The Youngstown State women's basketball team plays its fourth straight home contest and opens Horizon League action when it hosts Wright State, Thursday, Dec. 28.

Tipoff is slated for 7:05 p.m. at the Beeghly Center.

The Penguins (2-8) snapped a six-game losing streak by knocking off Clarion, 58-47, last Thursday evening at the Beeghly Center.

Junior Heather Karner led three Penguins scoring in double figures with 15 points. Sophomore Monique Godfrey added 12 points and classmate Nikita LaFleur posted her first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds against the Golden Eagles.

Scouting the Raiders
Wright State enters tonight's game with a 2-9 overall record but is coming off a 60-59 win over Dayton on Dec. 22. Junior Whitney Lewis leads the Raiders with 12.8 points per game while senior all-league performer Brittney Whiteside owns a scoring average of 12.3 points per game. Junior Sierra Crayton is also averaging double figures with 10.2 points per contest.

The Wright State Series
This is the 32nd meeting between Youngstown State and Wright State. Youngstown State owns a 19-12 advantage in the all-time series but the Raiders have won the last six meetings, including a 67-60 victory at the Beeghly Center last season. Youngstown State has not defeated Wright State since 2004 and has not beaten the Raiders in Beeghly Center since 2003.

LaFemme LaFleur
Over the last three games, sophomore Nikita LaFleur has been one of the Penguins' go-to players. LaFleur is averaging a team-best 10.7 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. She also picked up her first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds against Clarion last Thursday.

Penguin Block Party
Youngstown State currently leads the Horizon League in blocked shots per game with 3.30. Sophomore Ashley Pendleton ranks sixth in the league with 0.90 blocks per game while Nikita LaFleur is ninth with 0.70 and freshman Anjalia Lyons is 11th with 0.60 blocks per game.

Branson Moving Up
Senior Lauren Branson continues her climb up the YSU all-time assists chart. The Cincinnati, Ohio, native currently has 241 career assists and needs 70 more to move into 10th place on the career chart.

Schloemp Streak at 54
With an appearance against Wright State on Thursday evening, junior Jessica Schloemp will extend her games played streak to 55 straight games. Schloemp's consecutive games started streak ended at 34 after she did not start against Indiana State on Dec. 6.

Up Next
The Penguins host Butler, Saturday, Dec. 30, at 2:05 p.m.

A Win Will
• Give the Penguins their second straight victory for the first time since Dec. 19 and Dec. 21, 2005.
• Give YSU a 1-0 start in the Horizon League for the first time since 2004-05 and just the second time since joining the league in 2001-02.
• Mark YSU's third victory of the season.
• Give Head Coach Tisha Hill her 27th career victory.
• Give the YSU women's basketball program its 450th victory since the 1975-76 season.

Last Time Out
The Penguins snapped a six-game losing streak with a 58-47 win over Clarion on Dec. 21. Junior Heather Karner led the Penguins with 15 points while Monique Godfrey and Nikita LaFleur added 12 and 10 points, respectively. LaFleur also posted a double-double with 10 boards.

Karner Among League Leaders
Junior Heather Karner has been racking up some pretty impressive numbers after 10 games. The 5-foot-10 guard ranks fifth in the league with 14.2 points per game and ranks third in the circuit with 2.3 3-pointers made per game. She also ranks fifth in the Horizon League with a .795 free-throw percentage.

LaFleur Steps Up
Sophomore center Nikita LaFleur turned in a then-career-best scoring high in the 66-58 loss to Akron on Dec. 16. LaFleur scored eight points on 2-of-2 shooting from the field and 4-of-6 shooting from the free-throw line.

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. She posted a career-best seven points against Clarion on Dec. 21.

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.

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.