Two teams looking for a spark will square off when the Youngstown State women's basketball team welcomes Valparaiso to Beeghly Center on Thursday at 7:05 p.m.. The Penguins have not won since defeating Valpo in the regular-season finale last year and are 0-15 in 2009-10. Valpo has lost 10 of its last 11, but its win in that stretch was over Loyola, a team that beat YSU 75-49 on Saturday.

Scouting Valparaiso
Valparaiso enters the contest 4-10 and losers of 10 of its last 11 games. The Crusaders played a very tough non-conference schedule, though, facing No. 15 Pittsburgh, No. 3 Notre Dame, Cincinnati, Auburn and Wake Foest all in a row. Valpo has not scored more than 52 points since Dec. 5, an eight-game stretch. Valpo averages 55.6 points, which ranks ninth in the league ahead of YSU. Betsy Adams leads Valpo with 13.3 points per game.

Guins Have Started Well at Home
In each of its first two Horizon League contests, Youngstown State was ahead by at least five with five minutes remaining in the first half. The Penguins led Milwaukee 23-18 on Jan. 2 and Green Bay 28-22 on Jan. 4. Against the Phoenix, YSU made 12 of its first 20 shots and held an 11-6 edge on the glass as it built the lead. The Penguins did not keep the lead until halftime in either contest, though. YSU and Milwaukee were tied at 25-25, and Green Bay scored the final 16 points of the half to go up 38-28.
On the road through 15 minutes, YSU had trailed by at least 18 in three straight contests before being down 24-17 at Loyola on Saturday.

Big Runs Cost Penguins on the Road
Youngstown State was hurt by three 11-0 runs by Loyola on Saturday in its 75-49 loss. Two of those runs came in the second half as the Ramblers outscored the Penguins 42-22. On Thursday, UIC scored 14 straight points in four minutes to turn a 5-4 lead into a 19-4 advantage. The Flames also scored 13 consecutive points in three-and-a-half minutes early in the second half to up its lead to 29 points.

A Need for Consistent Shooting
Youngstown State went on the road on the heels of its best shooting day in nearly four years when it shot 50 percent (25-for-50) against Green Bay on Jan. 4. The Penguins then shot 31.8 percent at UIC on Thursday and 25.4 percent at Loyola on Saturday, marking its lowest shooting percentage in back-to-back games for the season. YSU has shot under 35 percent in eight of its last nine contests and been under 38 percent 14 times in 15 games. YSU is shooting 32.3 percent for the season, which is down from 34.7 last season. The 3-point shooting is up, though, from 26.7 to 30.0

Guins Sink Season-Best 10 Treys at UIC
YSU had its best 3-point shooting night in nearly two years against UIC on Jan. 7. The Penguins were 10-for-22 from behind the arc, which was the first time they had at least 10 treys since knocking down 14 at Valparaiso on Jan. 31, 2008. The previous high for this season was seven, which YSU accomplished against ULM on Nov. 27 and Pitt on Dec. 2. YSU shot 45.5 percent from 3-point range at UIC but made just 11-for-44 (25 percent) from inside the arc. Against Loyola two days later, the Penguins were 3-for-16 overall from 3-point range and missed their last 10 attempts.

Turnovers Down from Last Season
Youngstown State has done a much better job of taking care of the basketball through the first 15 games of this season than in 2008-09. YSU is committing 19.2 turnovers per contest this year, which is down from 23.8 last year. The Guins committed a season-low 11 turnovers in their last game at Loyola. The Penguins have not committed more than 25 turnovers in a game this season, which is something they did six times through the first 15 games last year.

Nortey Matches Last Year's Assist Total
At the halfway point of the season, sophomore point guard Macey Nortey has already matched her assist total from last season. She posted six assists at Loyola on Saturday, bringing her season total to 80. Nortey is averaging 5.3 assists over the first 15 games, which leads the Horizon League. Last year, Nortey averaged 2.7 assists. Nortey has had at least six assists in five straight games, including a career-high nine at UIC.

Brown Assembling Notable Year
Through the first half of the season, freshman Brandi Brown has established herself as one of the best posts in the Horizon League. She posted double-doubles against both UIC and Loyola last week, upping her season total to six. Brown leads the Horizon League with 10.9 rebounds per contest and ranks 13th in scoring. Her 11.9 points per game is the highest among league freshmen and second to only teammate Bojana Dimitrov among newcomers.