The Youngstown State women's basketball team will go on the road
for the first time in three weeks when it plays at UIC on Thursday.
Tipoff at the UIC Pavilion is set for 8 p.m. Eastern, and the game
will be broadcast live on 1390 WNIO and the Horizon League Network.
Both teams are coming off close losses on Saturday. YSU lost 65-63
when Butler hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 2.3 seconds left, and UIC
lost 62-57 in overtime at Detroit. The Flames beat the Penguins
77-68 in overtime in Youngstown on Jan. 14.
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 10.4 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 are eight treys shy of breaking the school
record for 3s in a season, which was set last year.
- With their 10-12 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 6-5 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 10.7 more points and shoot 11.2 percent
higher in the second half than the first. In conference play, they
average 13.4 more points and shoot 12.2 percent higher.
- Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year Brandi Brown is
averaging 19.2 points and 8.6 rebounds in league play. She moved
into ninth place on YSU's all-time scoring last and surpassed 800
career rebounds last week.
Series With UIC
UIC owns a 16-9 edge in the all-time series with YSU that dates
back to 1993 when the teams were both members of the Mid-Continent
Conference. The Penguins won five of the first six contests, but
UIC won the next eight. YSU beat the Flames 72-58 at Beeghly Center
last March to snap a five-game skid, and UIC won 77-68 in overtime
in Youngstown earlier this year.
Scouting UIC
UIC lost road games at Wright State and Detroit last week to
drop to 13-9 overall and 6-5 in Horizon League play. The Flames had
won four straight, starting with their overtime win at YSU on Jan.
14. Senior Jasmine Bailey is a conference player-of-the-year
candidate, averaging 18.4 points, 9.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists.
Shamiea Green averaged 15.9 points while Kiara Strickland is
averaging 12.1 points. Taylor Foulks made seven 3s against YSU
earlier this year and has averaged 2.7 treys in league play. Regina
Miller is in her first year as head coach.
Last Game: L, 65-63 vs. Butler
Mandy McDivitt made a deep 3-pointer with 2.3 seconds remaining
to give Butler a 65-63 victory over YSU on Saturday at Beeghly
Center.
YSU, which trailed by nine with 14 minutes left, battled back to
go ahead 63-62 on two Brandi Brown free throws with 28.7 seconds
left. The Guins stopped Bulldogs on their ensuing possession, and
Heidi Schlegel missed the front end of a one-and-one to set up
McDivitt's game winner. YSU did not get a shot off on its last
possession.
Brown scored a game-high 23 points, and Schlegel added 13. Devin
Brierly had 22 points, and McDivitt added 18 on six 3s for
Butler.
- McDivitt came into the game 27-for-101 from 3-point range for
the season and made 6-of-13 during the contest.
- Butler made a season-high 12 treys and was making just 5.6
triples per game coming in.
- Butler outscored YSU 17-8 off turnovers despite committing just
one fewer miscue.
- Brandi Brown moved into ninth place on YSU's career scoring
chart with her 23-point effort. It was her ninth 20-point game of
the season, including her seventh in 11 Horizon League contests.
She also surpassed 800 career rebounds.
- Heidi Schlegel matched her career high with three 3-pointers
made.
- Tieara Jones came off the bench to score four points to go
along with a team-high five assists.
- YSU was 11-for-22 from 3-point range, and four different
Penguins made at least two treys. The Guins sank at least 10 treys
for the sixth time in seven home league games.
- The Guins led 27-19 after an 11-0 run in the first half. They
scored just six points over the next 12 minutes as Butler took a
44-35 lead.
- YSU recorded a season-low three steals.
- The Penguins lost for the first time this season when posting a
higher shooting percentage than their opponent.
- YSU was 10-for-17 from the free-throw line.
Last Time vs. UIC • L, 77-68
YSU scored seven points in the final 62 seconds of regulation to
force overtime, but UIC outscored the Penguins 14-5 in the extra
period and won 76-68 on Jan. 14.
Kenya Middlebrooks and Monica Touvelle hit 3-pointers, and
Kelsea Fickiesen hit a tying free throw with 11.3 seconds left. She
stole a pass and missed a shot at the buzzer in regulation.
UIC's Taylor Foulks hit two of her seven 3-pointers to start
overtime, and a Touvelle trey made the score 69-66. That's as close
as YSU would get.
Brandi Brown led all players with 25 points and eight rebounds,
and Touvelle had a career-high 19 points.
UIC shot 56 percent and was 13-of-16 from the line. YSU shot
42.6 percent and was 2-for-7 from the stripe. The Penguins, who
made 14 3s, trailed by as many as 12 with 11 minutes left. YSU led
11-3 before UIC went on a 12-0 run during a six-minute scoring
drought.
