The Youngstown State women's basketball team will play its 2011-12 Beeghly Center opener against American on Monday at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on 570 WKBN, and live stats and live video are available for free on YSUsports.com. The Penguins are coming off a 57-56 come-from-behind victory against Bucknell on Wednesday. YSU trailed by 17 early in the second half and took their first lead of the period on Kenya Middlebrooks' two free throws with 9.8 seconds left. American improved to 2-2 with a 77-62 win over Mount St. Mary's on Friday evening.

Top Storylines

• YSU is looking for its first three-game winning streak since a four-game stretch from Nov. 24-Dec. 5 in the 2007-08 season.
• YSU is trying to win three of its first four games for the first time since 1999-2000.
• YSU's last win in a home opener was Nov. 29, 2007.
• Brandi Brown is 15 points shy of 1,000 for her career. If she reaches it against American, she'll accomplish it in her 64th career game. That would be the third-fastest YSU player in history. Only seven of the previous 16 Penguins to score 1,000 points reached the milestone as a junior.
• Dating back to last season, YSU has won five of its last 10 games and four of its last six. Prior to 10 games ago, YSU had five wins in its last 79 games.
• Also dating back to last season, YSU has a chance to win ints fourth consecutive home game. The Guins last won four straight games at Beeghly Center during the 2007-08 season.
• YSU scored 91 points in its win at IPFW on Nov. 13. The Penguins scored 94 points total in their other two games.

Scouting American

American was tabbed the preseason favorite to win the Patriot League title, and the Eagles have won at least 20 games each of the past two seasons. Four starters return from last year's team that finished 22-9, including senior preseason all-league pick Lisa Strack. Strack scored 24 points in American's 77-62 win on Friday over Mount Saint Mary's.

Series with American

Youngstown State and American have played just twice, and each team has won once. The teams have never played at Beeghly Center. YSU beat American 84-77 on Nov. 25, 1989 at Florida International. American's win came last season on Dec. 4 with a 57-41 triumph.

Last Year vs. American

Youngstown State shot 24.6 percent to spoil a solid defensive effort in a 57-41 loss to American at Bender Arena on Dec. 4, 2010.

The Penguins held the Eagles to 35.7 percent and held their top two scorers to a combined nine points. Alexis Dobbs stepped up to score 14 points and hit four of AU's nine 3-pointers.

Kenya Middlebrooks scored 16 points, but not other YSU player had more than six. Brandi Brown was held scoreless for the only time in her career and went 0-for-9 from the field. American led by as much as 49-27 with 9:47 left.

There was only one basket in the first five minutes of the first half and just two in the first six minutes of the second half.

Last Game: W, 57-56 at Bucknell

Youngstown State's Kenya Middlebrooks made two free throws with 9.8 seconds remaining to lift YSU to a 57-56, come-from-behind win at Bucknell on Wednesday at Sojka Pavilion.

YSU trailed by 17 early in the second half and was down 56-48 with two minutes left. Two three-point plays made the score 56-54 with 1:53 remaining.

Brandi Brown went 1-for-2 from the line with 14.4 seconds left, and Tieara Jones grabbed the offensive rebound. Middlebrooks was fouled on a jumper, and she sank both free throws. Bucknell's Amy Zehner missed a 12-foot jumper from the right side as time expired.

Middlebrooks scored all 10 of her points in the second half, and Brown scored 12. Zehner led all scorers with 25 points.

Up 30-19 at halftime, Bucknell scored eight of the first 10 points of the second period to take a 38-21 lead with 16:28 left.

YSU hit three more treys than Bucknell and outscored the Bison by eight from the free-throw line. YSU outscored Bucknell 28-8 off turnovers.

Quick Notes from Bucknell

• Youngstown State overcame a 17-point deficit with 16 minutes remaining.
• The Penguins outscored Bucknell 38-26 in the second half after being outscored 30-19 in the opening half. YSU closed the game on a 13-2 run.
• YSU was 5-for-18 inside of 10 feet in the first half and 14-for-38 for the game.
• YSU had field-goal droughts of at least four minutes three times in the first half.
• Liz Hornberger and Monica Touvelle both hit two-point buckets in the same game for the first time in their 33 career games. Hornberger has 32 career 3-pointers, and Touvelle has 28.

