JUST THE BASICS
The Youngstown State women's basketball team continues its
season-opening three-game road swing at IPFW on Sunday. Tipoff
against the Mastodons is set for 2 p.m. at the Gates Sports Center.
The game will be carried live on 570wkbn.com, and it will also have
live video and live stats on go mastodons.com. Both YSU and IPFW
are coming off of 32-point losses to Big East foes on Friday night.
YSU lost 69-37 at West Virginia, and IPFW lost 74-42 at Cincinnati.
IPFW beat YSU 73-61 last season in Youngstown.
TOP STORYLINES
- Despite its 6-24 record last year, YSU won its last three home
games and was within one possession in the final 15 seconds of its
final three road games, including a loss at the buzzer in opening
round of the Horizon League Tournament.
- YSU set school records with 205 3-pointers made and 744
3-pointers attempted last year. The Penguins were 5-for-28 from
beyond the arc at West Virginia.
- Junior forward Brandi Brown is the Horizon League Preseason
Player of the Year. She was a second-team all-league pick last year
as the conference's top scorer at 19.9 points per game. Brown
scored 12 points on 3-for-15 shooting at WVU.
- Brown has scored 951 points in her two-plus years at YSU. Brown
is 49 points from becoming the 17th player in school history to
reach 1,000 points. Only seven of the previous 16 reached the
milestone as a junior.
- The game against IPFW is YSU's second of 13 games against teams
coming off of 20-win seasons.
- YSU head coach Bob Boldon was an assistant coach at IPFW from
1999 to 2001 under Karl Smesko.
Scouting IPFW
IPFW is coming off its first 20-win season as a Division I
program. Despite graduating two 1,000-point scorers, IPFW still has
senior Stephanie Rosado, who was named to the Summit League
Preseason First Team. Senior Anne Boese scored a game-high 20
points in the Mastodons' season-opening loss at Cincinnati on
Friday evening. Boese has made 226 3-pointers in her career.
Series with IPFW
Youngstown State and IPFW have played five times since the
2001-02 season, which was the Mastodons' first at the Division I
level. The Penguins won the first meeting at Beeghly Center, but
lost at IPFW in overtime the following year. YSU then won each of
the next two seasons, with a victory coming both at home and on the
road. The teams did not play from 2004-05 to last season, and IPFW
won last year's game 73-61 on Nov. 20.
Last Game: L,69-37 at West Virginia
YSU played well enough defensively but shot just 19.6 percent in
a 69-37 loss at West Virginia in the 2011-12 season opener on
Friday.
The Penguins trailed just 26-15 at halftime because of a strong
defensive effort that held the Mountaineers to 30-percent shooting.
WVU shot 59.3 percent in the second half in outscoring the Guins
43-22 in the final 20 minutes.
WVU, which held a big size advantage, posted 12 blocks.
Sophomore guard Taylor Palmer had 33 points on 12-of-23 shooting,
including 8-for-16 from beyond the arc.
Brandi Brown had 12 points and eight rebounds for YSU but was
just 3-for-15.
YSU dug itself a 13-0 hole until Touvelle's 3-pointer with 12:50
remaining broke the scoreless stretch. WVU led by double digits
until Macey Nortey scored on YSU's first possession of the second
half, but the Mountaineers answered with a 10-0 run.
Last Time vs. IPFW
YSU overcame a 16-point deficit to tie the game late but
eventually dropped a 73-61 to IPFW on Nov. 20, 2010, at Beeghly
Center.
Brandi Brown scored a then career-high 29 points, 23 of which
came in the second half. Stephanie Rosado led four Mastodons
reaching double figures with 22 points. She added a game-high 12
rebounds.
Trailing 45-29 with 15 minutes left, the Guins clawed their way
back by outscoring the Mastodons 26-10 over the next 10 minutes to
tie the game at 55-55 with 4:41 to go. Brown scored 16of the
Guins' 26 points over that span.
IPFW, however, scored the next nine points and outscored the
Penguins 18-6 over the rest of the game.
The loss to IPFW was YSU's 34th in a row. The Penguins ended
their record losing skid the following game with a win over
Bucknell.
Boldon is Former IPFW Assistant
Youngstown State head coach Bob Boldon was an assistant coach at
IPFW for two seasons under Karl Smesko. Boldon and Smesko patrolled
the IPFW sidelines during the 1999-2000 and 2000-01 and led the
Mastodons to a combined record of 32-22. Those were the program's
final two seasons competing at the Division II level. Boldon
coached with Smesko again at Florida Gulf Coast in 2009-10, the
season prior to becoming YSU's head coach.
Up Next
Youngstown State will conclude its three-game road trip to start
the season on Wednesday at Bucknell. Tipoff against the Bison is
set for 7 p.m.
