The Youngstown State women's basketball team will try to rebound
from Thursday night's loss when it takes on Valparaiso on Saturday
afternoon. Tipoff against the Crusaders at the Athletics-Recreation
Center is set for 2:35 p.m. Eastern. The game will be broadcast
live on 570 WKBN and the Horizon League Network. YSU is coming off
a 73-64 loss at Butler while Valparaiso dropped a 49-45 decision to
Cleveland State on Thursday.
Top Storylines
- The Penguins have already surpassed their win total from all of
last season with their 7-6 start. The Penguins were 3-57 combined
in the two years prior to coach Bob Boldon's arrival. YSU last had
seven wins in its first 13 games in 2007-08.
- The Penguins finished with 11 wins in 2011. They had three wins
combined in 2009 and 2010.
- YSU has opened the Horizon League slate 2-1 twice in its
previous 10 years in the conference – 2007-08 and
2001-02.
- Dating back to last season, YSU has won 10 of its last 20 games
and nine of its last 16. Prior to 20 games ago, YSU had won just
six of its previous 83 games. Two of those six wins came against
Valparaiso.
- YSU's scoring margin is plus-0.1 this year. That's improved
from minus-10.6 last year and minus-25.8 two years ago.
- Through games completed on Jan. 5, YSU ranks ninth in the
country with 8.1 3-pointers per game.
- Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year Brandi Brown leads
the league in rebounding (10.6 rpg) and ranks third in scoring
(16.3 ppg). She's had 23 points and 12 rebounds in each of YSU's
first two conference contests.
Series With Valparaiso
Youngstown State owns a 16-13 lead in the all-time series
against Valparaiso. The Penguins have won two straight games
against the Crusaders and three of the last five meetings. The
teams competed against each other in the Mid-Continent Conference
from 1992-93 to 2000-01, and the rivalry was renewed in the Horizon
League in 2007-08. YSU beat Valpo twice in the Mid-Con Tournament
title game – 1997-98 and 1999-2000.
Scouting Valpo
Valparaiso has started Horizon League play 0-3 with losses to
Wright State, Detroit and Cleveland State. The Crusaders are 4-10
overall and had won three of four entering conference play.
Sophomore Tabitha Gerardot averages 12.1 points and 6.9 rebounds,
and fellow forward Ashley Varner averages 11.3 points and 9.3
rebounds. The Crusaders lead the conference in scoring defense
(56.6 ppg), but they rank last in scoring offense (53.6 ppg).
Last Game: L, 73-64 at Butler
Butler used a 19-5 run in the second half and got 14 second-half
points from Devin Brierly in a 73-64 win over YSU on Thursday.
YSU grabbed its first lead of the second half at 49-48 with
10:08 remaining, but the Penguins did not make another field goal
for almost four minutes. By that time, Butler had gone on a 12-2
spurt as part of its 19-5 stretch. The Bulldogs had one 3-pointer
in the first 30 minutes and five in the final 10 minutes.
YSU's Brandi Brown had 23 points and 12 rebounds, both of which
were game highs. Heidi Schlegel and Monica Touvelle had 11
points.
- Butler shot a season-high 50 percent and was one point away
from its highest scoring total of the season.
- Touvelle was 4-for-5 from the field, including 3-for-4 from
3-point range. She's 8-for-9 from the field in Horizon League
games.
- Brown finished with 23 points and 12 rebounds for the second
straight game. She notched her fourth straight double-double. YSU's
other nine players accounted for 16 rebounds.
- In the 31 minutes Brown was in the game, YSU was outrebounded
by five. In the nine minutes she was out, YSU was outrebounded by
eight.
Last Time vs. Valparaiso: W, 79-76
Brandi Brown scored 28 points and Kenya Middlebrooks added 23 as
YSU earned a 79-76 win on Feb. 12, 2011, at Beeghly Center.
YSU led 73-64 with 1:12 remaining, but Valpo made it a
one-possession game at the end.
Valpo's Ashley Timmerman scored eight points in the final
minute, and she had a shot at the buzzer that went off the rim.
Middlebrooks scored 18 of her points in the second half on six
3-pointers. She hit seven for the game, tying the school record for
3-pointers in a game.
The Guins came out making 11 of their first 13 shots and seized
the early momentum by taking a 22-10 lead eight minutes into the
game.
Guins Surpass 2010-11 Win Total
Youngstown State has already reached its win total from the
2010-11 season with its 7-6 start. The Penguins were 6-24 last year
and went a combined 3-57 the previous two seasons. YSU last won at
least seven of its first 13 games in 1999-2000, which was the last
time the Penguins won 20 games and advanced to the NCAA
Tournament.
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 Penguins with 16.3 points per game, and she's
gotten help in the scoring column from Heidi Schlegel's 11.2 points
and Kenya Middlebrooks' 10.2 points. Brown was the only player that
averaged more than 10 points last year with 19.9 per game.
Shooting 40 Percent Regularly
Youngstown State has shot at least 40 percent in seven of its
last nine games. The Penguins had shot at least 40 percent in six
straight games prior to Christmas before shooting 25.9 percent at
Stony Brook. YSU shot 43.8 percent against Cleveland State last
Saturday and 35.8 percent against Butler on Thursday. YSU's
six-game 40-percent streak was its best since 2000-01.
Guins Have Come Far in 20 Games
Dating back to last season, YSU has won 10 of its last 20 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 20 games, YSU has
averaged 64 points, which is 12.8 points higher than the previous
83. It is also holding opponents to 63.1 points, a decrease of 8.7
points. The average difference in scoring margin is 21.5 points.
The Penguins have shot at least 40 percent in 13 of those 20 games
after shooting at least 40 percent just 16 times in the previous 83
contests.
Road Success Has Been Key
The Penguins have been particularly successful on the road with
five wins in eight tries this season. The Penguins had one road win
combined over the past three seasons. YSU won five straight on the
road from Nov. 13 to Dec. 18. The last time YSU won five straight
road games was in 1997-98, and freshmen Kelsea Fickiesen and Ashley
Lawson were a year from starting kindergarten.
- Last year at Valparaiso, YSU snapped a 39-game road losing
streak with its 61-55 win. It also ended a 22-game Horizon League
losing streak.
Touvelle Has Hot Touch
Sophomore Monica Touvelle has started the Horizon League season
by making eight of her nine attempts from the field. She was
4-for-4 – all from 3-point range – against Cleveland
State last Saturday. She was 4-for-5, including 3-for-4 from
distance, at Butler on Thursday. For the year, Touvelle ranks sixth
in the Horizon League in 3-point percentage at .431. Her 1.7
3-pointers per game also ranks sixth. She has made a trey in 11 of
YSU's 13 games.
Brown Starts With Two 23-12 Games
Youngstown State junior Brandi Brown has started Horizon League
play with back-to-back games of 23 points and 12 rebounds. The
conference preseason player of the year was 7-for-11 from the field
and 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in the league opener against
Cleveland State on Dec. 31. She was 6-for-16 from the floor and
9-for-10 from the charity stripe against Butler on
Thursday. Brown has gone 5-for-9 from 3-point range in the two
conference games and is 8-for-18 over the last four contests. She
was 2-for-20 from the arc through the first nine games.
Up Next
Youngstown State returns home next week for two games. The
Penguins will welcome Loyola to Beeghly Center on Thursday at 7:05
p.m.
