Fairborn, Ohio -- The Youngstown State women's basketball team begins its second season on Monday when it takes on familiar postseason foe Wright State at the Nutter Center at 7 p.m. Coverage on 570 WKBN will begin at 6:40 p.m. The 10th-seeded Penguins and No. 7 Raiders will meet in the tournament for the fourth time in nine seasons. Wright State has won all three previous meetings. The winner of Monday's game will play at No. 2 Butler on Wednesday.

Scouting Wright State
Wright State is the No. 7 seed in the tournament by virtue of owning the tiebreaker with Valparaiso (No. 8) and Milwaukee (No. 9). The Raiders lost their last two contests to Cleveland State and Detroit, and their last win came over YSU on Feb. 25. LaShawna Thomas ranks 15th in the league in scoring (11.5 ppg), and Kanisha Ward's 2.5 steals per game earned her a spot on the all-defensive team.

Brown Named to Horizon League's All-Newcomer Team
Freshman Brandi Brown has been named to the Horizon League All-Newcomer team in a vote of coaches, sports information directors and media representatives from the league, the conference announced on Sunday.
Brown was the only player in the Horizon League to average a double-double during the regular season with 11.6 points and 10.8 rebounds. She led the league with her 14 double-doubles and 10.8 rebounds per game, and she led all true freshmen in scoring.
Brown is the fifth Youngstown State player to be named to the Horizon League's All-Newcomer Team since the school joined the conference prior to the 2001-02 season. She joins Jen Perugini (2001-02), Lauren Branson (2004-05), Heather Karner (2006-07) and Tiara Scott (2007-08).

Wright State Has Been Tourney Nemesis
The Penguins are 1-8 all-time in the Horizon League Tournament. Of their eight losses in postseason play since joining the league in 2001-02, three have been to Wright State. YSU picked up its first win in the tourney in 2008-09 when it defeated Detroit 65-54 in a first round game. YSU has also been eliminated twice by Butler and once each by Green Bay, Loyola and Milwaukee.

Brown is First Freshman at 300 Points in 15 Years
With 19 points against Detroit on Saturday, YSU freshman Brandi Brown became the first Penguin freshman to reach 300 points since 1994-95. Ann Marie Martin and Caroline McCombs both surpassed 300 points that season, and McCombs' 346 points is the YSU freshman record. Brown currently has 338 points, which means she'll need 10 points against Wright State to break McCombs' record. Brown has already smashed the freshman rebounding record by 75.

Brown Surpasses 300 Rebounds
With 16 rebounds against Milwaukee on Saturday, Brandi Brown became the third player in school history to grab 300 rebounds in a season. Wanda Grant and Dorothy Bowers both grabbed at least 300 twice in their careers, but Bowers is the only YSU player to do it at the Division I level (326 in 1985-86, 325 in 1987-88). Bowers is the only women's basketball player to have her number retired at YSU.

Brown Can Play Defense, Too
Brandi Brown showed off her defensive prowess on Saturday as well as she finished with seven steals against Milwaukee. Six of those came in the first half. Brown's seven steals were the most in a game since Brianne Kenneally had seven versus Cleveland State in 2000. Brown has a team-high 49 steals, which is eight more than Macey Nortey's second-place 41. Brown ranks seventh for steals by a freshman in school history, and she has the most by a freshman since Caroline McCombs had 58 in 1994-95.

Trying to Avoid a Winless Season
Youngstown State will have its final shot at a win for the 2009-10 season against Wright State on Monday. If the Penguins falter, they will become the ninth women's team to go winless for a season in the past 10 years, according to STATS LLC.

All Returners Set Highs in Scoring
With Kaitlyn March's 21-point game on Feb. 27, all five of Youngstown State's returners have set a new career high in points for a season. Rachael Manuel (143) and Kenya Middlebrooks (135) have made the biggest jumps.

Nortey Reaches 200 Career Assists
Through 59 games in her young career, sophomore point guard Macey Nortey has 208 assists. She had 80 last year, and she's posted 128 through 29 games in 2009-10. Her 80 assists last year ranked sixth on YSU's freshman record list, and her 128 this year rank fifth on the sophomore list. Nortey's 208 assists are the fourth-most by a Penguin in her first two seasons. Only Dianne Rappach (246), Margaret Peters (233) and Caroline McCombs (229) have had more.

Brown Breaks Freshman Rebound Mark, Closing in on Scoring Record
With 14 rebounds against UIC on Feb. 6, Brandi Brown broke YSU's freshman rebounding record. She now has 314 rebounds, surpassing Jen Perugini's mark 239 that was set in 2001-02. Brown also has a chance to break Caroline McCombs' freshman scoring record of 346 points. Brown has 337 points, which means she'll need 10 points against Wright State to pass McCombs.

Brown, Dimitrov Among Top-Scoring Newcomers
Brandi Brown and Bojana Dimitrov continue rank among the Horizon League's top-scoring newcomers. Brown averages 11.6 points, which leads all true freshmen, and Dimitrov's 10.2 points ranks third among newcomers.

Up Next
The winner of Monday's first round game will play at second-seeded Butler on Wednesday in a quarterfinal game in the tournament. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.