The Youngstown State women's basketball team will continue its four-game stretch against teams from the Mid-American Conference on Friday with a game at Ohio. Tipoff against the Bobcats is set for 7 p.m. at the Convocation Center in Athens, Ohio. The game will be broadcast locally on 570 WKBN, and live video will be available on ohiobobcats.com. YSU is coming off a 73-61 loss to Bowling Green on Tuesday, and Ohio fell 66-56 to Cleveland State on Monday. Friday's game will be the 1,000th in Ohio women's basketball history.

Top Storylines

• Youngstown State won at least four games in November for just the third time in school history. The last time was 1999-2000, and the other time was 1997-98.
• Dating back to last season, YSU has won seven of its last 15 games and six of its last 10. Prior to 15 games ago, YSU had won just seven of previous its previous 85 games.
• Brandi Brown is the 17th player in YSU women's basketball history to record 1,000 career points. She scored her milestone point against LMU on Nov. 25. She currently ranks 15th in school history with 1,070 points.
• YSU has shot at least 40 percent in five of its first eight games. The Guins shot at least 40 percent 10 times in 30 games last year and just four times in all of 2009-10.
• YSU's scoring margin is minus-2.2 this year. That's improved from minus-10.6 last year and minus-25.8 two years ago.
• Youngstown State has not started a season 5-4 since 2004-05.
• The Penguins are trying to win four straight non-conference road games for the first time since the 1997-98 season.

Series with Ohio

Youngstown State has won 10 of the 16 meetings with Ohio in a series that dates back to 1979. The Penguins won the first three contests, and they've won two of the three contests since 2004. Overall, YSU has won seven of the previous nine games against the Bobcats.

Scouting Ohio

Ohio is 3-4 after dropping three straight games to UNC-Wilmington, Duquesne and Cleveland State. Its 66-56 loss to the Vikings came on Monday. Ohio's wins came successively from Nov. 19-26 against Marshall, Belmont and Chicago State at home. Leading scorer and rebounder Tenishia Benson has not played in the last five games. Porsha Harris is averaging 11 points and eight rebounds. The Bobcats were picked to finish fifth out of six teams in the MAC East.

Last Year vs. Ohio

Youngstown State outscored Ohio 41-18 in the second half and overcame an 18-point deficit in a 60-52 win on Nov. 27 at Beeghly Center.

YSU shot 53.8 percent in the final 20 minutes and held Ohio to 23.3 percent. Tieara Jones scored all 14 of her points while posting five rebounds and three blocks in the second half. Brandi Brown scored a game-high 17 points to go along with two blocks and two assists.

YSU opened the second half by scoring 10 out of the first 11 points and trailed just 35-29 following a Maryum Jenkins lay-up at the 15:38 mark. The Bobcats did not have a field goal until there was 13:25 left in the period.

Ohio's last field goal came at 6:33, and Brown tied the score with two free throws at the 1:25 mark. Macey Nortey's break-away lay-up gave the Guins the lead with just under a minute left.

Last Game: L, 73-61 vs. BGSU

Bowling Green outscored YSU 13-2 over the final five-and-a-half minutes to win 73-61 and overshadow an encouraging performance.

The Penguins, who lost by 46 to the MAC East favorite Falcons last year, battled through 12 lead changes and five ties before falling.

Bowling Green went on an 11-3 run in the first half to take a 32-27 lead at halftime. A 3-pointer by Devan Matkin capped a seven-point run that gave YSU a 45-43 lead with 13 minutes left.

Brandi Brown's triple gave the Penguins their final lead at 55-54 with 9:17 remaining. YSU trailed just 60-59 when Bowling Green closed out the game on its 13-2 run.

Bowling Green scored the first seven points of the game and had additional runs of 11-0 and 13-2.The Penguins were outscored off turnovers for the first time this season.Monica Touvelle was held without a 3-pointer for the first time in 11 games.Brandi Brown scored the final nine points for YSU, and she was the only Penguin to score in the final nine-and-a-half minutes.YSU tied its season high with 21 turnovers.Brown hit her first 3-pointer since the season opener at West Virginia. She had missed 16 straight attempts.

YSU Closes Gap vs. Bowling Green

Although Youngstown State lost 73-61 to Bowling Green on Tuesday, a lot of positives came from the contest. The Penguins trailed by just one with 5:40 left, and the margin was five with 3:30 remaining. Last year, YSU was beaten 86-40 at Bowling Green, which was 34 points more than Tuesday's loss. Over the past three meetings, Bowling Green had defeated YSU by an average of 35.6 points.

Guins Close Out Strong November With 25-Point Win vs. WMU

Youngstown State punctuated a strong November with a 80-55 win against Western Michigan on Nov. 30. The win was YSU's first by at least 20 points since beating Buffalo at home on Nov. 21, 2006. The Penguins had been beaten by at least 20 46 times between the 20-point victories. Seniors Kenya Middlebrooks and Macey Nortey had endured 38 such losses in their careers before their first 20-point win.

The Penguins won at least four games in November for the third time in school history. The other two seasons were 1997-98 (five) and 1999-2000 (four). In full disclosure, YSU played a school-record-high seven games in November.

