Nov. 27, 2010
Final Stats
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Youngstown State's Brandi Brown had 17 points, while Tieara Jones poured in all of her 14 in the second half as the Penguins came back from an 18-point first-half deficit to top Ohio 60-52 Saturday night at the Beeghly Center.
The Bobcats, who led 34-16 with 1:27 left in the first stanza, gave up 41 points in the second, including 11 in the final two minutes of the game. Youngstown dominated the paint in the second half, outrebounding Ohio and scoring 22 points in the lane to the Bobcats' six.
Youngstown improved to 2-3 on the season, while Ohio dropped to 2-2.
In the first half, Ohio applied a full court press and pounded the boards to turn a one-point YSU lead at the 13:53 mark into a big Bobcat advantage.
Ohio's first-half pressure in the backcourt resulted in 13 Youngstown State turnovers, accounting for 23 of Ohio's 34 first half points. The Bobcats' defense also forced Youngstown deep into its shot clock on five occasions in the first half alone, where the Penguins pulled down only five offensive rebounds and tallied no second chance points.
On offense, the Bobcats opened the game with a balanced attack, scoring 14 points in the paint, led by Tenishia Benson (Akron, Ohio), who scored nine while posting six steals on defense. Ashley Fowler (Cincinnati, Ohio) connected on three of eight shots from beyond the arc in the period, leading the team into the halftime locker room with 11 points.
Benson's six steals in the first half set a new career-high for the junior, who had twice recorded a career high of four steals, most recently against Eastern Illinois (Nov. 13, 2008).
Youngstown responded out of the halftime break, cutting Ohio's 15-point advantage to just six points and holding Ohio without a basket in the first four minutes and 30 seconds of the second half.
The Bobcats and the Penguins traded baskets until the final three minutes of the contest, with the Penguins never able to bring the game closer than two possessions and the Bobcats unable to extend that lead.
At the 2:49 mark of the second half, Jones drove the lane for a lay-in that would cut Ohio's lead to just two points at 51-49.
Jones' foul on Ohio's Alesia Howard (Columbus, Ohio) at the other end of the court resulted in a trip to the line for the sophomore guard, who connected on just one of two shots. Ohio was scoreless on five possessions to finish out the game, with Youngstown connecting on six of seven free throws and scoring 11 points in the final two minutes of the game to earn its second win of the season.
Benson led the Bobcats with 16 points, while senior Kamille Buckner (Chicago, Ill.) pulled down a season-high nine rebounds to lead Ohio.
Fowler finished with a new career-high of 14 points, including four 3-point baskets, which tied her career mark in that statistic.
Freshman Shavon Robinson (Canton, Ohio) tied her season and career-high of seven points.
The Bobcats travel to George Washington on Tuesday, Nov. 30 for a 7 p.m. ET tip in its third game of a four-game road trip.