Guins Don't Go Down Easy
Twice last week, YSU demonstrated that it is not going to go
down without a fight. On Saturday, YSU rallied from a nine-point
deficit with just over 13 minutes to play to take 63-62 lead on
Butler with 30 seconds left. YSU ultimately lost 65-62. On Jan. 28,
YSU rallied to force overtime despite trailing the Wright State by
10 with fewer than four minutes left. 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.
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). YSU's highest win
total since 2000 is 14 in 2007-08. That team was 12-12 before
losing five of its last seven games.
Draining 3s in League Games
In its 11 Horizon League games, YSU has made 114 3-pointers
– an average of 10.4 per game. That is 3.2 more per game than
any other team is averaging in conference play. The Penguins have
made at least 10 3-pointers in each of their seven conference home
games and have sank at least eight three times in four road games.
Three Horizon League teams have made fewer than 114 treys the
entire season. YSU is shooting 35.4 percent from distance in league
play, up from 29.7 percent in non-conference games.
Playing Good "D" Is The Key
Five of YSU's 11 Horizon League opponents have shot at least 44
percent, and YSU is 0-6 in those contests. The other four opponents
shot 30, 34, 39.1, 39.2 and 42.9 percent, and YSU is 4-1 in those
games. YSU is 7-3 when holding opponents to under 40 percent
shooting and 9-1 when shooting better than its opponent.
3-Point Barrage vs. Detroit
YSU tied a school record with 15 3-pointers against Detroit on
Jan. 26. The only other two times the Guins hit 15 treys were at
IPFW on Jan. 18, 2005, and against Clemson on Dec. 19, 2003. Only
18 teams in the country have made at least 15 3-pointers in a game
this season.
Shooting/Making 3s at Record Pace
YSU is averaging 9.0 3-pointers made and 27.5 attempts. On
average, they made 6.8 per game and attempted 24.8 last year on the
way to school-record totals in both categories. YSU's 198 treys in
2011-12 are already the third-most for a season in school history
– seven shy of the record – and its 605 attempts are
the second-most. More than 49 percent of YSU's field-goal attempts
are from beyond the 3-point arc. YSU's shooting percentage from
distance is .327 this season, up from .276 last season.
Guins Among NCAA's Best at 3s
Through games completed on Feb. 5, YSU ranks fifth in the
country with 9.0 3-pointers made per game. Florida Gulf Coast, led
by YSU head coach Bob Boldon's mentor Karl Smesko, leads the nation
with 11.0 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 tied-for-fifth in the
country with 9.1 treys per game.
YSU: A Second-Half Team
Last Thursday's win against Valparaiso once again showed that
YSU is a second-half team. The Penguins scored 43 points in the
second half, more than double their 21 in the first half. YSU
averages 10.7 more points and shoots 11.2 percent better in the
second half. The Guins have scored more points in the first half
than the second half just once this year. On five occasions, they
have scored 20 more points in the second half than in the first.
YSU is 7-0 when leading at halftime and 3-12 when trailing.
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,
and they'll match their road-win total from the past four seasons
with their next road victory.
Brown is Ninth on Scoring List
With her back-to-back 20-point efforts last week, junior forward
Brandi Brown has moved into ninth place on YSU's all-time scorers
list. Brown has scored 1,316 points in her 82 career games for an
average of 16 per game, which is the fourth-best in YSU history.
Brown also ranks sixth in school history in career rebounds with
804.
Middlebrooks is Money from 3
Senior Kenya Middlebrooks ranks sixth in school history with 143
career 3-pointers in 112 games. She has 57 in 22 games this year
and leads the Horizon League with 2.7 3-pointers per game.
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 115
makes in 311 attempts over her last 46 games – an average of
2.5 per game and 37 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.
Nortey Efficient at Point
Senior guard Macey Nortey is having, by far, the most efficient
season of her career. Nortey has 81 assists and just 55 turnovers
this year for a career-best 1.5 assist-to-turnover ratio. Her
previous best was 1.1 last year. Her 1.8 assist-to-turnover ratio
in Horizon League games (49:27) leads the conference.
Fickiesen's Strong Start to Career
Freshman Kelsea Fickiesen has had a very solid start to her
career. She has started seven league games and averages 19.2
minutes. Fickiesen leads YSU in field-goal percentage (.462) and
ranks second in assists (36) and blocks (5) and third in steals
(28). She has scored at least eight points in six of the last eight
games.
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
6.5), and she's upped her shooting percentage from 28.7 percent to
41 percent. Touvelle is 40-for-103 from 3-point range, which gives
her the fourth most ever by a YSU sophomore.
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 3,314 minutes in her career,
which is the third-most in school history. Nortey's 3,168 minutes
rank sixth in school history.
Up Next
YSU will play Loyola on the North side of Chicago on Saturday.
Tipoff at the Ramblers' Gentile Arena is set for 5 p.m.
Eastern.
