The Youngstown State women's basketball team will look for a positive separation in the Horizon League standings with two home games this week, starting with Thursday's game against Loyola. Tipoff against the Ramblers is set for 7:05 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on 570 WKBN and YSUsports.com. YSU is coming off a 55-48 win at Valparaiso on Saturday and is off to its best start in 12 years at 8-6. Loyola lost 76-66 to Detroit on Saturday and has dropped three straight contests.
Top Storylines
- The Penguins have already surpassed their win total from all of last season with their 8-6 start. The Penguins were 3-57 combined in the two years prior to coach Bob Boldon's arrival. YSU last had eight wins in its first 14 games in 1999-2000.
- YSU's next win will give it nine wins, matching its total from the previous three seasons combined.
- The Penguins finished with 11 wins in 2011. They had three wins combined in 2009 and 2010.
- YSU is 2-1 in Horizon League play for the third time in 11 years – also in 2007-08 and 2001-02. The Guins have never been 3-1.
- Dating back to last season, YSU has won 11 of its last 21 games and 10 of its last 17. Prior to 21 games ago, YSU had won just six of its previous 83 games.
- YSU's scoring margin is plus-0.6 this year. That's improved from minus-10.6 last year and minus-25.8 two years ago.
- Through games completed on Jan. 8, YSU ranks ninth in the country with 8.1 3-pointers per game.
- Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year Brandi Brown is averaging 18.3 points and 12.0 rebounds in league play.
A win would...
- Improve YSU to 9-6 on the season, which would be its best start since 1999-2000
- Give YSU nine wins, matching its total from the previous three seasons combined
- Give YSU its first 3-1 start in Horizon League play
Series With Loyola
Loyola leads the all-time series with YSU 17-5. Each team has won five times at Beeghly Center, but the Ramblers are 12-0 in Chicago. Loyola won the first seven meetings and had won six consecutive games against YSU until the Penguins prevailed 84-65 last year on senior day. Loyola then beat YSU 49-47 two days later in the opening round of the Horizon League Tournament at the Gentile Center.
Scouting Loyola
Loyola has lost three straight Horizon League games to drop to 6-9 overall and 1-3 in conference play. The Ramblers won their first three games by an average of 32 points, but they've gone 3-9 since. Loyola lost 64-62 to Wright State and 76-66 to Detroit last weekend in Chicago. Two newcomers lead the Ramblers in scoring with Ball State transfer Patrice King averaging 14.6 points and freshman Simone Law averaging 13.5 points. Eric Simpson owns a 33-43 record in his third season as head coach.
Last Game: W, 55-48 at Valparaiso
Kenya Middlebrooks scored 13 second-half points as YSU battled for a 55-48 victory at Valparaiso on Saturday at the ARC.
YSU scored just 17 points in the first half but trailed by just three. The Crusaders led by eight (38-30) with less than 10 minutes left when Middlebrooks scored 11 points in a 17-3 run for YSU that gave the Guins a 47-41 lead.
The Penguins led just 47-45 when Brandi Brown hit a bucket in traffic from an inbounds pass with four seconds on the shot clock. Valpo hit a free throw on its possession, and YSU went 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in the final 1:09 to pull away.
Middlebrooks scored 18 points, and Brown had nine points and 12 rebounds. YSU made eight 3-pointers while Valpo was 0-for-13.
Kelsea Fickiesen made her first career start at point guard. She scored four points and had four assists in 15 minutes.
Macey Nortey had her games starting streak stopped at 42 games. Liz Hornberger was also out of the starting line-up for the first time in 14 games.
Valpo played just six players, and YSU's bench held a 13-0 edge as a result. The Crusaders had more points in the paint, off turnovers, on second chances and on the fast break.
Last Time vs. Loyola: L, 49-47
Youngstown State gave a stalwart defensive effort and had a shot blocked at the buzzer in a 49-47 loss at Loyola in the opening round of the Horizon League Tournament on March 7, 2011.
