The Youngstown State women's basketball team will try to break
even on its Chicago trip by beating Loyola on Saturday. Tipoff at
the renovated Gentile Arena is set for 5 p.m. Eastern. The game
will be broadcast live on 1390 WNIO and the Horizon League Network.
The Penguins suffered through two crucial cold spells on Thursday
in their 70-62 loss at UIC. The Ramblers trailed by as many as 11
before losing 67-65 to Cleveland State on Thursday.
Top Storylines
- YSU has matched its Horizon League win total from last season
at four. Two of YSU's league losses have come in overtime, and
another was by a go-ahead 3-pointer with 2.3 seconds left.
- YSU is averaging 10.3 3-pointers in Horizon League play and 9.0
per game overall. The Penguins rank fifth in the nation in
3-pointers per game and have already broken the school record for
3-pointers in a season, which was set last year.
- With their 10-13 start, the Penguins have surpassed 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 is a season-worst three games under .500.
- The Penguins have never won at Gentile Arena in 12 tries. They
lost 49-47 in the Horizon League Tournament in the last meeting at
the "Joe".
- YSU is 6-6 in road games this season. The six wins are tied for
the most by a Penguins team in the last 12 years. YSU was 1-45
combined on the road in the last three seasons.
- The Guins average 10.9 more points and shoot 12.2 percent
higher in the second half than the first. In conference play, they
average 13.6 more points and shoot 14.3 percent higher.
Series With Loyola
Loyola leads the all-time series with YSU 18-5, including 12-0
in Chicago. Loyola won the first seven meetings and had won six
consecutive games against YSU until the Penguins prevailed 84-65
last year on senior day. Loyola then beat YSU 49-47 two days later
in the opening round of the Horizon League Tournament at Gentile
Arena. The Ramblers won 82-77 in Youngstown earlier this year.
Scouting Loyola
Loyola has lost four of its last five games after its 67-65
setback to Cleveland State on Thursday. The Ramblers' win during
the stretch was at Wright State. Loyola has a balanced offense with
four players averaging at least 10.7 points and four who average
more than two assists. Freshman forward Simone Law leads the
Ramblers with 14.4 points and 7.3 rebounds. Loyola ranks fourth in
the country in 3-point field-goal percentage at 39.4 percent. The
Ramblers were 0-for-8 from beyond the arc on Thursday.
Last Game: L, 70-62 at UIC
YSU had a lengthy shooting drought in both halves and couldn't
complete a rally attempt in a 70-62 loss at UIC on Thursday.
YSU missed 15 straight shots early in the first half, and it had
a five-minute scoring drought in the second half after trimming a
19-point deficit down to seven.
The Penguins shot 55.6 percent in the second half and 36.9
percent overall despite its cold stretches. UIC shot 52.8 percent
overall and 62.1 percent in the first half.
Monica
Touvelle finished with 13 points to lead YSU, and Kenya
Middlebrooks had 10 of her 12 in the second half. Kiara
Strickland scored a career-high 26 points for UIC.
- Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year Brandi Brown was
held to one point and three rebounds. She was 0-for-6 from the
field and 1-for-2 from the free-throw line. Brown attempted one
field goal – from 3-point rage – in the second
half.
- Kelsea
Fickiesen one of her best all-around games of the season. She
had nine points, four assists, four rebounds, two steals and a
block. She played without her protective face mask for the first
time this season.
- After YSU started 1-for-16, the Penguins shot 46.9 percent the
rest of the game.
- The Penguins made five 3s in each half for 10 in the game.
They've made double digits in 3-pointers seven times in 12 Horizon
League games and nine times overall.
- Macey
Nortey went 1-for-1 from 3-point range. She has made each of
her last four attempts from beyond the arc and hasn't missed since
Jan. 5.
- Behind 13 points from Monica Touvelle and eight from Heidi Schlegel,
YSU's bench outscored UIC's 29-12.
- YSU committed a season-low eight turnovers, and no player had
more than two.
- The Penguins scored on their first possession of the game but
didn't score again until the 13:10 mark. UIC had scored 13 straight
points by that time.
Last Time vs. Loyola • L, 77-68
Some late hot shooting by YSU made things interesting, but the
Guins ran out of time in an 82-77 setback to Loyola on Thursday
night.
Loyola, which held an 11-point edge at halftime, led by as many
as 18 early in the second half. The Ramblers were still up by 13
with two-and-a-half minutes left when YSU hit four consecutive
3-pointers and five straight field goals overall to get within four
with 11 seconds left.
Simone Law and Monica Albano combined for 33 of Loyola's 47
points in the second half. Brandi Brown scored 20 of her game-high
26 points in the second half.
The Penguins scored 53 points in the second half, including 15
points in the final 2:26. They shot 50 percent in the second half
after shooting 25.8 percent in the first half.
Up Next
YSU will return home to host Milwaukee on Thursday. The Penguins
will participate in the WBCA's Play 4Kay initiative to raise funds
and awareness for the Kay Yow Cancer Fund.
