Youngstown State opens its stay at the UTEP Thanksgiving Classic on Friday against the University of Louisiana at Monroe at 10 p.m. Eastern. YSU (0-4) enters the contest looking for its first win while ULM is going for its fourth straight win. UTEP will host Weber State in the opening game of the tournament Friday at 7:30 p.m. Eastern. The winners from Friday's games will play Saturday at 10 p.m. Eastern, and the losers will play at 7:30 p.m.

A Quick Look at the Penguins
Youngstown State has opened the season with four straight losses, due partly to playing shorthanded. The Penguins have dressed only eight players in each game, and one of those eight is averaging only 4.5 minutes per contest. All five of YSU's returners from last season are playing, but only three of the seven newcomers are. Newcomer Bojana Dimitrov is averaging a team-best 13.3 points, and freshman Brandi Brown leads YSU with 8.5 rebounds per contest. Four of YSU's five returners are averaging career highs in points.

Shooting Better From 3-Point Range
Through the first four games, YSU has shot better from 3-point range than inside it. The Penguins are shooting 38.8 percent (19-for-49) from beyond the 3-point arc and 31.7 percent (58-for-189) from inside. Last year, YSU shot 26.7 percent from 3-point range and 37.3 percent inside. Bojana Dimitrov leads the Penguins with seven 3-pointers, and Kenya Middlebrooks has six.

Scouting ULM
ULM has won its last three contests by an average of 10.3 points after losing its opener 86-52 at Tulane. The Warhawks most recently defeated Centenary 62-42 on Tuesday in their home opener. ULM forced Centenary into 40 turnovers with its pressure defense and converted those into 36 points. Jesse Carrier is averaging a team-high 12.5 points, and Sannisha Williams is averaging a double-double with 11 points and 10.3 rebounds.

Guins Have Not Fared Well Against Sun Belt Teams
Youngstown State has not done well historically against teams currently in the Sun Belt Conference. YSU is a combined 6-15 against the four teams it has played. The Guins' last game against a team from the Sun Belt was Nov. 26, 2004, against Florida Atlantic, which YSU won 71-58. YSU is 1-0 all-time against FAU, 5-3 against Troy, 0-2 versus Florida International and 0-10 against Middle Tennessee State.

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 ULM, YSU has an all-time record of 473-425 in its 35th season.

YSU Hoping to Avoid Second 0-5 Start
Youngstown State will be looking to avoid its second-ever 0-5 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.

Thanksgiving Weekend Gave YSU First Win in 2008-09
YSU also entered its Thanksgiving tournament at Pittsburgh last season looking for its first win. The Penguins rallied to defeat Weber State 67-60 in the opening round of the tournament on Nov. 28, 2008.

Many Playing Many Minutes
Of the eight YSU players who have played in the first four games, seven are averaging at least 18 minutes. The starters are all averaging more than 28 minutes, and each has played at least 35 minutes in a game. Kenya Middlebrooks is averaging 32.8 minutes per contest, and freshman Brandi Brown is averaging 32.5 minutes.

Defensive Improvement Key for Success
While YSU's .324 shooting percentage is a contributor to the 0-4 start, its defense has been a bigger factor. The Penguins have allowed their opponents to shoot 49.1 percent through the first four games, and all four teams have shot at least 40.6 percent. Elon shot 58.9 percent in the opener, and Canisius shot 51.7 percent on Sunday. YSU was holding opponents to 31.7 percent from behind the 3-point arc before Canisius hit 9-of-17.

Three Doing Well From “3”
YSU entered the season not knowing who would emerge as its 3-point shooters. The active players had just 21 career 3-pointers at the Division I level. The Penguins have hit 19 from behind the arc through the first four games, and three players have accounted for 17 of those. Bojana Dimitrov is the leader with seven, but those have come on 21 attempts. Kenya Middlebrooks has made six in 11 attempts, and Maryum Jenkins has made 4-of-6. Kaitlyn March is the active leader with 15, 14 of which came last year.

Middlebrooks Turning into Scorer
Sophomore Kenya Middlebrooks has been YSU's most consistent scorer in the first four games of the season. She's scored between eight and 12 points in each game. Her career high entering the season was eight, which she achieved twice as a freshman. Middlebrooks is also 6-for-11 from behind the 3-point arc. She was 2-for-20 last year from 3-point. Middlebrooks is averaging 9.8 points through the first four contests after averaging 3.0 as a freshman.

Nortey Distributing Better in 09-10
Through the first four games, sophomore point guard Macey Nortey has averaged five assists. That is a big improvement from the 2.7 she averaged as a freshman. Nortey also has a 0.95 assist/turnover ratio, which is much better than the 0.60 ratio from last year. Nortey has had at least five assists in three games, including a career-best eight against Canisius. She had just one against Kent State.

Jenkins Just Needs Consistency
Freshman guard Maryum Jenkins has played very well in two of YSU's first four games, while she's not been much of a factor in the other two. She scored a career-high 15 points against Canisius on Sunday. She also grabbed a career-high six rebounds and had two steals. Jenkins opened the season with eight points and four rebounds in the season opener. In those two contests, she averaged 11.5 points, five rebounds and two steals, and she made 9-of-13 shots. Against High Point and Kent State, Jenkins was held scoreless, went 0-for-4 from the floor and had a combined six rebounds.

Dimitrov is Scoring Leader
JUCO transfer Bojana Dimitrov is YSU's top scorer through the first four 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, 15 against Kent State and six against Canisius. 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.

Scoring Averages Up for Returners
Of Youngstown State's five returning players from last year's squad, four are averaging career highs in scoring. Kenya Middlebrooks has made the biggest jump, going from three points per game to 9.8. Rachael Manuel has gone from 1.9 to 7.5, Macey Nortey has increased from 5.6 to 11.0, and Makala Gasparek has upped her average from 0.5 to 2.3.