Youngstown -- The 32nd season of Youngstown State women's basketball commences with the earliest game in school history when the Penguins host the Cincinnati Bearcats (0-0) for the first time since 1983, Friday, Nov. 10, at 7:05 p.m. at the Beeghly Center.

The Penguins (0-0), which finished the 2005-06 season with an 8-20 mark, enter this season with no seniors on their roster for the first time in school history. The Penguins return starting juniors Lauren Branson and Jessica Schloemp and five more letterwinners who played in at least 17 games last season. The Penguins' returning letterwinners include sophomores Monique Godfrey, Nikita LaFleur, Ashley Pendleton, Toni Roscoe and Velissa Vaughn.

Scouting the Bearcats
The UC Bearcats enter their 36th season of competition when they invade the Beeghly Center on Friday. The Bearcats, who return three starters and nine letterwinners from last year's 17-12 squad, are coming off a 78-74 exhibition game loss to the OGBR Legends on Monday evening. Sophomore Shelly Bellman and freshman Carla Jacobs led the Bearcats with 16 points each against OGBR. Senior guard Treasure Humphries returns as UC's top scorer from a year ago with 12.8 points per game.

The Cincinnati Series
This will be just the fourth meeting between Youngstown State and UC and the Penguins are searching for their first victory in the series against the Bearcats. The last time YSU and UC met was an 84-74 Bearcat victory in 1983. This is also the first meeting between the two schools at the Beeghly Center.

Cincinnati Connections
• Youngstown State junior guard Lauren Branson is a Cincinnati native and went to high school at Archbishop McNicholas.
• YSU sophomore Monique Godfrey and UC freshman Carla Jacobs were high school teammates at South Euclid Regina High School.

Up Next
The Penguins begin a daunting challenge of playing five of their next six games on the road when they visit 2006 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament participant Coppin State, Friday, Nov. 17, at 6 p.m. in Baltimore, Md.

Last Time Out
In their last outing, the Penguins dropped a 73-63 decision to the Ohio Girls' Basketball Report Legends on Friday, Nov. 10. Sophomore Velissa Vaughn led the Penguins with 11 points while junior Kira Mowen added 10 points and freshman Ta-myra Davis just missed a double-double with seven points and a team-high 11 rebounds.

Penguin Home Openers
The Youngstown State women's basketball program has done well historically in its home openers. Since the 1975-76 season, the Penguins own a 23-8 record in home openers and are 2-1 in home openers under Head Coach Tisha Hill.

Season Openers
In season lid-lifters, the Penguins have enjoyed quite a bit of success through the years. The Penguins have won 20 out of 31 season openers and are 2-1 in season openers under Tisha Hill. YSU has also won three of the last four season openers. The Penguins own an all-time record of 9-4 when they open the season at the Beeghly Center.

Fresh Faces
Along with the seven returners, the 2006-07 Youngstown State women's basketball roster is composed of six newcomers, five of which are eligible this season. Junior college transfer Heather Karner, a guard, joins the squad from Western Nebraska Community College and junior guard Kira Mowen, who sat out last season after transferring from Illinois, are expected to bolster the Penguins' backcourt and perimeter. Junior guard Kelsey Gurganus, a transfer from Southern Miss, must sit out the 2006-07 season to fulfill NCAA transfer requirements and will have two years of eligibility remaining beginning in 2007-08.

The 2006-07 freshmen class includes forward Ta-myra Davis, a 6-foot-1 special mention All-Ohio forward from Akron, Ohio, 6-foot-4 center Anjalia Lyons from Maple Heights, Ohio, and 5-foot-8 guard Kaitlyn March, who hails from Rochester, Pa.

Penguins Picked Seventh
The Youngstown State women's basketball team was picked to finish seventh in the Horizon League's official preseason poll of the league's head coaches, sports information directors and selected media, the league announced on Wednesday, Oct. 11.

The Penguins, who ended last season with an 8-20 overall mark and a 4-12 record in the Horizon League, tallied 72 points.

UW-Green Bay, which has won or shared the league title in each of the last nine seasons, was picked as the preseason favorite to win the Horizon League, garnering 22 of 27 first-place votes and 234 points.

Defending tournament champion UW-Milwaukee was voted second with three first-place votes and 198 points while Butler was tabbed third with one first-place vote and 192 points.

Right behind the Bulldogs in fourth was UIC with 185 points and one first-place vote followed by Wright State in fifth with 132 points and Loyola in sixth with 83 points. Rounding out the poll is Detroit in eighth with 63 points and Cleveland State in ninth with 56 points.

Schloemp Closes Out Strong
Over the last 12 games of the 2005-06 season, junior forward Jessica Schloemp was one of the most dominant players in the Horizon league. During that span, Schloemp averaged a double-double with 11.2 points and 10.3 rebounds per game while shooting 51.1 percent from the field and .792 from the free throw line.

Welcome Back Branson
The Penguins gladly welcome the return of point guard Lauren Branson back to the line up after missing the last 16 games of last season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee. Branson, a 2005 Horizon League All-Newcomer Team selection, averaged 5.5 points amd 3.8 assists per game last season. Branson, who has 205 career assists in just 40 games played, needs 106 more to move into 10th place on the YSU all-time assist chart.