Youngstown -- The Youngstown State women's basketball team opens up its final week of home competition on Thursday with a 5:15 p.m. contest against Wright State. The game will be the first half of a doubleheader with the YSU men. The Penguins are coming off a 68-38 loss to Cleveland State while Wright State lost 51-48 to Butler in overtime on Saturday. Wright State beat YSU 65-31 in the first meeting this season.

Scouting Wright State
Wright State is eighth in the Horizon League standings after splitting contests last week with Valparaiso and Butler. The Raiders led the 18-7 Bulldogs by 13 in the second half before losing in overtime. WSU ranks ninth in the Horizon League in scoring offense. LaShawna Thomas is 12th in the circuit with 12.0 points per game.

Looking for Redemption vs. Raiders
Youngstown State will be looking for some major redemption on Thursday when it takes on the Raiders. The Penguins got off to a good start when the teams played on Jan. 30. In fact, it was the only time this year that YSU has not trailed on the road at the five-minute mark of the first half. YSU led 18-16 with 7:19 remaining in the first half. From that point, the Penguins were outscored 49-13, made three of their final 26 attempts and committed 28 turnovers. Brandi Brown was held to three points in the game, which matched her lowest scoring total for a game this season.

Stopping Former Guin Has Been Hard
In Youngstown State's three games against Ta-myra Davis since she transferred to Wright State from YSU, the Penguins have had trouble stopping the junior forward. Davis has scored at least 16 points in each of the three games, and she has gone 21-for-30 from the field. She recorded one of her two double-doubles of the year against YSU in the first meeting, posting 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Brown Assembling Notable Year
Through the first 25 games of the season, freshman Brandi Brown has established herself as one of the best posts in the Horizon League. She has recorded 12 double-doubles, nine of which have come in league play. Brown leads the Horizon League with 10.8 rebounds per contest and ranks 15th in scoring. Her 11.5 points per game is the highest among league newcomers.
Brown also has a chance to be the first Penguin in school history to ever lead the team in scoring, rebounding and steals in the same season. She is averaging 5.3 more rebounds more than her closest teammate, but the other two categories are much closer. She has seven more steals than Macey Nortey and Kenya Middlebrooks, and she is averaging 0.6 points more than Bojana Dimitrov.

Brown Has Best Shooting Day vs. CSU
In a season full of highlights for Brandi Brown, the freshman forward turned in her most efficient game of the season against Cleveland State on Saturday. Brown went 7-for-9 from the field and 2-for-2 from the free-throw line against the Vikings to score a game-high 16 points. Her 77.8 percent shooting effort was her best of the season, surpassing the 72.7 percent (8-for-11) she made against Milwaukee on Jan.2. Brown also had 16 points and 11 rebounds against Cleveland State the first time the teams met this season.

Middlebrooks Scoring Well at Home
Sophomore guard Kenya Middlebrooks has an impressive scoring streak at Beeghly Center entering this week. Middlebrooks has scored at least 11 points in five straight home games dating back to Jan. 14. In fact, seven of her 10 double-digit scoring games have come at Beeghly Center. She averages 10 points at home and 6.5 points on the road.

Manuel, March Wrapping Up Careers
Seniors Rachael Manuel and Kaitlyn March are playing the final two home games of their Youngstown State careers this week.
Manuel is having the best year of her career by far, averaging career highs in virtually every offensive category. She has more than doubled her career scoring total from her first three seasons combined, and her 138 rebounds are nearly double her career total entering this year. She is in her second year at YSU after transferring from the University of Southern Mississippi.
March is a fourth-year senior, but she's accrued most of her statistics in her last two seasons. She scored 59 points in 23 games last year after having nine points in 14 games combined in her first two seasons. This year she has scored 45 points in 23 games.

Up Next
YSU plays its final home game of the year against Detroit on Saturday at 4:35 p.m.