Indianapolis -- Youngstown State heads to Indianapolis for the start of its final road trip this month. The Penguins will play at Butler on Thursday before going to Valparaiso on Saturday. Tipoff at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Thursday is set for 7 p.m. YSU is coming off a 72-53 loss to UIC on Saturday while Butler has won two straight contests to stay in third place in the Horizon League standings.

Scouting Butler
Butler is 14-7 overall and 7-3 in Horizon League contests to ranks 1.5 games out of first place in the standings. The Bulldogs are 8-1 at home with their lone loss being to UIC. Butler ranks second in the league in scoring (68.9 points) and field goal percentage (43.8). Senior forward Melanie Thornton ranks second in the league in scoring (15.3 points) and fifth in reboounding (7.6 points). She had 19 points and nine rebounds in the first meeting with YSU.

Four Returners Set Highs in Scoring
Sophomore Macey Nortey surpassed her scoring total from the 2008-09 season on Saturday and now has 178 this year. She became the fourth out of five returners from last year's squad to set a new career high in points for a season. Kaitlyn March needs 22 points to pass her career high from last year. Below is a chart comparing scoring totals of last season to this season for YSU's five returners.

Better on Boards Versus Horizon Teams
Youngstown State has done much better on the boards during Horizon League play. The Penguins have outrebounded their opponents five times in 11 league games, including a season-long stretch of three straight. YSU outrebounded only one non-conference opponent (ULM). The Penguins have a minus-2.8 rebounding margin in Horizon League contests. YSU was outrebounded by an average of 13.5 in its 11 non-conference games.

Free-Throw Shooting Improving
Through 11 Horizon League games, Youngstown State is shooting 70.7 percent from the free-throw line. The Penguins made just 59 percent in their 11 non-conference games. YSU has shot at least 64 percent from the free-throw line in 13 of its last 15 contests, which is something it did only twice in its first seven games. Youngstown State had its best free-throw shooting night of the season against Detroit on Jan. 28, making 17-of-20 attempts for 85 percent.

Defense Starting to Shape Up
Youngstown State has improved defensively over the past four weeks. In the seven games over that span, opponents have registered the four lowest scoring totals against YSU this season. Cleveland State scored a season-low 57 points against YSU on Jan. 22, Loyola scored 63 on Thursday, Wright State scored 65 on Jan. 30 and Valparaiso scored 66 points on Jan. 14. The Penguins have also held four straight opponents under 48 percent shooting for the first time this year. Cleveland State was held to 28.3 percent on Jan. 22.

Turnovers Down from Last Season
Despite committing a season-high 31 turnovers at Wright State on Jan. 30, Youngstown State is still doing a better job of taking care of the basketball this season than in 2008-09. YSU is committing 19.5 turnovers per contest this year, which is down from 23.8 last year. YSU has committed more than 25 turnovers once, which is something that happened seven times last year.

Brown Breaks Freshman Rebounding Record
With 14 rebounds against UIC on Feb. 6, Brandi Brown broke YSU's freshman rebounding record. She now has 244 rebounds, surpassing Jen Perugini's freshman record of 239 that was set in 2001-02. Brown also has a chance to break Caroline McCombs' freshman scoring record of 346 points, but that will likely come down to the final game or two of the season. With at least eight games remaining, Brown is on pace for 340 points.

Middlebrooks Paces Scoring Last Week
Sophomore guard Kenya Middlebrooks led the Penguins in scoring last week by averaging 14.5 points in the two games against Loyola and UIC. She went 13-for-18 from the free-throw line during the week, including hitting on 11 of 14 attempts versus the Flames as she scored a career-high 18 points. Middlebrooks played the entire contest against Loyola on Thursday, and she played 38 minutes against UIC.

Brown Assembling Notable Year
Through the first two-thirds of the season, freshman Brandi Brown has established herself as one of the best posts in the Horizon League. She has recorded 10 double-doubles, seven of which have come in league play. Brown leads the Horizon League with 11.1 rebounds per contest and ranks 16th in scoring. Her 11.4 points per game is the highest among league freshmen and second to only teammate Bojana Dimitrov among newcomers.

Up Next
YSU stays on the road to play at Valparaiso on Saturday at 2:35 p.m. Eastern.