The Youngstown State women's basketball team will start
its annual trip to Wisconsin on Thursday with a game at No. 11/12
Green Bay. Tipoff against the undefeated Phoenix is set for 8 p.m.
Eastern at the Kress Events Center. The game will be broadcast live
on 570 WKBN and the Horizon League Network. The Penguins have lost
back-to-back games for the first time this season, following their
77-68 loss in overtime to UIC on Saturday. Green Bay is 15-0 and
has won 35 consecutive regular-season games. The Phoenix won 68-59
at Detroit on Saturday.
Top Storylines
- The Penguins have already surpassed their win total from all of
last season with their 8-8 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 16 games in 2007-08.
- 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 the 2011 calendar year.
They had three wins combined in 2009 and 2010.
- Dating back to last season, YSU has won 11 of its last 23 games
and 10 of its last 19. Prior to 23 games ago, YSU had won just six
of its previous 83 games.
- YSU's scoring margin is minus-0.3 this year. That's
improved from minus-10.6 last year and minus-25.8 two years
ago.
- Through games completed on Jan. 15, YSU ranks fifth in the
country with 8.6 3-pointers per game.
- The Penguins average 9.7 more points and shoot 11.2 percent
higher in the second half than in the first half.
Series With Green Bay
Green Bay has won 25 of the 26 meetings against Youngstown State
in the series that dates back to 1993. YSU's lone win was a
60-56 triumph on Feb. 19, 2005, at Green Bay. That was the
Guins' last win over a ranked opponent. Green Bay has won
each of the last 13 games against YSU.
Scouting Green Bay
Green Bay is 15-0 following road wins at Wright State and
Detroit. The Phoenix has not lost a regular season game since Dec.
12, 2010, at Marquette. Its only loss since then was against Baylor
in the Sweet 16 last season. The Phoenix leads the league with 75.8
points per game and have beaten opponents by an average of 19.3
points. Green Bay also shoots a league-best .474, ranks second in
scoring defense and forces 26.3 turnovers per game. League
player-of-the-year candidate Julie Wojta leads the league in
scoring with 20 points per game and ranks second in rebounding with
10.1 per contest.
Last Game: L, 77-68 vs. UIC in OT
YSU scored seven points in the final 62 seconds of regulation to
force overtime, but UIC outscored the Penguins 14-5 in overtime and
won 76-68 on Saturday.
Kenya Middlebrooks and Monica Touvelle hit 3-pointers, and
Kelsea Fickiesen hit a tying free throw with 11.3 seconds left. She
stole a pass and missed a shot at the buzzer in regulation.
UIC's Taylor Foulks hit two of her seven 3-pointers to
start overtime, and a Touvelle trey made the score 69-66.
That's as close as YSU would get.
Brandi Brown led all players with 25 points and eight rebounds,
and Touvelle had a career-high 19 points.
UIC shot 56 percent and was 13-of-16 from the line. YSU shot
42.6 percent and was 2-for-7 from the stripe. The Penguins trailed
by as many as 12 with 11 minutes left.
- The Penguins lost their sixth-straight game that went to
overtime.
- Brown's 25 points were one shy of her season high, which
she set the previous game against Loyola.
- Touvelle's 19 points were seven more than her previous
season high and five more than her previous career high.
- YSU made 14 3-pointers in the game, which was one off the
school record. It was their highest total since making 14 at
Valparaiso on Jan. 31, 2008.
- The Guins led 11-3 before going scoreless for 6:12. UIC scored
12 straight points in that stretch.
- UIC's .560 shooting percentage was the highest by an
opponent this season.
- YSU won the rebounding battle for the first time in six games
despite playing without Heidi Schlegel, its second-best rebounder.
UIC was plus-3.8 on the glass heading into the game.
- Kenya Middlebrooks made a 3-pointer for YSU's first
points for the fourth straight game. YSU has gone scoreless
for at least the next 1:54 in each of those games.
Last Time vs. Green Bay: L, 25-84
YSU fell 84-25 at No. 21/17 Green Bay on Feb. 5, 2011 at the
Kress Center.
Green Bay scored the first 26 points of the game and
led 49-8 at halftime. The Penguins missed their first 13 shots from
the field and two free throws before a Brandi Brown 3-pointer with
8:07 remaining accounted for their first points.
Brown had with 15 points and eight rebounds for YSU.
Bojana Dimitrov was next with four points, which all came in the
final four minutes.