Getting Blocked

Through the first three games this season, YSU's opponents have blocked 24 shots for an average of eight per game. West Virginia blocked 12 attempts in the season opener on Nov. 11, and Bucknell had 10 blocks on Wednesday. IPFW had two blocks on Nov. 13. YSU's opponents blocked three shots per game last year. Brandi Brown has been blocked nine times in three games, and Kenya Middlebrooks and Heidi Schlegel have been blocked three times apiece. If YSU had made even half of the 24 attempts that were blocked, its shooting percentage would be 6.8 percent higher.

Shooting/Making 3s at Record Pace

YSU set a school record with 744 3-point attempts last season. That was 180 more attempts than the previous record set in 1997-98. The Penguins also made a school-best 205 treys, surpassing the 199 made in 1999-2000. On average, they made 6.8 per game and attempted 24.8. This year, YSU is averaging 6.0 3-pointers made and 24.3 attempts.

Last Year's Areas of Improvement

• YSU improved its scoring margin from 2009-10 from minus-25.8 to minus-10.6. That 15.2-point improvement was second-best in the country.
• The Penguins trimmed their turnovers by 3.3 per game from 2009-10 and forced 2.3 more per game. YSU's plus 2.3 turnover margin ranked second in the Horizon League.
• The Penguins finished with 92 more steals than their opponents last year, which was a big improvement from 2009-10 when YSU had 83 fewer thefts than its opponents.
• YSU continued to get better as last season progressed, demonstrated by shooting better than its season field-goal percentage in 15 of its final 18 games.

Boldon's Win Increase Most for YSU

Bob Boldon led YSU to a six-win increase last year in his first season as the Penguins' head coach. Jeff Cohen is the only other first-year head coach to increase the win total from the previous year. He led YSU to 11 wins in 1982-83, a one-win increase from 1981-82.

Coaches in Second Seasons

Coach Bob Boldon is the fifth head coach in YSU history, and he is trying to become the third to increase his win total in his second year. Joyce Ramsey improved from 9-4 to 13-4 between 1975-76 and 1976-77. Ed DiGregorio went from 7-17 in 1983-84 to 14-13 the following year. Cindy Martin went 3-27 in 2008-09 and 0-30 in 2009-10. Jeff Cohen coached just the 1982-83 season.

Tough Schedule Lies Ahead

American is YSU's third opponent in four games this season coming off a 20-win season. For the year, YSU plays 13 games against teams coming off of 20-win seasons, and the Guins have just 12 home games scheduled for 2011-12. Five of the first six are on the road.

Thanksgiving in California

On a bright note, YSU's swing of five road games out of six to start the year ends with a homecoming for Los Angeles-area natives Macey Nortey and Brandi Brown. YSU will play two games at the Loyola Marymount tournament later this week.

Penguins Picked 10th in Horizon League Preseason Poll

Youngstown State is slated to finish 10th in the Horizon League based on a preseason poll of the league's coaches, sports information directors and a media member from each market.

Fresh off its Sweet 16 run, Green Bay is the preseason favorite and received 29 of 30 first-place votes. Cleveland State was second, and Wright State, Butler, UIC and Milwaukee finished third through sixth. Detroit was picked to finish seventh, and Loyola, Valparaiso and YSU rounded out the bottom three. YSU beat Valpo in both meetings last year and was ahead of the Crusaders in the final standings.

Guins in the Academic Top 25

For the first time in program history, the YSU women's basketball team was recognized on the Women's Basketball Coaches Association Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll in July.

YSU had a combined grade-point average of 3.395 during the 2010-11 academic year, which ranked them 17th on the top 25 poll. Horizon League teams Milwaukee and Green Bay were also in the top 25, giving the league a tie for the most among any conference in the nation.

