The Youngstown State women's basketball team will try to get back on the winning track Saturday with a game at Milwaukee. Tipoff against the Panthers is set for 3 p.m. Eastern. The game will be broadcast live on 570 WKBN and the Horizon League Network. The Penguins are riding a three-game losing streak following a 75-50 defeat at No. 11/12 Green Bay on Thursday evening. Milwaukee dropped its sixth straight on Thursday, falling 68-58 to Cleveland State.
Top Storylines
- The Penguins have already surpassed their win total from all of last season with their 8-9 start. The Penguins were 3-57 combined in the two years prior to coach Bob Boldon's arrival.
- 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 24 games and 10 of its last 20. Prior to 24 games ago, YSU had won just six of its previous 83 games.
- Milwaukee has beaten YSU 13 straight times. Green Bay is the only team with a longer winning streak against the Guins (14).
- YSU's scoring margin is minus-1.8 this year. That's improved from minus-10.6 last year and minus-25.8 two years ago.
- Through games completed on Jan. 19, YSU ranks sixth in the country with 8.4 3-pointers per game.
- The Penguins average 9.7 more points and shoot 11.6 percent higher in the second half than in the first half.
Series With Milwaukee
Milwaukee is 22-5 all-time against Youngstown State in a series dating back to 1991. The Penguins won the first three games before the Panthers won the next nine contests. YSU won both games in the 2004-05 campaign, but Milwaukee has won each of the last 13 games since. The Penguins lost 81-66 at Milwaukee last season.
Scouting Milwaukee
Milwaukee has started 0-6 in Horizon League play to drop to 4-12 overall. The Panthers won their final two non-conference games, including a big win over defending WNIT champion Toledo on Dec. 18. UWM most recently lost 68-58 to Cleveland State on Thursday and trailed by as many as 23 in the second half. Sophomore Courtney Lindfors leads three players averaging in double figures with 12.8 points. UWM is last in the league in scoring defense, allowing 68.9 points per game. The Panthers were picked to finish sixth in the league preseason poll.
Last Game: L, 75-50 at Green Bay
No. 11/12 Green Bay used a 20-5 run in the second half to pull away for a 75-50 win over YSU on Thursday at the Kress Center.
YSU trailed just 53-38 at the 9:56 mark, but Green Bay's run put it ahead 73-43 just under seven minutes later.
Brandi Brown led all scorers with 21 points and finished with 10 rebounds. The Penguins committed 28 turnovers, which Green Bay translated into a 33-5 edge in points off turnovers.
Lydia Bauer finished with 19 points, and Adrian Ritchie scored 17 points while making three of Green Bay's eight triples.
- Although YSU lost by 25, it was a big improvement from last season when the Penguins got down 26-0 and fell 84-25.
- The Penguins were down 36-20 at halftime. They trailed 49-8 last year and by an average of 31.5 the previous four contests at Green Bay.
- Brandi Brown scored in the twenties for the third straight game. She also posted her seventh double-double. Brown was 9-for-12 from the field, which was her best shooting percentage for a game this season.
- YSU committed a season-high 28 turnovers, which translated into a season-worst minus-28 differential in points off turnovers.The previous worst was minus-14 at Stony Brook.
- Freshman Kelsea Fickiesen scored nine points in her second career start. She is averaging 8.7 points over the last three games.
- Sophomore Monica Touvelle made her second career start – her first since last year's regular-season finale.
- In her second game coming off the bench Macey Nortey led YSU with three assists before fouling out. She played 19 minutes. Tieara Jones also fouled out, marking the first time this season that two Penguins were disqualified in the same game.
- YSU's six 3-pointers were its fewest in the six Horizon League games. It was averaging 10.6 treys in conference play.
Last Time vs. Milwaukee • L, 81-66
Milwaukee shot 58 percent and hit seven 3-pointers in the opening period, and YSU could never recover in an 81-66 loss at the Klotsche Center on Feb. 3, 2011.
UWM's Sami Tucker scored 21 of her 23 points in the first half as Milwaukee built a 51-28 halftime lead. YSU trimmed the deficit to 15 several times midway through the second half and had the lead down to 14 with five minutes remaining. YSU outscored UWM 38-30 in the second half.
Brandi Brown finished with 19 points and a game-high 13 rebounds for YSU, which recorded 16 steals.
