Youngstown -- The Youngstown State women's basketball entertains Canisius on Sunday at Beeghly Center as both teams go for their first wins of the season. YSU is 0-3 after a loss to Kent State in its season opener while Canisius is 0-2.

Guards Were Main Scorers vs. Kent State...
Youngstown State's guard trio of Macey Nortey, Bojana Dimitrov and Kenya Middlebrooks combined for 47 of YSU's 55 points on Wednesday against Kent State. Nortey and Middlebrooks posted career highs in scoring with 20 and 12 points, respectively. Dimitrov scored 15 points and has scored at least 11 points in every game. YSU had three guards score in double figures in the same game only twice last year.

... And Have Been Thus Far
In addition to being the top three scorers against Kent State, Bojana Dimitrov, Macey Nortey and Kenya Middlebrooks have been YSU's top offensive players through the first three games. Dimitrov is averaging a team-best 15.7 points and has the top single-game total of the season with 21 at Elon in the opener. Nortey upped her average to 12.7 behind her 20 points against Kent State. Middlebrooks is scoring 9.7 points per game. Nortey averaged 5.6 points last season while Middlebrooks averaged 3.0.

Last Game: L, 55-70 vs. Kent State
Macey Nortey scored a career-high 20 points to lead three guards in double figures, but Kent State overcame an early deficit and kept the Penguins at arms length in the second half to win 70-55.
The Penguins led 10-2 through eight minutes, and they were able to trim a 16-point second-half deficit to 10 with 1:38 remaining.
YSU showed a big improvement from the 95-58 loss at Kent State that opened last season.
After Bojana Dimitrov's bucket put YSU up 10-2, YSU until Nortey hit a jumper with 3:47 remaining as Kent State built a 20-15 lead. Nortey's three-point play cut the deficit to 20-18, but Kent State closed out the half on an 11-4 run to take a 31-22 lead.
YSU shot 20.7 percent in the first half but improved to 46.2 percent in the second half. The Guins were also 6-of-11 from behind the 3-point arc.

Scouting Canisius
Canisius has lost the first two games of the season as it adjusts to having three new starters from last year's squad that went 24-9. Forward Ellie Radke is averaging a team-high 16.5 points, and preseason First-Team All-MAAC pick Brittané Russell is averaging 9.5 points. Canisius is averaging 17 3-point attempts per contest. Last year, Canisius averaged 7.6 3-point field goals, which ranked 11th nationally.

Last Season vs. Canisius
Youngstown State held the nation's top 3-point shooting team to 3-for-22 from behind the arc but could only score 38 points in a 56-38 decision at Canisius on Dec. 17, 2008.
The Penguins outshot Canisius 31.8 percent to 29 percent, but they committed 20 more turnovers and were outscored by 11 at the free-throw line.
YSU trimmed an 18-point second-half deficit to 41-33 with just over eight minutes remaining but got no closer. The Penguins turned the ball over on back-to-back possessions and did not score until the 3:17 mark when the margin was back to 15.
A long scoring drought and 19 turnovers put the Penguins into a 26-13 hole at halftime.

Program's 900th Game Upcoming
YSU 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 Canisius, YSU has an all-time record of 473-424 in its 35th season.

Hopefully 250th Beeghly Win to Follow
The Penguins have won 247 games at Beeghly Center since the program began in 1975-76. They need three more wins at home to reach 250. YSU owns a 247-129 record in 376 home games for a .657 winning percentage. YSU won 13 games in a season three times - in 1987-88, 1990-91 and 1991-92. The Penguins had more than 10 wins at Beeghly Center nine times in a 12-year span from 1987 to 1999.

YSU Hoping to Avoid Second 0-4 Start
Youngstown State will be looking to avoid its second-ever 0-4 start and its first since the 1982-83 season. The Penguins lost the first five games and eight of their first nine in 1982-83 but still finished 11-16. YSU has started each of the past three seasons with three consecutive losses.

Many Playing Many Minutes
Of the eight YSU players who have played in the first three games, seven are averaging more than 16 minutes. The starters are all averaging more than 29 minutes, and each has played at least 35 minutes in a game. Two newcomers have seen the most playing time as JUCO transfer Bojana Dimitrov is averaging a team-high 33.3 minutes, and freshman Brandi Brown is averaging 32.7 minutes.

