off on the players.  If she can manage to get a couple of her players who are injured back, this team has every chance in the world to go .500 this season. 

Coach Martin also announced  Monica Touvelle of Boardman, Jill Herman, and Heidi Schlegel have signed National Letters of Intent to attend YSU.  The trio consists of two guards and a post player.

YSU will host Kent State in the first game of a doubleheader at Beeghly Center on Wednesday with the men’s teams playing the second.  Tipoff is at 5:15 at Beeghly Center.

I would be hard-pressed to find any YSU sports fan who would not be rooting for Cindy Martin to turn the YSU Women’s Basketball Program around in the next couple of years.  This is only her second year on the job and she has basically assumed responsibility of keeping air in a tire that has been flat for awhile.  To talk with her, one can easily buy into her philosophies and hands-on approach.  After a 3-27 season, Martin thinks that this year’s team will not only be better, but has set a goal of finishing sixth or better in the Horizon League to asssure a first-round bye at the conference tournament.  I had the pleasure of meeting Coach Martin for the first time this week.  She was very open and discussed the meat and potatoes of women’s basketball with me.

Paneech:  With one year in the books, how do you feel about this teams chances of improving on a 3-27 season?

Martin:  I feel great about our chances for improvement.  I’m excited to have five returning players who know our system, know what is expected, know the drills, know what we want on the court and off the court, in the classroom – and they [five returning players] are doing a tremendous job of teaching the new players the system.  From that standpoint, I think we are going to win more games and from an improvement standpoint, I think we already have improved.

Paneech:  Can we expect to see you suit up if one of your six healthy players gets hurt?

Martin:  (laughs) I’m retired buddy.  I wish I could play my coaching staff.  We have got to go with what we have.  I am a card player and believe that you play the hands that you are dealt.  This is our hand and we have to play it to the best of our ability.  More than anything, we are trying to restructure our practice plans to make sure we are getting the most out of our healthy players, as well as, making sure that they are working on skills and cohesion, but not overdoing it. 

Paneech:  Who is hurt, who is healthy?

Martin:  We have got eight right now that would be able to play if it was a game, with two of the eight being very, very limited.  Kaitlin Rohrs and Kaitlyn March would both be very limited.  Our six healthy players are Boki Dimitrov, Rachael Manuel, Macey Norton, Makala Gasparek, Brandi Brown, and Kenya Middlebrooks.  The other three players (Shea Johnson, Maryum Jenkins, and Melissa Thompson), we are not sure about, two of them might have season-ending injuries. 

Paneech:  What are the goals for 2009-10?

Martin:  Our biggest goal will be to finish in the top six of our conference.  If we can finish in the top six, we will get a bye, which obviously in our situation would be the best thing to position ourselves.  If we don’t get that bye, it is going to be extremely difficult to win out.  We are trying to think positively, all we have to do is beat four other teams head-to-head if you look at it like that.

Paneech:  How did your first full year of recruiting go?

Martin:  Our recruiting went great!  My assistant, Bernard Scott, is our recruiting coordinator and does a fantastic job of leading our effort.  We signed seven girls that are all here on our roster.  One of the girls, Tieara Jones, has to sit out due to transfer requirements.  I’m very happy with the talent we were able to bring in.  The dilemma is that four of the six we brought in (minus Tieara Jones) are injured and we have to get them back in. 

Paneech:  I know you consider yourself a perfectionist.  How hard is it to do things perfectly at practices this early in the season?

Martin:  I think that is where I can never lower my standards, like going from three hours to two hours or from five-on-five to three-on-three.  We’re trying to change some of those parameters, but where we can still expect our girls’ skill level to be on point.  I don’t expect us to play perfect, basketball is a game of mistakes.  The team that can recover from those mistakes the fastest, and makes the fewest, is usually going to win the game.  I am a perfectionist, but I understand that it is not going to be perfect and a little sloppy at first.  What we are shooting for is that by January, we have a polished product on the floor.

Paneech:  How is this working when you can’t even have a five-on-five drill in practice because you only have six healthy players?

Martin:  We can’t unless my coaches are out there.  I have actually talked to a few girls on campus about coming and trying out for us.  If a student is in good academic standing, and can contribute to this team in a positive way and can play the game, they would be considered to make this team.  We are trying to find a few more and if the possibility of adding players to the roster exists, we would consider that.  We are also looking for a couple of guys, you are allowed three, we have one, to give us practice minutes.

Paneech: Who is the team to beat in the Horizon League this season?

Martin:  I think there are three or four.  I think Green Bay is always going to be good.  I think Cleveland State is exceptionally good this year, Butler is bringing alot back and should be very good.  Those are probably the top three in my opinion.  Night in and night out you don’t know who is going to be good.  I feel the Horizon League has teams from top to bottom that can outplay each other on any given night.  There are upsets in our league, you rarely see one team dominating. 

Paneech: Talk about your two seniors (Kaitlyn March and Rachael Manuel):

Martin:  I think they are going to have great years.  Rachael is really improved.  She spent the whole Summer here with Makala [Gasparek] and every single day that I would come into the office they were either coming or going to the gym or the weight room.  I think Rachael’s skills have gotten better in the post, we are letting her shoot the three this year which will be a new twist, to let our post step out and shoot the three.  Kaitlyn March is really having problems with her shins and her playing time will be limited.  We need points and production from her in those minutes that she does play.  She should be able to give us 15-20 minutes at the most because of what her physical limitations are.  We will play her as we need her because she is one of our best shooters.

Paneech:  With a normal sized roster, if a couple of players are shooting poorly, a coach can bench them.  With six players on the roster right now, you do not have that luxury, how will you handle that situation when it arises?

Martin:  I don’t think we will be able to do much during the games.  Our job is to practice for that situation.  If we are having an off night, here are some sets we can run, or here is how we can tweak our defense to create more stops and open the break opportunities.  If our half-court offense isn’t working, you have to do something to pick up the tempo.  The girls know they will be called upon to play 30-35 minutes.  If someone is having a bad night, someone may have to step up and play 40 minutes.

Paneech:  Walk me through a day in the life of Cindy Martin – start to finish:

Martin:  Well, I am committed to taking better care of myself this year, so I  wake up at 6 a.m. and am usually here and working out by 7.  After a workout and a shower, I try to get in the office.  We have a set staff meeting at 10 every morning.  We meet from 10-11 to talk about the team, recruiting, scheduling, and planning.  From 12-1, I try to watch film from the day before and my 12-1 is nothing more than me trying to get ready for practice or talking to a student-athlete to prepare them for something we may want from them on that particular day.  By 1 we are on the floor for practice.  This schedule helps me and my staff to have a regular schedule.  I’m normally done working by about 9 o’clock at night.  Sometimes I am here in the office until 6 and will go home to make calls.  Sometimes I will go home and watch film.  I think it is important to not always stay here and make recruiting calls and watch film.

One Word Answers

Favorite Meal Of The Day:  Dinner.

Favorite Board Game:  Chess.

Best Musician Out There Right Now:  Keith Urban.

Favorite Vegetable:  Broccoli.

More Important, Free Throws Or Threes:  Free Throws.

Best Show On TV:  Grey’s Anatomy.

Greatest Female Basketball Player Ever:  Jennifer Azzi.

Ultimate Vacation Destination:  Jacksonville, FL to see my family.

Favorite Holiday:  Christmas.

Browns or Steelers:  Neutral.  I’m a college fan, we have the Gators back home and the Jaguars, so I am very neutral here.

One Word To Describe This Years Team:  Fiesty!