Following an eight-day break for finals week, the Youngstown State women's basketball team will go for its fifth straight road win at Akron on Sunday. Tipoff at the James A. Rhodes Arena is set for 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on 1390 WNIO, and live video will be available through gozips.com. YSU is coming off a 55-47 win at Ohio on Dec. 9 and is 2-1 against teams from the Mid-American Conference this season. Akron lost 90-64 to Florida State on Saturday. The Zips lost 77-70 at Duquesne on Wednesday.
Top Storylines
- YSU has won four straight road games for the first time since the 1999-2000 season.
- Youngstown State is 4-1 in road games this year. The Penguins had just one road win combined in the last three seasons.
- Prior to its current four-game road winning streak, YSU had won four of its previous 51 road contests.
- Dating back to last season, YSU has won eight of its last 16 games and seven of its last 12. Prior to 16 games ago, YSU had won just seven of previous its previous 85 games.
- Head Coach Bob Boldon spent five seasons as an assistant coach under Akron Head Coach Jodi Kest. He was an assistant for the Zips from 2006 to 2008.
- Brandi Brown is the 17th player in YSU history to record 1,000 career points. She reached the milestone against LMU on Nov. 25. She currently ranks 15th in school history with 1,078 points.
- YSU has shot at least 40 percent in six of its first nine games. The Guins shot at least 40 percent 10 times in 30 games last year and just four times in all of 2009-10.
Scouting Akron
Akron is 5-5 following back-to-back losses to Florida State and Duquesne. Four of the Zips' wins came in-a-row when they beat Loyola, Seattle, Cleveland State and St. Peter's. Akron scored at least 84 points in all four of those victories. The Zips lead the MAC with 75.1 points per game, but they rank last in scoring defense, allowing 74.2 points per contest. Junior Rachel Tecca ranks fourth in the MAC with 17.0 points per game.
Last Year vs. Akron
Akron held YSU without a field goal for the final seven minutes to pull away for a 70-56 win on Dec. 16, 2010 at Beeghly Center.
YSU's Tieara Jones hit a jumper with 7:05 remaining to give the Penguins a 54-53 lead. The score was tied at 55-55 with 4:53 left, but Akron scored seven straight points in the next two minutes. Jones' charity toss with 2:41 left accounted for YSU's final score. Akron scored the final eight points of the contest to increase the margin.
Jones scored a team-high 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Akron's Rachel Tecca led all players with 19 points and 13 rebounds.
Last Game: W, 55-47 vs. Ohio
Youngstown State went on a 20-5 run early in the second half and hung on to defeat Ohio 55-47 on Dec. 9 at the Convocation Center.
The Penguins hit 10 of their first 13 shots in the second half and outshot the Bobcats 43.5 percent to 31.1 percent in the game.
Heidi Schlegel scored a game-high 21 points, and her back-to-back 3s capped a 12-0 run that gave YSU a 44-29 lead with 12:12 left.
Ohio cut the lead to 48-44 with 3:30 remaining, but YSU scored six straight points over the next two minutes.
YSU hit nine 3-pointers, marking the fifth straight game where it made at least seven.
Heidi Schlegel was the only one of YSU's top three scorers to have points at halftime. She finished with a career-high 21 points.
Kenya Middlebrooks had a career-high seven assists. Her only bucket of the game was a 3-pointer with 2:17 left that upped YSU's lead to nine points.
Brandi Brown was held to eight points, snapping a 29-game streak of scoring in double figures.
Ohio held its first seven opponents to a .252 shooting percentage from 3-point range and was allowing just 4.3 treys per game. YSU hit nine 3-pointers and shot 42.9 percent from beyond the arc.
Coaches Familiar with Akron's Kest
Two of Youngstown State's coaches are very familiar with Akron's head coach, Jodi Kest. Bob Boldon spent five years as an assistant with Kest, including two seasons at Akron from 2006-08. The pair also coached together for two seasons at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and for a year at Gannon. That season at Gannon, YSU assistant Jen Theissen was the conference freshman of the year for the Golden Knights.
Completing a MAC Tour
Youngstown State is playing its fourth straight game against a team from the Mid-American Conference. The Penguins are 2-1 so far in its MAC tour, beating Western Michigan and Ohio while losing to Bowling Green. So far this season, Horizon League teams are 13-8 against foes from the MAC. YSU's game against Akron is one of six games between the two conferences remaining.
Light December Schedule
After playing a school-record seven games during November in a 20-day span, Youngstown State will play just five games in 31 days in December. With finals week this week, YSU will go eight days between games against Ohio and Akron. The Guins will then go another eight days without game action before playing at Stony Brook on Dec. 27.
On 40 Percent Shooting Streak
Youngstown State has shot at least 40 percent in each of its last five games. That is the best streak by a Penguins team since 2007-08. The last time YSU shot at least 40 percent in more than five consecutive games was when it did it seven straight contests in 2000-01.
