TOLEDO — The start was everything Youngstown State could have wanted, but soon things unraveled. By that point, the Penguins had fallen into too deep of a hole to dig themselves out of on Tuesday morning at Toledo.
Despite a concerted effort to claw its way back after falling into an 18-point first-half deficit, YSU’s comeback effort came up short against the Rockets 64-60 in the Penguins’ first road test of the season at John F. Savage Arena.
“You learn a lot about your team early on in the season. I’ve always had teams that play really hard and never quit, but I didn’t know if this group was going to be like that,” YSU head coach Melissa Jackson said. “You think that because you recruit those types of players, but they showed me a lot about their character and their toughness.
“We challenged them at halftime about their toughness, and so I’m very proud of them. I know I got a group of fighters in my locker room. We’re going to get better. We’re going to watch the film, and we’re going to get better from this. We’re going to learn a lot from this game.”
The Penguins (2-1) have now lost four straight against Toledo (2-1), dating back to their last win against the Rockets during the 2007-08 season. YSU also hasn’t beaten the Rockets in Toledo since 1999.
In the first quarter, YSU’s defense had Toledo flummoxed, as the Rockets missed 10 of their first 11 shots.
But an injury left the Penguins shaken when Mia Kalich went down grabbing her ankle. Toledo immediately seized their opportunity and rattled off a 14-0 run.
Kalich eventually returned to finish the game — finishing with her first double-double since transferring to YSU — but the damage had been done. With less than four minutes left in the half, the Rockets had grown their lead to 18.
“I think that’s the first time we’ve seen some type of injury with this group,” Jackson said. “Credit to Mia, she’s a really tough kid. She stayed out there. But I did think it shook us a little bit. We gotta handle that better next time. … We can’t have that, not on somebody’s home floor, not against a really good team.”
Kalich finished with 10 points and 13 rebounds, while Paulina Hernandez led YSU with a game and career-high 19 points. Freshman Evelyn McKnight added 12 points for her first career double-figure scoring performance.
The Penguins likely did enough defensively to come away with a victory, holding Toledo to 41% shooting.
But too many missed baskets at point-blank range were too much to overcome, as YSU was 14-for-38 on layups and only shot 37.5% overall on the day.
“I thought we got really good looks. That ball rimmed around a lot and was in and out, so we just gotta finish a lot better,” Jackson said. “I thought we executed the game plan right from the get-go defensively. Offensively, we wanted to go right inside. You saw us have great success with that, but we gotta finish through contact. Credit Toledo, they’re a little bit bigger, a little bit stronger. But we can finish through that. If we had this game back, if we finish better, I think it would be a different outcome.”
By halftime, YSU had trimmed Toledo’s advantage to single digits, 35-26. But the Rockets opened the third quarter on a run to grow their lead back to 16.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Penguins had cut their deficit to two points, trailing 48-46. After a Rockets turnover, YSU had the ball with a chance to finally tie the game after trailing by as many as 18.
Erica King had a look on a driving layup. But as was the case most of the day for the Penguins, her shot rolled off the rim. From there, Toledo scored a series of buckets to push its lead back to eight.
Even after all that, YSU still had a chance to force overtime at the end of the fourth quarter after making six straight baskets.
Danielle Cameron banked in a three to make it a three-point game and Kalich pulled down her 13th rebound of the afternoon.
However, after a timeout, the Penguins turned it over and ran out of time in the final seconds after having to foul three times to get Toledo into the bonus.
“I wish I didn’t have to burn all my timeouts early on in the game. I like to keep them, but I felt l just had to with the momentum Toledo was playing with early on,” Jackson said. “It’s early in the season, so we don’t have a ton of quick hitters, end-of-game stuff in. We have a little bit, but I was trying to help them as best as I can. We’ll be more ready for that situation in the future.
“In all our scrimmages, in all our games up to that, we’ve always had a lead. We have never played from behind. So we gotta continue to learn from that and get better.”
YSU now continues its road trip with a visit out west to face Colorado (2-0) in Boulder on Saturday.
Hence then, the article about ysu s comeback effort falls short in loss at toledo was published today ( ) and is available on TribToday ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( YSU’s comeback effort falls short in loss at Toledo )
Also on site :
- Gunmen kill 11 family members in Nigerian village raid
- Walmart’s $24 3-Piece Acacia Wood Platter Set Is a ‘Beautiful’ Way to Serve Holiday Bites With Farmhouse Charm
- How to Watch Italy vs France Live: Kick-off Time and Broadcasting Details