Youngstown -- The Youngstown State women's basketball team will look to rebound from a disappointing outing it its last game when it plays at Saint Francis (Pa.) on Thursday evening. The Penguins lost 92-38 at Buffalo on Sunday for their ninth consecutive loss to start the season. Saint Francis (Pa.) earned its first win of the season in its last game against Mount Saint Mary's back on Dec. 6. The Red Flash have not played since, a span of 11 days.

A Quick Look at the Penguins
YSU has opened the season with nine straight losses due mainly to playing shorthanded and struggling on defense. YSU has dressed a maximum of eight players in each of its games, and leading scorer Bojana Dimitrov just returned at Buffalo from missing two contests with a concussion. The Penguins have not held an opponent under 70 points this season, and teams are shooting a combined 47.8 percent against them. YSU is averaging 53.2 points, but the Guins have been held under 40 in two of the last three games.

Scouting Saint Francis (Pa.)
Saint Francis (Pa.) lost the first five games of its season before defeating Mount St. Mary's 68-51 on Dec. 6. The Red Flash, though, had lost by five points both at Pittsburgh and at Bowling Green in their previous two games. Britney Hodges has led SFU in scoring four times and is averaging 15.5 points. Samantha Leach is close behind with 12.3 points.

Last Season vs. Saint Francis (Pa.)
    Saint Francis (Pa.) rallied from five points down in the final minute of regulation and never trailed in overtime to defeat YSU 61-54 on Dec. 3, 2008.
    The Penguins rallied from a nine-point, second-half deficit and led 49-44 with 53 seconds left. A free throw and bucket got SFU within two, and Samantha Leech hit a fast-break jumper with 3.2 seconds remaining off Kaitlyn March's missed free throw to force overtime.
    The Red Flash hit 4-of-5 from the floor in the extra period en route to its first win of the season.
    The Penguins were held to a 29.6 percent effort from the floor despite connecting on 44.8 percent in the second half. YSU was 1-for-9 in overtime.
    Despite shooting 1-of-10 from behind the 3-point arc and 8-of-23 from the free-throw line, Saint Francis was still able to win and snap a 15-game losing streak dating back to the 2007-08 season.

SFU is End of Three-Game Swing
Thursday's game in Loretto, Pa., is the end of a three-game road swing for YSU. The Penguins played at Akron on Dec. 5 and at Buffalo on Dec. 13. The last home game was Dec. 2 against Pittsburgh. Although six of YSU's nine games have been played away from Beeghly Center, the game at Saint Francis will be only the fourth true road contest for the Penguins. Three others have been played at neutral sites.

Guins Improving from Free-Throw Line
Youngstown State shot 75 percent (12-for-16) from the free-throw line against Buffalo on Sunday. That followed a season-best 78.3 percent (18-for-23) outing against Akron on Dec. 5. Rachael Manuel has made all eight of her attempts in the past two contests, and Brandi Brown has gone 8-of-11. The 18 free throws at Akron matched the 18 makes YSU had against High Point on Nov. 14, but the Guins missed 20 free throws in that contest. YSU has shot below 50 percent in four of its eight games.

3-Point Percentage Dropping
The Penguins have made just three of their last 24 attempts from beyond the arc in their past two games, dropping their 3-point percentage from .350 to .318. YSU went 1-for-15 at Akron on Dec. 5 and 2-for-9 at Buffalo on Sunday.

Manuel Turned Automatic from Line
Senior forward Rachael Manuel has been nearly automatic from the free-throw line over the last seven games. Dating back to the Kent State game on Nov. 18, Manuel has made 19 of her last 20 free throws. She has not missed on any of her previous 10 attempts to up her free-throw percentage to 71.8 (28-for-39). Manuel started the season by making just nine of her first 19 attempts from the charity stripe.

Manuel Developing as a Scorer
Rachael Manuel is developing into a solid scoring threat from the post. She has scored in double figures three times in the past four games, a feat she accomplished just once in her first 89 games. Manuel has scored 65 points in nine games this season, which is already the highest total for a season in her career.

Manuel, Dimitrov Hit Scoring Milestones, Brown Closing In
Rachael Manuel and Bojana Dimitrov both surpassed individual scoring milestones against Buffalo. Manuel scored the 200th point of her career against the Bulls and now has 205 in her four-year career. She scored 89 of those points at Southern Miss her first two seasons. Dimitrov surpassed 100 points in her young Division I career. She is a JUCO transfer from Carl Albert State College who is averaging 14.4 points. Freshman Brandi Brown needs 10 points to reach 100.

Dimitrov Returns from Injury
Junior guard Bojana Dimitrov returned to the lineup at Buffalo on Sunday after missing two games with a concussion. Dimitrov led the Penguins with 13 points, but she was just 4-for-19 from the floor. Dimitrov continues to lead the Penguins in scoring with 14.4 points per game, an average that ranks fifth in the Horizon League.

Up Next
Youngstown State will close out both the 2009 and non-conference portions of its schedule when it hosts Bowling Green on Monday at 11 a.m. The Penguins will be off for the holidays until Horizon League foe Milwaukee comes to the Beeghly Center on Jan. 2.