Guins Have Come Far in 16 Games
Dating back to last season, YSU has won eight of its last 16 games. Prior to that point, YSU had just six wins in its previous 83 games – the start of the 2008-09 season. Over the last 16 games, YSU has scored 63.9 points, which is 12.7 points higher than the previous 83. It is also holding opponents to 63.4 points, a decrease of 8.4 points. The average difference in scoring margin is 21.1 points. The Penguins have shot at least 40 percent in 11 of those 16 games after shooting at least 40 percent just 16 times in the previous 83 contests.
About Five Wins...
Youngstown State has started the season with a 5-4 record, which is its best start since the 2007-08 season. In fact, it took 28 games to get five wins last year, and the Guins won just three games combined in 2008-09 and 2009-10.
The Penguins have been particularly successful on the road with four straight wins (UNI was at a neutral site). The last time YSU won four straight road games was in 1999-2000 season. YSU freshmen Kelsea Fickiesen and Ashley Lawson were first graders that season. The Penguins last won four straight non-conference road games in 1997-98.
Minutes More Balanced
A deeper and more talented bench has allowed Youngstown State to share minutes more evenly in 2011-12 than last season. All four returning starters from last year have seen their minutes drop, and three of the four are averaging more than five minutes fewer per contest. New starters Liz Hornberger and Heidi Schlegel have seen their minutes rise by 6.8 and 5.3 per game, respectively. Reserves Monica Touvelle and Melissa Thompson have also seen an increase in playing time, and newcomers Kelsea Fickiesen and Devan Matkin are averaging a combined 34.1 minutes.
Better in "Specialty" Stats
Youngstown State has been much improved in winning the "specialty" stats battles this year. The Penguins have outscored seven of their nine opponents off turnovers, which is something they did 15 times in 30 games last year. They've also held the edge in fast-break points six times, which is already half as many times as last season. The biggest improvement has been in the paint where YSU has outscored six opponents. The Penguins won that battle just eight times last year.
Defense is Improved
Youngstown State's defense has shown improvement in the early part of the 2011-12 season. The Penguins are allowing 63.2 points per game, and opponents are shooting .392 against them. Last year, teams averaged 69 points and shot .446. The biggest improvement has been defense on the perimeter. Opponents are shooting .278 from 3-point range this year, down from .342 in 2010-11.
Schlegel, Brown in National Media
Forward Heidi Schlegel was named the Horizon League Player of the Week on Dec. 12 by collegesportsmadness.com. Schlegel averaged 13 points in two games during the week and scored a career-best 21 points to lead YSU to a 55-47 win over Ohio. Brown was featured on collegechalktalk.com's Worthy 20, which is a columnist's list of who should be included if the Wooden Award Watch List was 50 players – like the men's list – instead of 30.
Brown Scores 1,000 in Homecoming
Junior forward Brandi Brown became the 17th player in Youngstown State women's basketball history to score 1,000 points on Nov. 25 at LMU. Brown, a California native, scored her 1,000th point on a free throw with 15:06 remaining in the first half. She did it in front of about 20 friends and family members.
Fickiesen's Strong Start to Career
Freshman guard Kelsea Fickiesen has had a very solid start to her promising career. Fickiesen averages 20.1 minutes, which is the most of any reserve, and she has been valuable on both ends of the floor. She is tied for the team lead and ranks tied-for-12th in the Horizon League with 1.7 steals per contest. Her .471 shooting percentage is second on the squad only to Heidi Schlegel. If Fickiesen met the minimum to qualify for the league leaders, she would rank seventh in field-goal percentage.
Middlebrooks Moves Into Top 10 in Career 3-Pointers Made
Youngstown State senior guard Kenya Middlebrooks has moved into 10th place in school history in career 3-pointers. She has 103 triples in 99 career games, including 17 in nine games this year. She currently ranks tied-for-fourth in the Horizon League with 1.9 treys per game.
Brown's Double Figures Streak Stopped at 29
Youngstown State junior Brandi Brown has provided plenty of "wow" moments in her career, but her consistency is perhaps what's most impressive. Brown scored at least 10 points in 29 consecutive games dating back to Dec. 20, 2010 before being held to eight points at Ohio on Dec. 9, 2011. The junior scored at least 20 points 16 times during that stretch.
Brown's Scoring Pace Above '10-11
Although YSU junior Brandi Brown's scoring average is down by 5.5 points from last year's final average, she is actually averaging more points this season than she was last season through nine games. Brown is averaging 15.4 points this year, a slight increase from 15.0 points in 2010-11. She scored 40 points in her final two non-conference games last year, and then averaged 22.6 points in Horizon League play. An important consideration is that Brown is also averaging 5.8 fewer minutes than last season.
Schlegel Providing a Big 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 eight times and ranks second on the team in scoring with 12.0 points per game. Her 5.1 rebounds rank second. Schlegel has scored in double figures five times.
Schlegel was limited to seven games last year after an ankle injury in December. She averaged 6.7 points and 3.6 rebounds last season.
Up Next
After an eight-day break for the holidays, YSU will play its final non-conference game of the season at Stony Brook on Dec. 27. Tipoff against the Seawolves is set for 7 p.m.