UWM led 24-14 with 10:23 left, and YSU scored seven straight points to cut the margin to three. From that point, the Panthers closed out the half by outscoring the Penguins 27-7.
Guins Surpass 2010-11 Win Total
Youngstown State has already reached its win total from the 2010-11 season with its 8-9 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 17 games in 2007-08. With its next win, the Penguins will match their win total from the previous three seasons combined.
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 8.4 3-pointers made and 26.8 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 47 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.
Responding to Losses
Despite being on a three-game losing streak, YSU has done a good job of responding from losses this season. The Guins are 6-2 after losses and have outscored their opponents by an average of 6.5 points in those games. Their two biggest wins – 25 over Western Michigan and 22 over Cleveland State – both followed losses.
Guins Among NCAA's Best at 3s
Through games completed on Jan. 19, YSU ranks sixth in the country with 8.4 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 seven of its last eight contests and has lost in five of those seven games. The Penguins are 5-0 when leading at halftime and 3-9 when trailing. YSU is shooting 11.6 percent better and averaging 9.7 more points in the second half. Brandi Brown averages 12.1 points in the second half and 5.2 in the first half.
Benefit of Balanced Scoring
For the first time in nine seasons, Youngstown State has at least three players averaging double figures in points. Brandi Brown leads the Guins with 17.2 points per game, and she's gotten help in the scoring column from Heidi Schlegel's 10.8 points and Kenya Middlebrooks' 10.1 points. Brown was the only player that averaged more than 10 points last year with 19.9 per game.
Guins Have Come Far in 24 Games
Dating back to last season, YSU has won 11 of its last 24 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 24 games, YSU has averaged 63.8 points, which is 12.6 points higher than the previous 83. It is also holding opponents to 64.3 points, a decrease of 7.5 points. The average difference in scoring margin is 20.1 points. The Penguins have shot at least 40 percent in 15 of those 24 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 six 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 Off to Solid Start in HL Play
Preseason Horizon League Player of the Year Brandi Brown has gotten off to a very solid start in conference play. Brown is averaging 21.2 points and 10.0 rebounds in six conference games. She has scored at least 20 points on five occasions and registered three double-doubles. In league games, she ranks second in the circuit in scoring and fourth in rebounding.
Fickiesen's Strong Start to Career
Freshman guard Kelsea Fickiesen has had a very solid start to her promising career. She has started two of the past four games and averages 19.4 minutes. Fickiesen leads the team with a .455 shooting percentage and ranks second and assists and third in steals. She has averaged 8.7 points in the past three games.
Middlebrooks Among Best 3-Point Shooters in Horizon, YSU History
Youngstown State senior guard Kenya Middlebrooks ranks 10th in school history with 125 career 3-pointers in 107 games. She has 39 in 17 games this year and ranks second in the Horizon League with 2.3 3-pointers per game.
Middlebrooks had just 28 triples in the first 66 games of her career, but she has 97 over her last 41 games. Middlebrooks has attempted the fourth-most triples in school history with 411.
Brown A Regular in Double Figures
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 in double figures in 43 of the last 47 games dating back to the beginning of last year. She's scored at least 20 points in 24 of those 47 games. She had 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.
Schlegel Providing a Big Lift
Redshirt freshman Heidi Schlegel has been a valuable part of YSU's rotation in the early part of the season. Schlegel has started 13 times and ranks second on the team in scoring with 10.8 points per game. Her 4.7 boards and .440 field-goal percentage also rank second. Schlegel has scored in double figures seven times. She has missed the last two games with an injury and is considered day-to-day.
Nortey, Middlebrooks Have Plenty of Experience
Seniors Macey Nortey and Kenya Middlebrooks are two of the most experienced players in the Horizon League. Middlebrooks has played the fifth-most career minutes in the league, and Nortey is sixth on the list.
Middlebrooks has played 3,153 minutes in her first 107 games. That is the sixth-most in school history, according to stats that are available. Nortey's 3,041 minutes rank ninth in school history. Nortey has started 99 games, which is the sixth-most in YSU history. She has a chance to break Caroline McCombs' school record of 112 career starts.
Up Next
Youngstown State will welcome Detroit to Beeghly Center on Thursday at 7:05 p.m.