The Penguins trailed by as many as 12 in the second half, but they got a spark from freshmen Liz Hornberger and Monica Touvelle. Macey Nortey's triple put the Penguins within two with 1:17 left, and YSU missed two potential tying shots in the final 10 seconds.
Brandi Brown finished with a team-high 16 points despite having an off night. Hornberger finished with 12 points in her first career start, and Tieara Jones had eight steals.
After cutting the lead to four with 9:52 left, YSU went scoreless for more than five minutes.
Loyola got 19 points from Monica Albano and 17 from Abby Skube.
Starting Line-Up Shuffle
Youngstown State employed just its third different starting line-up on Saturday at Valparaiso. Freshman point guard Kelsea Fickiesen made her first career start, and Tieara Jones was among the starting five for the second game. Macey Nortey, Liz Hornberger, Kenya Middlebrooks, Heidi Schlegel and Brandi Brown have started 12 of YSU's 14 games. Jones started for Schlegel against American.
- Macey Nortey had started 42 consecutive games prior to Saturday, dating back to the second game of last season. She has started 97 games in her career and has a chance to break Caroline McCombs' career record of 112. Brandi Brown is YSU's current leader with 74 consecutive starts, which accounts for every game of her collegiate career.
Middlebrooks Madness
Twice this year, Kenya Middlebrooks has caught fire in the second half to lead YSU to come-from-behind wins. She scored 13 points in the final 3:56 against Akron to help YSU erase a 13-point second-half deficit on Dec. 18. The Penguins outscored Akron 16-5 in that stretch. Middlebrooks scored 11 points in 3:43 against Valparaiso on Jan. 7 as the Penguins went on a 17-3 run that turned an eight-point deficit into a six-point lead. Middlebrooks had a career-high 27 points at Akron, and she finished with 18 points against Valparaiso.
Getting Contribution From Everyone
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 four minutes fewer per contest. Sophomore Liz Hornberger has seen the biggest jump, going from 13.6 minutes last season to 19.1 this year. Freshman Kelsea Fickiesen is averaging 18.4 minutes, which is the most of any reserve. No Penguins are averaging at least 30 minutes after three did last year. In fact, YSU and Wright State are the only teams in the Horizon League that do not have a player averaging at least 30 minutes.
Brown Pounding the Boards
YSU junior Brandi Brown is averaging 10.7 rebounds this season, which leads the Horizon League and ranks 12th in the country. Brown, the Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year, has grabbed 12 rebounds in each of YSU's three Horizon League contests. She's posted double digits in rebounding in five straight games and in seven overall this season. Brown ranked 18th in the country in rebounding as a freshman with 10.6 rebounds per contest, and she averaged 9.2 caroms last year.
Road Success Has Been Key
The Penguins have been particularly successful on the road with six wins in nine tries this season. With at least seven road games left, YSU has already matched its highest number of road wins in the last 12 seasons. The Penguins were 6-11 on the road in 2007-08, and they have not had more than six road wins since going 9-7 in 1999-2000. The Penguins had one road win combined over the past three seasons. YSU won five straight games on the road earlier this season from Nov. 13 to Dec. 18. The last time YSU won five straight road games was in 1997-98.
Nearing Three-Year Mark
The Penguins have already surpassed their win total from all of last season with their 8-6 start. With their next win, they will equal their win total from the previous three seasons combined. The Penguins were 6-24 last year and went 3-57 combined in the two years prior to coach Bob Boldon's arrival. YSU last had eight wins in its first 14 games in 1999-2000.
Coming A Long Way
Dating back to last season, YSU has won 11 of its last 21 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 21 games, YSU has averaged 63.6 points, which is 12.4 points higher than the previous 83. It is also holding opponents to 62.4 points, a decrease of 9.4 points. The average difference in scoring margin is 21.8 points.
Up Next
YSU will remain home to play UIC on Saturday at 2:05 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on 570 WKBN.
