The Youngstown State women's basketball team will try to knock
off the second place team in the Horizon League for the second time
in three days when it takes on Wright State on Saturday at Beeghly
Center. Tipoff against the Raiders is set for 4:35 p.m., and the
game will be broadcast live on 570 WKBN. YSU beat previously
second-ranked Detroit 80-67 on Thursday evening behind 30 points
from Kenya Middlebrooks. Wright State is coming off a 64-54 win at
Cleveland State.
Top Storylines
- YSU tied a school record with 15 3-pointers in an 80-67 win
over Detroit on Thursday. The Guins snapped a season-long four-game
losing streak with the victory.
- Kenya Middlebrooks set a school record with eight 3-pointers
against Detroit. She was 8-for-10 from distance and continues to
lead the Horizon League with 2.7 3-pointers per game.
- With their 9-10 start, the Penguins have matched their win
total from the previous three years combined. YSU was 3-57 combined
in the two years prior to coach Bob Boldon's arrival.
- YSU's scoring margin is minus-1.3 this year. That's improved
from minus-10.6 last year and minus-25.8 two years ago.
- Through games completed on Jan. 21, YSU ranks fifth in the
country with 8.7 3-pointers per game.
- The Penguins average 9.9 more points and shoot 11.6 percent
higher in the second half than in the first half. YSU is 6-0 when
leading at halftime.
- Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year Brandi Brown is
averaging 19.6 points and 9.0 rebounds in league play.
Series With Wright State
Wright State has won 22 of the 42 meetings against YSU in a
series that dates back to 1979. YSU beat its old Mid-Continent
Conference foe 18 of the first 22 times, but Wright State has had
the edge lately. The Raiders have won eight straight against YSU,
including two three-point games last year.
Scouting Wright State
Coupled with a win at Cleveland State and YSU's win over
Detroit, Wright State is second in the league standings. Four of
its six league wins have been by three points or fewer. Freshman
Kim Demmings averages 16.4 points, and Molly Fox averages 14.2
points and 9.5 rebounds. The Raiders rank third in the conference
in scoring offense with 65.6 points per game, and their .351 field
goal percentage defense leads the league. Mike Bradbury is in his
second year as head coach.
Last Game: W, 80-67 vs. Detroit
Kenya Middlebrooks set YSU's single-game record with eight
3-pointers and scored a career-high 30 points to lead YSU to an
80-67 win over Detroit on Thursday at Beeghly Center.
Middlebrooks scored 24 of her 30 points in the final 16:20 of
the game. She was 8-for-10 from 3, and one of her misses came from
well beyond 25 feet at the end of the shot clock. YSU shot
15-for-25 from the arc as a team to tie the school record for makes
in a game.
YSU led just 41-36 when Middlebrooks hit three treys in 2:39 to
give the Guins a 50-40 lead. Wright State made the deficit eight
points four times before back-to-back 3s from Monica Touvelle and
Middlebrooks put the Guins up by double digits for good.
YSU led by 20 twice before Detroit scored the final seven points
of the contest. The Penguins never trailed and led by as many as 13
in the first half.
- Kenya Middlebrooks's 30 points topped her previous career high
of 27, which she set at Akron earlier this year. She is the fifth
YSU player since 2000-01 to score at least 30 points in a
game.
- Middlebrooks was previously the only player in school history
to make seven 3s in two different games.
- YSU's .571 shooting percentage was its best since shooting 57.4
percent at Green Bay on Feb. 16, 2006.
- Sophomore Melissa Thompson scored a career-high 14 points and
made her first career start. She was 5-for-9 from the field.
- Brandi Brown scored 16 points in 20 minutes before fouling
out.
- YSU led the whole game for the third time this year (Western
Michigan, Cleveland State).
- YSU's 35 points in the first half matched its highest total
since scoring 36 against Northern Iowa on Nov. 26.
- The Guins improved to 6-0 this season when leading at halftime.
YSU's last halftime lead came against Cleveland State on Dec.
31.
- Detroit held a 37-24 rebounding edge, which included 19
offensive boards. The Titans turned that into a 19-3 advantage in
second-chance points.
Last Time vs. Wright State • L, 70-67
Youngstown State battled all afternoon but couldn't hang on at
Wright State, losing 70-67 in the final 12 seconds.
The Guins had a 67-66 lead with 13 seconds remaining. Maryum
Jenkins missed the front end of a one-and-one and fouled WSU's
Shaunda Sandifer on the rebound. Sandifer hit both free throws, and
Monica Touvelle's go-ahead 3-point attempt was blocked by Molly
Fox. LaShawna Thomas hit two free throws with 0.9 seconds left, and
YSU did not get another shot off.
Thomas scored a career-high 35 points, and Brandi Brown scored
20 for YSU. The Guins were outscored by 16 at the free-throw line
and 11 on second-chance points.
YSU led 11-0, but Wright State scored 19 straight points to go
up 21-13 with 10:35 left.
Guins Equal W's in Last Three Years
YSU's 80-67 victory over Detroit on Thursday gave it nine wins
this season. That matches the win total of the previous three
seasons combined. The Penguins were 6-24 last year in coach Bob
Boldon's first year, 0-30 in 2009-10 and 3-27 in 2008-09. YSU's
highest win total since 2000 is 14 in 2007-08. The Guins had five
straight 20-win seasons and went to three NCAA Tournaments from
1995-96 to 1999-2000.