Guins Have Come Far in 15 Games

Dating back to last season, YSU has won seven of its last 15 games. Prior to that point, YSU had just six wins in its previous 83 games – the start of the 2008-09 season. The Penguins have shot at least 40 percent in 10 of those 15 games after shooting at least 40 percent just nine times in the previous 54 contests.

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 Friday 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.

Brown is the third-fastest player in school history to reach the 1,000-point plateau. She did it in her 65th career game, the fifth of her junior campaign.

Fastest YSU players to 1,000 Points

1. Wanda Grant – 50 games (1979-80)
2. Dorothy Bowers – 58 games (1986-87)
3. Brandi Brown – 65 games (2011-12)

1,000-Point Scorers Close to Home

Of the 17 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 Brandi Brown (California) and Jen Perugini (Ontario) are from outside of the 90-minute radius. 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.

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 eight 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.

About Four Wins...

Youngstown State has started the season with a 4-4 record, which is its best start since the 2007-08 season. In fact, it took 24 games to get four 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 three straight wins (UNI was at a neutral site). The last time YSU won three straight road games was in 1999-2000 season. YSU freshmen Kelsea Fickiesen and Ashley Lawson were first graders that season. The Penguins last won three straight non-conference road games in 1997-98.

Thanksgiving in California

California welcomed home two of its natives when YSU celebrated Thanksgiving in Los Angeles. Macey Nortey is from Carson, just outside of L.A., and Brandi Brown hails from Pomona, which is about an hour from L.A. The Guins had Thanksgiving dinner at the Nortey residence. Both Nortey and Brown had their fathers see them play collegiately for the first time when YSU played two games at Loyola Marymount.

Middlebrooks Moves Into Top 10 in Career 3-Pointers Made

Youngstown State senior guard Kenya Middlebrooks moved into 10th place in school history in career 3-pointers made by sinking three against Bowling Green on Tuesday. She has 102 triples in 98 career games, including 16 in eight games this year. Through games completed on Tuesday, she leads the Horizon League in 3-pointers.

She had just 28 triples in the first 66 games of her career, but she has 74 over her last 32 games – an average 2.3 per contest. Middlebrooks has attempted the ninth-most 3-pointers in school history with 350.

Brown's Success at Stripe

A big part of Brandi Brown's increase in scoring over her career has been because of improvement at the free-throw line. As of Jan. 15 last season, Brown was a career 56.6 percent free-throw shooter, making 137 of her 242 attempts through 47 games. Since that time, Brown has made 104 of her last 120 attempts for 86.7 percent in 21 games. Brown closed out last season by making 35 of her final 36 attempts, and she's made 38 of 47 attempts this year.

Brown's Double Figures Streak

Youngstown State junior Brandi Brown has provided plenty of "wow" moments in her career, but her consistency is perhaps what's most impressive. Brown has scored at least 10 points in 29 consecutive games dating back to Dec. 20, 2010. The junior has scored at least 20 points 16 times during that stretch. The last time she was held to single digits was when she scored eight points against Akron on Dec. 16, 2010.

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 seven times and ranks second on the team in scoring with 10.9 points per game. Her 5.1 rebounds rank second, and her 1.5 assists per game rank third. Schlegel has scored in double figures four 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.

Defense is Improved

Youngstown State's defense has shown improvement in the early part of the 2011-12 season. The Penguins are allowing 65.2 points per game, and opponents are shooting .403 against them. Last year, teams averaged 69 points and shot .446. The biggest improvement has been defense on the perimeter. Opponents are shooting .292 from 3-point range this year, down from .342 in 2010-11.

Getting Blocked

Through the first eight games, YSU's opponents have blocked 41 shots for an average of 5.1 per game. A bulk of those have come in two games. West Virginia blocked 12 attempts in the season opener on Nov. 11, and Bucknell had 10 blocks on Nov. 16. Opponents have blocked 10 shots in the last four games. Brandi Brown has been blocked 12 times by herself. YSU's opponents blocked three shots per game last year.

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 Guins 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 7.0 3-pointers made and 25.8 attempts. Its shooting percentage is .272, down from .276 last season.

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.

Nortey, Middlebrooks Have Plenty of Experience

Seniors Macey Nortey and Kenya Middlebrooks are two of the most experienced players in the Horizon League. Through Dec. 6, Middlebrooks has played the second-most career minutes in the league, and Nortey is sixth on the list.

Middlebrooks has played 2,899 minutes in her first 98 games. That is the ninth-most in school history. Nortey's 2,820 minutes rank 10th in school history. Nortey has started 92 games, which is the eighth-most in YSU history. She has a chance to break Caroline McCombs' school record of 112 career starts.

Tough Stretch to Start Season

Not only did YSU play five of its first six games on the road, it has also played five teams coming off 20-win seasons. For the year, YSU plays 13 games against teams coming off of 20-win seasons. The Guins have just 12 home games scheduled.

Up Next

After an eight-day break for finals week, Youngstown State will wrap-up its MAC tour with a game at Akron on Dec. 18. Tipoff against the Zips is set for 2 p.m.