Brown is 15 Points from 1,000

Junior forward Brandi Brown is just 15 points shy of becoming the 17th player in Youngstown State women's basketball history to score 1,000 points. Interestingly, American is the only team that has held her scoreless in her 63 career games. Brown scored 342 points as a freshman in 2009-10, and she broke out to score 597 points last year as a sophomore.

Brown can become the third-fastest player in school history to reach 1,000 points. Wanda Grant scored her 1,000th point in her 50th career game, which was the 12th game of her junior year in 1979-80. Dorothy Bowers reached 1,000 in her 58th career game, which was the third game of her junior year.

About 1,000-Point Scorers

Of the current 16 players in Youngstown State history who scored at least 1,000 points in their careers, 15 attended high school within 90 minutes of campus. Only Jen Perugini, who resided in Ontario, is outside of the 90-minute radius. Brandi Brown is from Pomona, Calif., and she is 15 points from becoming the 17th 1,000-point scorer. Dorothy Bowers (1st), Wanda Grant (2nd), Danielle Carson (3rd), Margaret Somple (5th), Liz Hauger (8th), Dianne Rappach (12th), Vicki Lawrence (15th) all hailed from either Mahoning or Trumbull County.

Top Three Threats from Three-Point

Kenya Middlebrooks, Liz Hornberger and Monica Touvelle are YSU's top three threats from beyond the 3-point arc. Middlebrooks has six 3-pointers this season, and Hornberger and Touvelle both have three.

Last year, Middlebrooks ranked seventh in the conference with two treys made per game. During Horizon League play, Middlebrooks made 2.4 per game, which ranked fourth in the conference. Her .383 shooting percentage from beyond the arc was the ninth-best in the league. Hornberger shot .417 from 3-point range in league play, which ranked her tied-for-third.

Middlebrooks has 92 3-pointers in her career, which is the 12th-most in school history. Hornberger has made a 3-pointer in 11 straight games, and Touvelle has made one in five straight.

Schlegel Providing a Lift

Redshirt freshman forward Heidi Schlegel has been a valuable part of YSU's rotation in the early part of the season. Schlegel has started all three games and ranks second on the team in scoring with 10.3 points per game. Her 3.7 rebounds per contest ranks third.

Schlegel was limited to just seven games last year after an ankle injury in December. She averaged 6.7 points and 3.6 rebounds last season.

Nortey, Middlebrooks Have Plenty of Experience

Seniors Macey Nortey and Kenya Middlebrooks are two of the most experienced players in the Horizon League. Heading into the season, Middlebrooks had the third-most career minutes of any returning league player, and Nortey ranked fifth on the list.

Middlebrooks has played 2,764 minutes in her first 93 games. That is the ninth-most in school history. Nortey has started 87 games, which is tied for the ninth-most in YSU history. She has a chance to break Caroline McCombs' school record of 112 career starts. Nortey's 2,700 career minutes rank 10th in school history.

Brown Named Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year

Junior forward Brandi Brown has been voted the Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year.

Brown is coming off a breakout campaign in which she led the conference in scoring and was named second-team All-Horizon League. Interestingly, Brown is the first player in the Horizon League's 25-year history to win the scoring title and not be voted onto the first team.

Brown was the only underclassman on the first or second team. She averaged 19.9 points, ranked tied-for-fourth in the conference with 9.2 rebounds per game, and her 13 double-doubles tied for the league lead.

Interested in a Masquerade Party?

Youngstown State has two players wearing protective masks – Kelsea Fickiesen and Heidi Schlegel. Oddly enough, the two are roommates in Lyden Hall. Fickiesen's nose was broken at practice on Halloween, and she missed just over a week of practice. Schlegel's nose was broken during fall practice last year, but she continues to wear the mask out of habit.

Up Next

YSU will head to Los Angeles for the DoubleTree L.A. Westside Thanksgiving Classic. The Guins will play host LMU on Friday at 4 p.m. Eastern, and they'll play either Wyoming or UNI on Saturday.