Draining 3s in Home League Games
In its four Horizon League home games, Youngstown State has made
51 3-pointers – an average of 12.75 per contest. Those 51
triples are more than half of the season total for three different
conference teams. YSU made 12 treys against Cleveland State, 10
versus Loyola, 14 against UIC and 15 versus Detroit. The Penguins
are shooting 40.8 percent from distance in home league
contests.
3-Point Barrage vs. Detroit
YSU tied a school record with 15 3-pointers against Detroit on
Thursday. The only other two times the Guins hit 15 treys were at
IPFW on Jan. 18, 2005, and against Clemson on Dec. 19, 2003. YSU
was 15-for-23 against IPFW, slightly better than its 15-for-25
effort versus Detroit. Only 16 teams in the country have made at
least 15 3-pointers in a game this season.
Playing Good "D" Is The Key
Five of Youngstown State's eight Horizon League opponents have
shot at least 48 percent, and YSU is 0-5 in those contests. The
other three opponents shot 30, 34 and 42.9 percent, which were all
in YSU wins. In contrast, only two of YSU's 11 non-conference foes
shot at least 42 percent. YSU is 6-2 when holding opponents to
under 40 percent shooting.
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 8.7 3-pointers made and 26.6 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. YSU's 151 treys in 2011-12 are already the ninth-most for a
season in school history. More than 47 percent of YSU's field-goal
attempts are from beyond the 3-point arc. The Guins' shooting
percentage from distance is .329 this season, up from .276 last
season.
Guins Among NCAA's Best at 3s
Through games completed on Jan. 26, YSU ranks fifth in the
country with 8.7 3-pointers made per game. Florida Gulf Coast, led
by YSU head coach Bob Boldon's mentor Karl Smesko, leads the nation
with 11.8 treys per game.
YSU is the country's only Division I school 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 sixth in the country
with 9.3 treys per game.
Needing First Half Offense
YSU has trailed at halftime in eight of its last 10 contests and
has lost in six of those eight games. For the year, the Penguins
are 6-0 when leading at halftime and 3-10 when trailing. YSU is
shooting 11.6 percent better and averaging 9.9 more points in the
second half. Brandi Brown averages 11.8 points in the second half
and 5.2 in the first half.
Benefit of Balanced Scoring
For the first time in nine seasons, YSU has at least three
players averaging double figures in points. Brandi Brown leads the
Guins with 17.0 points per game, and she's gotten help in the
scoring column from Kenya Middlebrooks's 11.6 points and from Heidi
Schlegel's 10.3 points. Brown was the only player that averaged
more than 10 points last year with 19.9 per game.
Road Success Has Been Key
YSU has been particularly successful on the road with six wins
in 11 tries this season. With at least five 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 19.6 points and 9.0 rebounds in eight 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 tied-for-seventh in rebounding.
Middlebrooks is Money from 3
Youngstown State senior guard Kenya Middlebrooks ranks seventh
in school history with 138 career 3-pointers in 109 games. She has
52 in 19 games this year and leads the Horizon League with 2.7
3-pointers per game.
Middlebrooks had just 28 triples in 139 attempts in the first 66
games of her career – 0.4 per game and 20.1 percent shooting.
She has 110 makes in 294 attempts over her last 43 games – an
average of 2.6 per game and 37.4 percent.
Middlebrooks made eight 3-pointers against Detroit on Jan. 26 to
set a new school record. Previously, she was the only YSU player to
make seven 3-pointers twice.
Thompson Makes Most of Minutes
Redshirt sophomore Melissa Thompson made her first career start
against Detroit on Thursday and responded to score a career-high 14
points. She was 5-for-9 from the field, including 2-for-5 from
beyond the arc, in 20 minutes. The only other time she played at
least 20 minutes was at Akron on Dec. 18, and she scored 12 points
in 26 minutes in that contest.
Fickiesen's Strong Start to Career
Freshman guard Kelsea Fickiesen has had a very solid start to
her promising career. She has started four of the past six games
and averages 19.6 minutes. Fickiesen ranks second on the team in
field-goal percentage (.440) and assists (34) while ranking third
in steals (26).
Nortey Efficient at Point
Senior guard Macey Nortey is having, by far, the most efficient
season of her career. Nortey has 70 assists and just 48 turnovers
this year for a career-best 1.5 assist-to-turnover ratio. Her
previous best was 1.1 last year. Her 1.9 assist-to-turnover ratio
in Horizon League games (38:20) leads the conference.
Brown A Regular in Double Figures
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 45 of the last 49 games dating back to
the star of last year. She's scored at least 20 points in 24 of
those 49 games.
Nortey, Middlebrooks Experienced
Seniors Macey Nortey and Kenya Middlebrooks are two of the most
experienced players in the Horizon League. Middlebrooks has played
the fourth-most career minutes in the league, and Nortey is sixth
on the list. Middlebrooks has played 3,217 minutes in her career,
which is the fourth-most in school history. Nortey's 3,092 minutes
rank ninth in school history.
Up Next
YSU will host Valpo on Thursday at 7:05 p.m.
