Youngstown -- The Youngstown State women's basketball welcomes Kent State to the Beeghly Center in the Penguins' home opener Wednesday. The game is the first half of a doubleheader with the YSU men's basketball team. YSU went 0-2 at the Elon Tip-Off Classic while Kent State beat Robert Morris 62-57 in its season opener.

Penguins Encouraged by Offense in First Weekend
For a team that averaged 50.2 points last season, averaging 58 points in the first two games offers a bit of encouragement. YSU scored 66 points in the opener against Elon, which is one off its highest scoring total of 67 last year. Despite shooting 25 percent against High Point on Saturday, YSU was able to get to the free-throw line 38 times. Individually, six of the eight Penguins who have played have scored at least eight points in a game. Four of YSU's five returners have either tied or set a new career high in scoring.

Newcomers Contributing Early
YSU's three active newcomers all had strong showings in their first two Division I games over the weekend. Junior guard Bojana Dimitrov scored 21 points in the opener against Elon and 11 against High Point to earn all-tournament team honors. Freshman Brandi Brown is averaging 10.5 rebounds through two contests and recorded her first career double-double against High Point with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Freshman guard Maryum Jenkins had eight points in the opener.

Last Game: L, 50-73 vs. High Point
High Point got off to a fast start offensively, and YSU never found its shooting stroke as the Panthers defeated the Penguins 73-50 on Nov. 14 at Elon.

High Point cooled down after starting 11-for-17 but still shot 46.4 percent for the game. YSU was held to 25 percent from the floor and 18-for-38 (47.4 percent) from the free throw line.

YSU freshman Brandi Brown recorded her first career double-double, finishing with a team-high 14 points and 11 rebounds. Fellow post Rachael Manuel scored a career-high 11 points, nine of which came from the free-throw line.

High Point led 25-5 at the 11:39 mark of the first half. YSU started 1-for-14 as High Point scored the first 10 points and 18 of the first 21. YSU was able to cut the margin to 15, and High Point made its last two shots of the half to take a 42-23 lead into the locker room.

A 15-6 run early in the second half put the Panthers up 27. After the initial 25-5 outburst by High Point, the score was 48-45 the rest of the game.

Scouting Kent State
Kent State rallied from 12 points down in the final 5:25 to defeat Robert Morris 62-57 in the season opener last Friday. The Golden Flashes made seven of their final eight shots and went 5-for-5 from the free-throw line in the final 1:20. Rachel Bennett and Ellie Shields had 14 points apiece to lead Kent State. The Golden Flashes were picked to finish second in the MAC-East and have five of their six top scorers back from last year's 19-10 team.

Last Season vs. Kent State
Kent State shot 54.7 percent and had five players score in double figures in a 95-58 win over YSU in last year's season opener in Kent. Macey Nortey and Kaitlyn March scored 13 apiece to lead YSU, which shot 33.3 percent from the floor. Anna Kowalska scored a game-high 19 points in 19 minutes for KSU while Rachel Bennett scored 18. The Golden Flashes held a 44-18 edge in points in the paint and outscored the Penguins 14-0 on the fast break.

Many Play Many Minutes
Of the eight YSU players who played over the weekend at the Elon Tip-Off Classic, seven of them are averaging more than 18 minutes. All five starters are averaging 29 minutes. Bojana Dimitrov played 35 minutes versus Elon in the opener and 31 against High Point. Macey Nortey played 37 against Elon and 21 against High Point, and Rachael Manuel played 36 against High Point. Kaitlyn March was limited to 10 minutes in the two games as she works her way back from a sprained ankle. Kaitlin Rohrs was held out during after experiencing pain in her shins the past few days.

Program's 900th Game Upcoming
Youngstown State will play the 900th game in program history on Nov. 28 at the UTEP Thanksgiving Classic. The contest will be against either UTEP or Weber State. Entering the game against Kent State, YSU has an all-time record of 473-423 now in its 35th season.

Non-Conference Home Schedule Tough
The game against Kent State is the start to a very rugged non-conference home schedule for YSU. The four non-conference teams the Penguins will play at Beeghly Center - Kent State, Canisius, Pittsburgh and Bowling Green - combined for 97 wins last year. The Golden Flashes actually had the fewest wins of the group with 19. Canisius went 24-9, Pittsburgh was 25-8 and Bowling Green went 29-5

Who's the Shooter?
An early goal for YSU this season is finding out who its primary outside shooters will be. The active players on the roster have hit a combined 29 3-pointers at the Division I level. Kaitlyn March is the leader with 15 in her career, 14 of which came last season. Kenya Middlebrooks has shown promise through two games this year by hitting four, which is double what she had all of last season. Bojana Dimitrov and Maryum Jenkins have hit two treys this year, and Macey Nortey had two last year. Makala Gasparek and Rachael Manuel have hit one trey apiece.

Turnovers Down From Last Year's Pace
YSU is averaging 14.5 turnovers in its first two games, which is a big improvement from the 20.8 it averaged last season. YSU had 13 in the opener at Elon and 16 against High Point. The Penguins had 13-or-fewer turnovers three times in 30 games last season. YSU also forced Elon into 28 turnovers, which is more than any game from last season by an opponent. Through two games, YSU is outscoring opponents 43-24 in points off turnovers.

Dimitrov is Scoring Leader
JUCO transfer Bojana Dimitrov is YSU's top scorer through the first two games. She poured in 21 points in her first Division I game at Elon last Friday. That was the highest scoring total in a YSU debut since Heather Karner scored 34 points versus Cincinnati on Nov. 10, 2006. It was also the highest point total by a YSU guard since Karner had 23 at UIC on March 8, 2008. Dimitrov added 11 points against High Point to earn all-tournament team honors. She has shot the ball 40 times, which is 13 more than any other Penguin. She also leads the squad with 33 minutes per game.

Brown's Double-Double Rare for Frosh
Brandi Brown posted 14 points and 11 rebounds against High Point to record a double-double in her second career game. It was the first double-double by a YSU freshman since Ta-myra Davis had 19 points and 10 rebounds in the finale of the 2006-07 season. The last time a YSU freshman had a double-double this early in her career was when Jen Perugini had five straight to open her career in 2001-02.

Up Next
YSU stays home to face Canisius on Sunday at 2:05 p.m. It will be one of three remaining home games in the calendar year for YSU.