Why Only Eight?
A series of unfortunate events have led to YSU being short in numbers in the early part of this season. After signing day in April, the Penguins had a full roster of 15, but two players who would have been the top returning scorers opted to leave the university in May. Two JUCO transfers in the original eight signees did not qualify academically, and an incoming freshman got homesick after the first day of fall classes and left YSU. Two other freshmen, Melissa Thompson (out for the year) and Kaitlin Rohrs (unknown timetable), hurt their knees during open gym the first week of classes and have not played yet. Shea Johnson, a late signee who replaced one of the academically ineligible JUCOs, is out with an injured back.

Defense Starting to Shore Up
Youngstown State has played much better defensively in its last three periods compared to the first three of the season. In the first 60 minutes of the year, Elon and High Point shot a combined 56 percent against the Penguins. In the last 60, High Point and Kent State have shot a combined 40 percent.

Looking Back 10 Years
The 2009-10 season marks the 10-year anniversary of YSU's last appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Guins went 22-9 in 1999-2000, which included a 12-4 mark in the Mid-Continent Conference (now the Summit League). The 1999-2000 season capped a five-year run in which the Penguins averaged 22.6 wins and went to three NCAA Tournaments.

Martin Hopes Rebuilding Starts in Second Year
Since that NCAA Tournament berth in 1999-2000, YSU has not had a winning season. The high for wins has been 14, and YSU has had four 20-loss seasons during the span. Now that 10 of the 12 players on the squad have been recruited by coach Cindy Martin, she is hoping that the rebuilding process begins in 2009-10.

Non-Conference Home Schedule Tough
YSU has a very rugged non-conference home schedule this season. 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. Kent State was 19-10, Canisius went 24-9, Pittsburgh was 25-8 and Bowling Green went 29-5.

Fleming Makes First Return to YSU
Canisius assistant coach Tara Fleming will be very familiar with the Beeghly Center after spending four seasons playing for Youngstown State and another as a student assistant under Ed DiGregorio. Fleming played in 107 games during her YSU career and scored 468 points. Her 126 career blocks rank as the second most in school history.

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 35 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 five after hitting two in all of last season. Bojana Dimitrov has also drained five, three of which came against Kent State. Macey Nortey has three in her career, Maryum Jenkins and Rachael Manuel have two each and Makala Gasparek has one.

Dimitrov is Scoring Leader
JUCO transfer Bojana Dimitrov is YSU's top scorer through the first three games. She poured in 21 points in her first Division I game at Elon, and she's followed that with 11 points against High Point and 15 against Kent State. Her 21 points against Elon 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.

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. Brown also had 10 boards in the season opener. She was held in single digits in rebounds for the first time against Kent State with seven.

Penguins Among Youngest Teams
The Penguins entered the season as one of the youngest teams in the county with only six players on the roster having Division I experience. One of those, transfer Tieara Jones, is redshirting as she fulfills her NCAA requirements. Jones played at Buffalo her freshman year before transferring to Foothills College. Entering the year, Rachael Manuel had the most experience with 85 games but had started only eight times. As a whole, the entire team had a combined 47 starts at the Division I level.

Lots to Replace From Last Season
With the departure of seven players from last year's team, the Penguins will have to get contribution from a lot of new faces. The top five scorers from last season are all gone, as is 74.4 percent of the scoring, 75.3 percent of the rebounding and 62.9 percent of the minutes played.

Seniors Manuel and March, Sophomore Nortey Elected Team Captains
Sophomore Macey Nortey joins join seniors Rachael Manuel and Kaitlyn March as captains of the 2009-10 YSU women's basketball team. Manuel and March are the lone seniors on the roster, and Nortey is the active career leader in several categories despite being a sophomore. March was also a captain last season, joining three seniors. The trio earned their captainship in a vote by their teammates.

Up Next
YSU will spend the Thanksgiving holiday together in El Paso, Texas, at the UTEP Thanksgiving Classic. The Guins will face ULM on Friday at 10 p.m. Eastern. If YSU prevails, it will play the winner of the Weber State vs. UTEP game on Saturday at 10 p.m. If YSU loses to ULM, it will play Saturday at 7:30 p.m