Youngstown -- The Youngstown State women's basketball team will try to turn its continuous improvement into its first victory this weekend at the University of Pittsburgh Tournament. The Penguins play against Weber State for the first time in school history on Friday at 2 p.m. in the opening game of the tournament.
    YSU will then play Elon or Pittsburgh on Saturday depending on Friday's results. The tournament final is at 4 p.m. while the consolation game tips off at 2 p.m.
    The Penguins are coming off their second straight game in which a frantic second-half comeback came up just short. YSU trimmed a 13-point, second-half deficit to three behind a swarming defense before falling 65-51 to Niagara. The Penguins limited the Purple Eagles to 10 points on 4-of-20 shooting in the first 14-1/2 minutes of the second half as they cut into the deficit. YSU also cut an 18-point deficit to seven in the second half against Buffalo on Nov. 19.
    Jaquetta Westley had her first double-digit scoring game for the Penguins against Niagara, netting a team-high 12. Westley also came up with four of YSU's 10 steals, marking the third straight game the Penguins have had a double-digit steals total. Macey Nortey chipped in with nine points on 4-of-5 shooting, and Tiara Scott and Kaitlyn March had eight apiece. YSU also trimmed its turnover total from the previous game by 13.

Scouting Weber State
    Weber State has won its last two contests, including a 77-66 victory over Washington on Nov. 19. WSU lost its opener 96-47 to Nebraska and defeated NAIA Westminster College 84-73 on Tuesday. WSU is shooting .380 as a team after posting a 52.7 field goal percentage on Tuesday. Three players are averaging more than 12 points, with sophomore forward Caitlin Anderson scoring a team-best 18.7 per game. Junior guards Tonya Schnibbe and Ali Thorderson are averaging 12.7 and 12.3 points.

Scouting Pitt and Elon
    Elon is currently 1-3, having lost three straight contests to Longwood, North Carolina State and north Carolina A&T. Elon opened the season with a 62-59 victory over Winston-Salem State. The Phoenix is shooting .314 overall and .230 from 3-point. Four of Elon's five starters are averaging more than seven points. Freshman guard Tiara Gause is scoring a team-best 10.5 points per game, and junior forward Urysla Cotton is averaging 7.8 points and 8.3 rebounds. Elon also has a first-year head coach, Karen Barefoot. Barefoot spent the last three seasons as an assistant at Old Dominion.
    Pittsburgh enters its tournament at 2-1 and on a two-game winning streak. Pitt beat Penn State 80-59 on Monday evening for its largest margin of victory ever against the Nittany Lions. The Panthers also won 88-60 at Western Michigan and lost 56-50 against Texas A&M at the State Farm Tip-Off Classic against No. 10 Texas A&M. Pitt is ranked just outside the top 25 by the Associated Press and ESPN. Senior guard Shavonte Zellous is an All-America candidate and is averaging 23 points per contest. The Panthers made it to the NCAA Sweet 16 last season.

Stealing The Spotlight
    YSU had at least 10 steals in each of its first three games, which is more double-digit steal games than all of last season. The Penguins had 13 in the opener against Kent State, 13 against Buffalo and 10 against Niagara. The last time the Penguins had at least 10 steals in three straight games was the first three contests of the 2004-05 season. YSU currently ranks second in the Horizon League with 12 steals per game. Senior Nikita LaFleur leads the team with eight steals, which is just eight off her season-high total of 16 in 2006-07. Jaquetta Westley also has seven, including four against Niagara.

Trimming The Turnovers
    The Penguins cut their turnover total by 13 from the Buffalo game to the contest with Niagara (32 to 19). Only seven of the turnovers came after halftime versus the Purple Eagles. YSU had 29 turnovers at Kent State and 32 against Buffalo, but Kent State had 22 and Buffalo committed 27.

Scott Starting to Find Stroke
    Senior forward Tiara Scott has bounced back from a one-point performance in the season opener to score 21 points in the past two games. She posted a team-high 13 points against Buffalo on Nov. 19, going 6-for-9 from the floor and grabbing six rebounds in 26 minutes. She then scored eight points on 2-of-4 shooting and four free throws against Niagara. Scott, a preseason second-team All-Horizon League pick, was 0-for-5 from the floor and 1-for-2 from the free throw line in 11 minutes at Kent State.
    Last season, Scott was named Second-Team All-Horizon League after averaging 13.1 points. She has scored in double figures 22 times at YSU, and she's eclipsed the 20-point mark five times.

Westley Posts First Double-Digit Scoring Game
    Junior forward Jaquetta Westley scored a team-high 12 points on Saturday against Niagara for the first double-digit scoring total of her young career at YSU. She was 5-for-13 from the floor and 2-of-8 from 3-point, and she added four steals. Westley scored 15 points in both of YSU's preseason exhibition games but was held to six points against Buffalo and three against Kent State.

New Faces Seeing Plenty of Time
    Of the 11 players who have seen action so far this season, six are in their first season suiting up for the Penguins. Four (Macey Nortey, Jaquetta Westley, Camisha Alexander and Kenya Middlebrooks) are all averaging more than 19 minutes per game. All but Westley are true freshmen. Southern Miss transfer played 13 minutes in her lone contest, and sophomore walk-on Makala Gasparek is averaging just under six minutes. Junior Kaitlyn March, who played 40 minutes over her first two seasons, is averaging 16.3 minutes.

First-Time Starters
    Junior guard Kaitlyn March made her first career start against Niagara to become the fourth first-time starter for YSU this season. Three out of YSU's five starters in the season opener at Kent State were playing in their first game at the Division I level. True freshman Macey Nortey started at point guard, sophomore walk-on Makala Gasparek started at shooting guard and JUCO transfer Jaquetta Westley started at forward. Rachael Manuel, Kenya Middlebrooks and Camisha Alexander also made their first appearances for YSU against the Golden Flashes.

March Surpasses Two Years' Stats in 21 Minutes
    Junior Kaitlyn March surpassed nearly all of her totals from the last two seasons in just 21 minutes against Kent State in the season opener. She scored 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting, including 3-for-6 from behind the 3-point arc. March also grabbed two offensive rebounds. Entering the contest she had just nine points and two rebounds in 14 career games. She established career-high totals in points, rebounds, field goals, 3-pointers and minutes. March was held scoreless against Buffalo but bounced back with eight in 14 minutes versus Niagara.

Pitt Assistant Caroline McCombs Familiar with Penguins
    Pittsburgh assistant coach Caroline McCombs got her start in women's basketball as a standout player for Youngstown State from 1994-98. Her 1,577 career points rank as the sixth-most in school history, and her 112 career starts are a school record. She was a senior on the 1997-98 squad that defeated Memphis for YSU's first win in the NCAA tournament. McCombs and three of her classmates were inducted into the YSU Athletics Hall of Fame on Oct. 25. The group addressed the YSU women's basketball team at practice after the induction ceremony.

Penguins Playing Weber State for First Time
    Youngstown State will be playing Weber State for the first time in the Penguins' 34 seasons of women's basketball. YSU has also never played an opponent from the Big Sky Conference. YSU has played all of its other scheduled 20 opponents this season at least once.