Celeste Hoewisch scored a game-high 20 points in 24
minutes for Green Bay, which shot 51.7 percent from the field. YSU
shot 20.9 percent and was outrebounded 44-25.
Guins Surpass 2010-11 Win Total
Youngstown State has already reached its win total from the
2010-11 season with its 8-8 start. The Penguins were 6-24 last year
and went a combined 3-57 the previous two seasons. YSU last won at
least eight of its first 16 games in 2007-08. With its next win,
the Penguins will match their win total from the previous three
seasons combined.
Slow Starts and Frantic Finishes
Each of YSU's last three games have been marked by slow
starts and frantic finishes. Against Valparaiso on Jan. 7, the
Guins scored just eight points in the first 9:50 of the game. They
were able to score eight points in the final 1:38 to pull out a
55-48 win. YSU wasn't as fortunate against Loyola on Jan. 12.
It was held to 15 points in the first 11:34, and 15 points in the
final 2:30 wasn't enough to catch the Ramblers in an 82-77
loss. The Penguins had 11 points in the first 11:35 against UIC on
Jan. 14 and needed 10 points in the final 2:21 to force overtime.
YSU eventually lost 77-68 to the Flames.
Responding to Losses
YSU has done a good job of responding from losses this season.
The Guins are 6-1 after losses and have outscored their opponents
by an average of 11 points in those games. Their two biggest
wins – 25 over Western Michigan and 22 over Cleveland State
– both followed losses. The Penguins have lost two
consecutive games for the first time this season.
Shooting/Making 3s at Record Pace
YSU set school records for 3-pointers made and attempted last
year, and it is on pace to break those records in 2011-12. This
year, YSU is averaging 8.6 3-pointers made and 27.3 attempts. On
average, they made 6.8 per game and attempted 24.8 last year. The
Penguins' 744 attempts last year set the school record by
more than 180. More than 48 percent of YSU's field-goal
attempts are from beyond the 3-point arc. The Guins' shooting
percentage is .314 this season, up from .276 last season.
Guins Among NCAA's Best at 3s
Through games completed on Jan. 15, YSU ranks fifth in the
country with 8.6 3-pointers made per game. Florida Gulf Coast, led
by YSU head coach Bob Boldon's mentor Karl Smesko, leads the
nation with 12.2 treys per game.
- YSU is the only Division I school in the country whose
men's and women's basketball teams rank in the top 10
nationally in 3-pointers per game. YSU's men's team
ranks eighth in the country with 9.1 treys per game.
Needing First Half Offense
YSU has trailed at halftime in six of its last seven contests
and has lost in four of those six games. The Penguins are 5-0 when
leading at halftime and 3-8 when trailing. YSU is shooting 11.2
percent better and averaging 9.7 more points in the second half.
Brandi Brown averages 12 points in the second half and 5.0 in the
first half.
Guins Have Come Far in 23 Games
Dating back to last season, YSU has won 11 of its last 23 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 23 games, YSU has
averaged 64.4 points, which is 13.2 points higher than the previous
83. It is also holding opponents to 63.9 points, a decrease of 7.9
points. The average difference in scoring margin is 21.1 points.
The Penguins have shot at least 40 percent in 14 of those 23 games
after shooting at least 40 percent just 16 times in the previous 83
contests.
Road Success Has Been Key
YSU has 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.
Brown Pounding the Boards
YSU junior Brandi Brown is averaging 10.3 rebounds this season,
which leads the Horizon League and ranks 18th in the country.
Brown, the Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year, grabbed at
least 12 rebounds in five straight games leading up to last
weekend. 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. Brown already ranks seventh in school history
with 759 career rebounds.
Touvelle Has Hot Touch
Sophomore Monica Touvelle has started the Horizon League season
by making 15-of-30 from 3-point range. Her .500 shooting percentage
in league games is tied for the top spot in the circuit. Touvelle
was 4-for-4 against Cleveland State and 3-for-4 at Butler to start
the league slate, and she was 5-for-13 from distance versus UIC.
She finished with a career-high 19 points against the Flames.|
For the year, Touvelle ranks third in the Horizon
League in 3-point percentage at .411. Her 1.9 3-pointers per game
sixth ninth. She has made a trey in 13 of YSU's 16 games.
Up Next
Youngstown State will play at Milwaukee on Saturday at 3 p.m.
Eastern.
