With its eyes set on earning a home playoff game, the Youngstown
State women's basketball team will start its regular-season-ending
road swing at Wright State on Thursday. Tipoff against the Raiders
at the Nutter Center is set for 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast
live on 1390 WNIO and the Horizon League Network. YSU will have to
win at least one of its final three contests to earn a home
postseason game, and it has the third-place Raiders, second-place
Detroit and seventh-place Cleveland State left on its slate. YSU is
coming off a 77-72 overtime loss to No. 11/12 Green Bay, and Wright
State beat Detroit 91-82 in its last game.
Top Storylines
- Five of YSU's last six Horizon League losses have been by five
points or fewer. Two were in overtime to third-place Wright State
and No. 11/12 Green Bay, and another was by a go-ahead 3-pointer
with 2.3 seconds left.
- YSU is averaging 10.9 3-pointers in Horizon League play and 9.5
per game overall. The Penguins rank tied-for-third in the nation in
3-pointers per game and have already broken the school record for
3-pointers in a season by 42.
- With three Horizon League games left, the Penguins have already
surpassed the previous record for 3-pointers made in conference
play by 33.
- With their 10-16 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.
- Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year Brandi Brown is
averaging 18.2 points and 8.6 rebounds in league play. She ranks
ninth in YSU history in points and sixth in rebounds.
- Kenya Middlebrooks leads the Horizon League with 2.7 3-pointers
per game.
Series With Wright State
Wright State has won 23 of the 43 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 nine straight against YSU,
but the Penguins have been very close the last three contests. YSU
lost by three twice last year and by five in overtime this
January.
Scouting Wright State
Wright State is currently tied for second with Detroit in the
Horizon League standings with a 10-4 mark in conference play.
Wright State is coming off a 91-82 victory over Detroit on
Thursday. The Raiders own the conference's second-best scoring
offense, and they lead the league in defensive rebounds and
field-goal percentage defense. Freshman guard Kim Demmings averages
17.2 point, 5.9 rebounds and 4.3 assists, and she takes more than
26 percent of the Raiders' shots.
Last Game: L, 77-72 vs. Green Bay
No. 11/12 Green Bay outscored YSU 11-1 in the final 51 seconds
of regulation and 11-6 in overtime to escape with a 77-72 win on
the Penguins' Senior Day on Saturday.
Two Kenya Middlebrooks free throws put YSU ahead 64-55 with 59
seconds left, and the Penguins still led 65-57 with 36 seconds
left. Adrian Ritchie hit a 3 for Green Bay, and she converted a
three-point play after a YSU turnover to make the score 65-63.
Kelsea Fickiesen split a pair of free throws to put YSU up
three, and Ritchie made three free throws with 19 seconds left to
tie the score. Green Bay went on to score nine of the first 10
points in overtime.
Kenya Middlebrooks scored 22 points in her final regular-season
home game, and Brandi Brown added 21 points and 19 rebounds.
- Green Bay beat YSU by 25 earlier this year and by 59 last
February.
- YSU nearly picked up its first win over a ranked team since
2006.
- Both teams scored 21 points off turnovers. Green Bay held a
33-5 edge off turnovers in the first meeting this year.
- YSU won the rebounding battle for the first time in nine
games.
- The Penguins' 12 3-pointers extended their streak of making
double digits to five games. Green Bay had not allowed more than 11
heading into the game.
- Brandi Brown's 19 rebounds tied her previous career high, which
was set at Loyola her freshman year. She scored at least 20 points
for the fifth time in six games.
- Kenya Middlebrooks scored 22 points and hit five 3-pointers.
She had 21 points and three triples combined in her first seven
career games against Green Bay.
- Senior Macey Nortey made the 100th start of her career. She had
not started the previous nine games.
- Kelsea Fickiesen scored 12 points and reached at least eight
points for the ninth time in the last 12 games.
Last Time vs. WSU: L, 71-66 in OT
Macey Nortey scored five points in the final 46 seconds to force
overtime, but YSU lost 71-66 to Wright State on Jan. 28 at Beeghly
Center.
YSU trailed by as many as 15 in the second half and by 10 with
3:51 left. The Raiders led 59-54 before Nortey hit a trey and added
a tying lay-up with 0.2 seconds remaining.
Kim Demmings scored Wright State's first 10 points of overtime,
including a three-point play with 50 seconds left with the score
tied at 66. She finished with 25 points, 14 rebounds and nine
assists.
Brandi Brown led YSU with 11 points. Seven YSU players scored at
least eight points.
So Close, But...
Saturday's heart-breaking 77-72 loss to No. 11/12 Green Bay is
just the latest in a rough stretch of setbacks for the
Penguins.
Seven of YSU's 11 Horizon League losses have YSU have come in
overtime or by five points or fewer. Each of its last three losses
have been by five points. YSU previously lost overtime games to
third-ranked Wright State and fourth-ranked UIC, and it also
suffered a 65-63 defeat against fifth-ranked Butler by a go-ahead
3-pointer with 2.3 seconds left.
YSU has showed that it is not going to go down without a fight.
On six occasions this year, the Guins have trailed by double digits
in the second half and have taken the lead or got within one
possession of tying the score.
Looking at the Big Picture
Although YSU has hit a slide of stinging close losses lately,
it's hard to ignore the improvements that the program has made
under second-year head coach Bob Boldon. Just two years ago, YSU
went 0-30 and lost games on average by 25.8 points. Only two
Horizon League games in 2009-10 had a final margin fewer than 10
points. This season, YSU's scoring margin is minus-1.9, a
23.9-point improvement from two years ago. The Penguins have won 10
games, and their loss at Green Bay is the only setback in league
play by more than 10 points.
