The Youngstown State women's basketball team will welcome nearby rival Akron to Beeghly Center on Thursday at 7:05 p.m. for the final game before holiday break. Live audio will be broadcast on 570 WKBN and iHeartRadio, and live video will be available on the HLN through YSUsports.com. This will be the 51st meeting between the Penguins and Zips in a series that dates back to 1976. YSU is coming off a 90-57 loss at No. 25/22 West Virginia on Sunday while Akron lost 90-59 at home to No. 16/15 Dayton on Tuesday evening.
Against WVU, the Penguins saw the Mountaineers hit eight of their first nine field goal attempts and were never able to recover. YSU's deficit was nine through 10 minutes before the Mountaineers ended the first half on a 19-8. The Penguins trimmed a 27-point lead down to 16 in the second half and remained competitive until WVU outscored them 21-7 in the final six minutes. Heidi Schlegel led the Penguins with 13 points, and Brandi Brown kept her double-digit scoring streak alive with 12 points.
Brown surpassed 1,600 career points in the WVU game, and she needs 11 rebounds to reach 1,000 for her career. She'd be just the third player in YSU history to reach 1,000 rebounds, and she'd become the fourth Horizon League player to record 1,500 points and 1,000 rebounds. Brown is fourth in the conference in scoring at 19.2 points per game, and her seven double-doubles rank fourth in the country.
Akron ranked 13th in the country in scoring offense heading into Tuesday's contest with Dayton, and the Zips started a season 8-2 (now 8-3) for the first time in 17 years. Rachel Tecca is a WNBA prospect who averages 20.2 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.1 blocks. Hanna Luburgh averages 16.9 points, and Sina King adds 14 points and 9.3 rebounds.
Youngstown State will host Bucknell on Dec. 29 at 4:35 p.m.
Tickets
Tickets are available for purchase on YSUsports.com, by phone at (330) 941-1YSU, and at the main YSU Athletics Ticket Office in Stambaugh Stadium until 5 p.m. on Thursday. The Beeghly Center ticket office will open at 6 p.m. on Thursday.
Scouting Akron
Akron dropped to 8-3 with a 90-59 loss at home to No. 16/15 Dayton on Tuesday evening. The Zips' other two losses came by one point at Saint Francis (Pa.) and by two points at home to Wright State. Akron had the 13th-best scoring offense in the country heading into this week and is averaging 76.3 points per game. Junior forward Rachel Tecca is considered to be a WNBA prospect, and she's averaging 20.2 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game. She missed the final 22 games of last season due to an injury, the first of which was a 78-72 loss to YSU on Dec. 18. Hanna Luburgh averages 16.9 points, and Sina King adds 14 points and 9.3 rebounds per game.
Series vs. Akron
Youngstown State owns a 37-13 edge over Akron in the all-time series that dates back to 1976. The only opponent the Penguins have played more in their history is Cleveland State. The teams have played every season since 1996-97, and the Penguins have gone 12-4 in those contests. YSU has posted two eight-game winning streaks and two seven-game winning streaks against the Zips. The Penguins are 16-5 at home against Akron.
Last Time vs. Akron
Kenya Middlebrooks scored a career-high 27 points as YSU rallied from a 13-point second-half deficit to beat Akron 78-72 on Dec. 18, 2011. Middlebrooks scored 13 of her points in the final four minutes, and YSU scored 51 points and shot 60 percent after halftime.
The Guins trailed 60-47 with nine minutes remaining and by eight with five minutes left. YSU closed the game by outscoring the Zips 13-1. Middlebrooks' 3-pointer with 1:45 left gave YSU its first lead of the second half.
Brandi Brown finished with 15 points and 14 rebounds, including 10 of each in the second half. Melissa Thompson added a then-career-high 12 points after having 11 points total in the first nine games.
