Indianapolis, Ind. -- The Youngstown State women's basketball team (7-18, 5-9 Horizon League) enters the final week of the regular season by heading to the Sycamore State to take on Butler (12-14, 9-5 , Thursday, March 1.
    Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. at Hinkle Field House in Indianapolis, Ind.
    The Penguins, who are tied for sixth place with Cleveland State and Loyola in the Horizon League standings, are trying to avoid its fourth straight league loss and their first win at Hinkle Field House since Feb. 22, 2003.
    Although tied with the Vikings and Ramblers with 5-9 league marks and each team owning 2-2 records against each other, the Penguins win the tie-breaker by virtue of its win over UIC on Jan. 6. Youngstown State could finish fifth with two wins and two Wright State losses this week.
    Butler is currently in third place and can seal the third seed in the upcoming Horizon League Tournament with a win over the Penguins on Thursday or Cleveland State on Saturday. The Bulldogs could wind up fourth if they lose both of their remaining games and UW-Milwaukee wins both of its games. In the event of a tie between Butler and UW-Milwaukee, the Bulldogs win the tie-breaker after sweeping the season series from the Panthers.

Scouting the Bulldogs
Butler is currently in third place in the Horizon League with a 9-5 record. The Bulldogs also post an overall mark of 12-14 entering this week. Sophomore Lade Akande leads the Bulldogs with 14.2 points per game and senior Jackie Closser is a close second with 13.9 points per game. Butler can seal the third seed in the upcoming Horizon League victory with a win over Youngstown State on Thursday or Cleveland State on Saturday.

The Butler Series
This will be the 13th meeting between Youngstown State and Butler. The Bulldogs own a 7-5 advantage in the all-time series and have won seven of the last eight contests, including an 80-56 victory over the Penguins at the Beeghly Center earlier this season. Youngstown State has not won at Hinkle Field House since an 80-74 overtime victory on Feb. 22, 2003. Since that time YSU has lost to Butler at Hinkle by an average of 23.3 points per game.

Last Time Out
Sophomore Velissa Vaughn scored a career-high 27 points thanks to 4-of-7 shooting from behind the 3-point line and 9-of-12 shooting from the charity stripe in a disappointing 68-57 loss to Cleveland State on Feb. 24 at the Wolstein Center. 

Last Time Against the Bulldogs
In the first meeting this season, Butler nailed 12 3-pointers en route to an 80-56 win over the Penguins at the Beeghly Center. Junior Heather Karner led the Penguins with 16 points while sophomores Monique Godfrey and Velissa Vaughn added 11 points apiece.

Ides of March
“Beware the ides of March” is an appropriate phrase for the Youngstown State women's basketball team in recent years. The Penguins lost the last seven games they have played in March and have not been victorious since defeating Valparaiso, 73-57, in the Mid-Con Tournament Championship game on March 7, 2000. 

Branson Now 10th All-Time
Junior Lauren Branson continues her ascent up the YSU all-time assists chart. The Cincinnati, Ohio, native currently has 311 career assists and moved into 10th place on the YSU all-time career assists list. She also needs four more to move into ninth place, 14 more for eighth and 15 more to move into seventh place. 

Mo On the Money
Over the last 11 Horizon League games, sophomore Monique Godfrey has been hard to stop. The 5-foot-8 guard is averaging 13.9 points per game and has posted double digit scoring marks in eight of the last 10 contests, including a career-high 21 points against UW-Milwaukee on Feb. 17 and 20 points against Loyola on Feb. 3.

Droppin' Dimes
Youngstown State point guard Lauren Branson has been quite generous as of late. Over the last 12 games, Branson has dished out 64 assists for an average of 5.3 assists per game. Over the same period, Branson has committed just 25 turnovers and carries an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.56.

Karner Nearing Top 10
Junior Heather Karner, the Penguins' top 3-point shooter, is approaching the YSU single-season 3-point top 10 list. Karner, who has 49 treys this season, needs four more to move into 10th place on the single-season chart. Karner also ranks tied for fourth in the Horizon League with two 3-pointers made per game.

Vaughn League Leader
After connecting on just 8.3 percent of her 3-point attempts as a freshman, sophomore Velissa Vaughn has improved tremendously her 3-point shooting accuracy. The Clairton, Pa., native is shooting 40.3 percent from behind the arc this season but owns a league-best 52.8 3-point percentage against Horizon League foes. 

Penguins Hold Foe Under 40
Giving up just 39 points to Detroit on Jan. 13, the Penguins held an opponent to under 40 points in a game for the first time since holding Malone to 25 points on Dec. 29, 1990. Detroit's eight points in the first half was also a new low for points allowed in a half. 

Pendleton Ties Scoring High
For the third time this season, sophomore Ashley Pendleton tied a career-best performance against UW-Milwaukee last Saturday. Pendleton tied a career scoring high with 10 points and also grabbed six rebounds. Pendleton also scored 10 points against Loyola on Jan. 4 and 10 points against the Ramblers on Feb. 3.

Schloemp Streak at 70
With an appearance against Cleveland State on Feb. 24, junior Jessica Schloemp extended her games played streak to 70 straight. Schloemp's consecutive games started streak ended at 34 after she did not start against Indiana State on Dec. 6.

Up Next
The Penguins close out the regular season at Wright State, Saturday, March 3, at 1 p.m.

A Win Will
• Mark YSU's eighth victory of the season. 
• Give Head Coach Tisha Hill her 32nd career victory.
• Mark YSU's first victory at Hinkle Field House since 2003.
• Mark YSU's sixth Horizon League victory.