After spending almost a month of playing games on the road, the Youngstown State women's basketball team (1-6) finally returns home to the Beeghly Center and embarks on a five-game homestand beginning with Mid-American Conference member Akron on Saturday, Dec. 16. Tipoff is slated for 2:05 p.m. at the Beeghly Center in Youngstown, Ohio.

The Penguins enter the contest the losers of four straight games, including a 69-56 loss at Indiana State on Dec. 6.

Sophomore Monique Godfrey led the Penguins and tied a career high with 18 points and set a career high with five 3-pointers against the Sycamores. Freshman Anjalia Lyons played just 17 minutes but contributed a career-high 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field.

Scouting the Zips
Akron is currently 4-5 and has won its last three games, including a buzzer-beating 61-59 victory over Horizon League member Cleveland State on Sunday. Sophomore Nikki McCoy leads Akron with 14.1 points per game while freshman Sarah Tokodi is second on the squad with 12 points per contest.

The Akron Series
This will be 45th meeting between YSU and Akron with the Penguins owning an impressive 34-10 advantage in the all-time series. YSU has won the last two games, including a 58-50 decision in Akron, Ohio, last year. Akron has not won at the Beeghly Center since 1994.

A Win Will
• Snap a four-game losing streak.
• Mark YSU's second victory of the season and second win against an opponent from the Mid-American Conference this year.
• Give Head Coach Tisha Hill her 26th career victory.
• Give the YSU women's basketball program its 449th victory since the 1975-76 season.

Last Time Out
The Penguins dropped their fourth straight contest with a 69-56 loss at Indiana State on Dec. 6. Sophomore Monique Godfrey tied a career high with 18 points while freshman Anjalia Lyons set a career high with 11 points against the Sycamores.

Home vs. Road
The evidence is quite clear. The Youngstown State women's basketball team prefers playing in the Beeghly Center. YSU is averaging 78 points at home and 50 points on the road - a difference of 28 points per game. Also, the Penguins are shooting 48.2 percent from the field and 44.7 percent from the 3-point line at home while just 32.2 percent on the road.

Godfrey Has Career Night
Sophomore Monique Godfrey turned in a career performance against one of the top teams in the Missouri Valley Conference on Dec. 6. Godfrey tied a career high with 18 points and hit a career-best five 3-pointers against Indiana State last week.

Lyons Hits Career High
Freshman Anjalia Lyons made the most of her 17 minutes of action against Indiana State on Dec. 6. The 6-foot-4 center scored a career-high 11 points, all in the second half, against the Sycamores on 4-of-5 shooting from the field.

Karner Among League Leaders
Junior Heather Karner has been racking up some pretty impressive numbers after six games. The 5-foot-10 guard ranks third in the league with 15.9 points per game and leads the circuit with 2.57 3-pointers made per game. She also ranks tied for fourth in the Horizon League with a .781 free-throw percentage and eighth with a .360 3-point percentage.

Pendleton Hits Scoring High
Sophomore forward Ashley Pendleton turned in a solid performance at Miami (Ohio) scoring a career-high nine points and blocking four shots. Pendleton also grabbed five rebounds in 21 minutes of action.

Davis Hits Career Highs
Freshman Ta-myra Davis turned in the best performance of her young career against Duquesne on Nov. 25. The 6-foot-1 forward grabbed a career-high nine rebounds and scored five points against the Dukes.

Karner Nabs All-Tournament Laurels
Junior Heather Karner picked up some hardware at the Hilton Wilmington Riverside Classic even though the Penguins went 0-2 at the tournament. Karner was named to the all-tournament team after averaging 14.5 points per game while shooting 42.9 percent from the field and 46.7 percent from the 3-point arc. She also posted a game-high 23 points against UNC-Wilmington on 7-of-11 shooting with five 3-pointers.

Lyons Misses Double-Double
In her second college game, Anjalia Lyons just missed pulling off a tremendous feat. With eight points and a career-high 12 rebounds against Coppin State, Lyons was just two points from becoming the first freshman since Jen Perugini (2001-02) to record a double-double so early in her career. Perugini recorded five straight double-doubles to begin her college career.

Branson Moving Up
Senior Lauren Branson continues her climb up the YSU all-time assists chart. The Cincinnati, Ohio, native currently has 231 career assists and needs 80 more to move into 10th place on the career chart.

Up Next
The Penguins take on Robert Morris in the second of five straight home games, Monday, Dec. 18, at 7:05 p.m. in the Beeghly Center.

Karner Likin' Beeghly
Junior Heather Karner has shown she enjoys playing in the Beeghly Center. The 5-foot-10 guard is averaging 25 points per game while shooting 60.7 percent from the floor and 42.9 percent from 3-point range. She poured in 34 points on 12-of-17 shooting against Cincinnati on 11/10 and 16 points against Buffalo on 11/21.

Brianne Kenneally is the last YSU player to open the season with at least 30 points and to score at least 30 points in more than one game in a season. Kenneally scored 33 against Bowling Green (11/18/00), 43 against Georgia State (11/24/00) and 31 (11/29/00) against Akron during the 2000-01 season.

Vaughn Nets Career High Again
After posting a then-career scoring high of 14 points in the season opener against Cincinnati, sophomore Velissa Vaughn posted career highs with 17 points and seven assists in YSU's 78-44 win over Buffalo on Nov. 21.

Back-to-Back 78's - Most Points Since 1999-2000
Youngstown State's 78 points in back-to-back home games (156 points) is the highest two-game total to open the season since 1999-2000 when the Penguins scored 168 points in their first two home games against Bowling Green (W, 83-68) on Nov. 20 and Kent State (W, 85-74) on Nov. 23.

Schloemp Streak at 51
With an appearance against Akron on Saturday afternoon, junior Jessica Schloemp will extend her games played streak to 52 straight games. Schloemp's consecutive games started streak ended at 34 after she did not start against Indiana State on Dec. 6.

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.