Offensive High Marks in 2011-12
- YSU's 39 percent field-goal shooting is its best since making
39.7 percent in 2004-05.
- The Penguins have already shattered the previous school record
for 3-pointers in a season by 42.
- YSU's .339 3-point percentage is its highest since .363 in
2004-05.
- YSU is averaging 64.9 points, which is its best averaging 66.0
points in 2001-02.
Offense More Prevalent in 2nd Half
YSU has scored more points in the second half than in the first
23 times in 26 games. For the year, YSU averages 9.2 more points
and shoots 10.4 percent higher in the second half than in the
first. Five times, YSU has scored 20 more points in the second half
than in the first. YSU is 7-2 when ahead at halftime and 3-14 when
trailing. Both of those losses came last week.
Guins Surpass W's of Last 3 Years
YSU's 64-58 win over Valparaiso on Feb. 2 gave it 10 wins this
season, which is one more than 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 (6-81 total).
Draining 3s in League Games
In its 15 Horizon League games, YSU has made 163 3-pointers
– an average of 10.9 per game. That is already a
league-record total, breaking the previous mark of 130, and 3.6
more per game than any other team is averaging in league play. Only
two other league teams have made at least 163 3s the entire season.
YSU is shooting 36.6 percent from distance in league play, up from
29.7 percent in non-conference games.
Guins Among NCAA's Best at 3s
Through Feb. 18, YSU ranks tied-for-third in the country with
9.5 3-pointers made per game. The Guins are tied with Fresno State,
and UT Martin is second with 10.0 per game. Florida Gulf Coast, led
by YSU head coach Bob Boldon's mentor Karl Smesko, leads the nation
with 11.1 per game. YSU is averaging 10.9 3-pointers in Horizon
League play. YSU is one of nine teams in the country that has made
at least 16 3s in a game this season.
New 3s Game Record at Loyola
YSU set a new school record by making 16 3s at Loyola on Feb.
11, breaking the old mark of 15 (which was matched earlier this
season). YSU has made at least 12 3-pointers seven times this year.
The Guins made 12-plus triples just eight times in the first 36
years of the program.
Guins Break 3s Season Record
With at least four games remaining on its schedule, YSU has
already broken the school record for 3-pointers made in a season.
The Guins have 247 this season, topping last season's record of
205. YSU is 16 shy of last year's record for attempts. More than 49
percent of YSU's field-goal attempts are from beyond the 3-point
arc.
Middlebrooks is Money from 3
Senior Kenya Middlebrooks ranks third in school history with 155
career 3-pointers in 116 games. She has 69 in 26 games this year
and leads the Horizon League with 2.7 3-pointers per game. Her 69
treys ranks tied-for-fourth on YSU's single season list.
Middlebrooks was just 28-for-139 in the first 66 games of her
career – 0.4 per game and 20.1 percent shooting. She has 127
makes in 346 attempts over her last 50 games – an average of
2.5 per game and 36.7 percent.
Middlebrooks made eight 3-pointers against Detroit on Jan. 26 to
set a new school record. Previously, she was one of two YSU players
to make seven 3-pointers twice.
Seniors' Careers Closing
YSU's senior class of Tieara Jones, Kenya Middlebrooks and Macey
Nortey is guaranteed just four more games. Jones joined the program
in 2009-10 and made her debut in 2010-11, and Middlebrooks and
Nortey have been mainstays the last four seasons.
- In two seasons, Jones established herself as one of the top
blockers in YSU history. Her 52 career blocks ranks as the
12th-most in school history, and her 39 last season rank seventh on
the yearly chart.
- Middlebrooks has developed into a top 3-point shooter in the
Horizon League. After making 26 treys total her first two seasons,
she sank 60 last year and has a league-high 69 this season. She
ranks third in YSU history with 155 career 3s.
- Nortey is one of six players in YSU history to start 100 games.
She ranks fourth in career minutes, sixth in starts, seventh in
assists, 15th in steals and 16th in free throws. This year she has
a career-best 1.6 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Brown is Ninth on Scoring List
Junior forward Brandi Brown has moved into ninth place on YSU's
all-time scorers list. Brown has scored 1,378 points in her 86
career games for an average of 16.0 per game, which is the
fourth-best in YSU history. She has scored at least 20 points in 10
of YSU's 15 league games, and she's been in double figures 51 times
in the last 56 games. Brown also ranks sixth in school history in
career rebounds with 838.
Fickiesen's Strong Start to Career
Freshman Kelsea Fickiesen has gotten off to a solid start in her
promising career. She has scored at least eight points in nine of
her last 12 games. Fickiesen leads YSU in field-goal percentage
(.442) and ranks second in assists (50) and blocks (7) and third in
steals (34). No freshman guard has ever led YSU in shooting
percentage for a season.
Touvelle Improving in Year Two
Monica Touvelle has shown a big improvement in her sophomore
year. She has more than doubled her scoring output (3.0 points to
6.3), and she's upped her shooting percentage from 28.7 percent to
40.6 percent. Touvelle is 46-for-120 from 3-point range, which
gives her the third-most makes ever by a YSU sophomore.
Up Next
YSU plays at Detroit on Saturday at 2:05 p.m.
