• Game Notes
• Coach Bob Boldon Comments
• Melissa Thompson Comments

The Youngstown State women's basketball team will go for its first three-game Horizon League winning streak in eight years as it takes on UIC on Thursday at the UIC Pavilion. Tipoff against the Flames is set for 5:30 p.m. Eastern, and the game will be broadcast live on 1390 WNIO, iHeartRadio and the HLN.

YSU went 2-0 last week with a road win over Cleveland State and a home victory over Loyola. The 72-63 win at Cleveland State was YSU's first conference victory on the road in a city other than Valparaiso, Ind., since a victory at UIC on March 8, 2008. The Penguins then came home and posted their largest margin of victory since joining the Horizon League in 2001-02 with a 75-38 win over the Ramblers.

The two wins improved YSU's record to 13-5 overall and 3-2 in Horizon League play. YSU already has three more wins than it did all of last season, and it needs just one more conference victory to match its four-win total from last season. To reach that, the Penguins will have to snap a four-game losing streak at the UIC Pavilion and a nine-game skid in Chicago.

YSU's Brandi Brown is the reigning Horizon League Player of the Week after averaging 26 points and 16.5 rebounds in the Penguins' two victories. She had 28 points and 17 rebounds in the 72-63 win at Cleveland State and 24 points and 16 rebounds in the 75-38 win over Loyola.

UIC is 6-12 overall and 2-3 in Horizon League play following losses at Wright State and Detroit last week. The three losses have come by an average of six points, and the Flames are 5-6 over their last 11 games. Newcomer Rachel Story is averaging 14.5 points and 4.2 assists.

Following two days of preparation, YSU will play at Wright State on Sunday at 3 p.m.

Game Recap vs. Cleveland State

Youngstown State scored the first 12 points and 22 of the first 24 in a 75-38 victory over Loyola on Saturday at Beeghly Center.

Brandi Brown scored a game-high 24 points and added 16 rebounds for YSU, which had it's largest margin of victory ever in a Horizon League game. The Penguins led by double digits for the final 36:43.

YSU also got 12 points on four 3s from Monica Touvelle and 10 points from Heidi Schlegel. Monica Albano led Loyola with 7 points.

• Brown broke YSU's career record for made free throws with 3:55 left in the first half. She has 375 in her career.
• Touvelle sank multiple 3-pointers for the 10th straight game.
• YSU made 11 3-pointers in the contest, its most since the league opener at Valparaiso on Jan. 12.
• Melissa Thompson set career highs with five assists and two blocks while adding seven points and six rebounds.
• Karen Flagg had five assists. She's had five-plus assists in five of the last eight games.
• YSU led from start to finish for the second straight game. The Guins hadn't done that in any of their first 11 wins.
• YSU shot a season-best 50.9 percent, making 62.5 percent in the first half and 41.4 percent in the second half. Loyola shot 29.1 percent, the first time YSU held an opponent under 30 percent since Western Michigan shot 26.1 percent on Dec. 12, 2010.
• With 15:17 left in the second, Brown had 19 points while Loyola had 23 as a team. Brown also had 11 rebounds to the Ramblers' 14.
• The 38 points were the fewest YSU allowed since Valparaiso scored 38 on March 7, 2009.
• The Penguins won with one day of preparation for the first time in 11 games.

Scouting UIC

UIC is 6-12 overall and 2-3 in Horizon League play following losses at Wright State and Detroit last week. The Flames began the conference season with an overtime loss at home to Cleveland State and wins over Loyola and Valparaiso. Since starting the season 1-6, UIC is 5-6 over its last 11 games. The Flames lead the league with 4.1 blocked shots per game and 15.3 offensive rebounds per game.Junior newcomer Rachel Story averages 14.5 points, which ranks sixth in the league.

Last Time vs. 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 Feb. 9, 2012.

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.

Series With UIC

UIC owns a 17-9 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 and has won seven of the last eight meetings. YSU's last win over the Flames was March 3, 2011. Its last win at UIC was March 8, 2008.

13-5: Best Start in 15 Years

• Youngstown State has 13 wins in its first 18 games for the first time since the 1997-98 season, 15 years ago.
• With at least 12 games remaining, YSU has already surpassed the win totals from 11 of its previous 12 seasons, including last year when the Penguins were 10-20.
• The 10 non-conference wins tied the 1997-98 team for the most in school history.
• The nine wins by New Years Day were the second-most in YSU's 38 seasons.
• The Penguins won their first six home games for the first time since the 1991-92 season.
• YSU's six road wins in 2012-13 are tied for the most in the last 13 years (also in 2011-12 and 2007-08).

Defensive Turnaround on Display vs. Loyola

• Youngstown State held Loyola to a season-low 38 points in its 75-38 victory on Saturday at Beeghly Center. That's a pretty impressive stat when you consider that the Ramblers averaged 80 points in two games against the Penguins last year.
• The 38 points by Loyola were the fewest scored against YSU since March 7, 2008, and that helped the Penguins to their largest margin of victory ever in a Horizon League contest.

Rebounding is Getting Better

• YSU was a combined plus-23 in rebounding margin in two games last week, out-rebounding Cleveland State by 10 and Loyola by 13. Youngstown State had not out-rebounded back-to-back opponents by double digits in seven years – since Jan. 28 and Feb. 2 in 2006.
• The Penguins have out-rebounded four of their last six opponents and are 3-0 in conference play when holding an edge on the glass. YSU is even in rebounding margin in conference play, even with a minus-24 at Valparaiso to start league play.
• YSU has held a rebounding edge in eight of its first 18 games and is minus-0.3 in rebounding margin for the year. While that's still below Coach Boldon's liking, it's a tremendous improvement from recent years. YSU was minus-5.1 last year and minus-9.0 in Boldon's first season in 2010-11. In fact, minus-0.3 is YSU's best mark since being plus-0.5 in 2005-06.
• Brandi Brown had at least 15 rebounds in back-to-back games for the second time this season. She had 17 against Cleveland State and 16 against Loyola. She has grabbed at least 15 caroms in back-to-back games three times in her career, including twice this year. Brown is the only player to have back-to-back games with at least 15 rebounds since Jen Perugini in 2004-05.

Brown is Horizon League Player of the Week

• Youngstown State senior Brandi Brown is the reigning Horizon League Player of the Week, averaging 26 points and 16.5 rebounds in leading YSU to two victories last week.
• Brown has been named the conference player of the week three times this season and six times in her career. That is second-most among active players in the conference.

Brown at the National Level

• Brandi Brown ranks 10th in all of Division I with 11.4 rebounds per game, and she is 17th in scoring with 20.1 points per game.
• Brown is one of four players in the country who rank in the top 20 in both scoring and rebounding. She joins Stanford's Chiney Ogwumike, Middle Tennesee's Ebony Rowe and Cleveland State's Shalonda Winton.

The Winning Formula

• With the regular season almost 2/3 through, some trends have emerged as keys to YSU wins.
• YSU is 13-1 when shooting at least 35 percent from the field and 10-0 when opponents shoot less than 40 percent.
• The Penguins are 11-2 when allowing fewer than 60 points and 12-1 when they at least match their opponents in points in the paint.
• The Guins are 9-0 when at least tying in rebounding margin. Along the same lines, they are 10-1 when at least tying in second-chance points.
• YSU is 11-2 when at least three players score in double figures.

Responding from Losses

• A key to YSU's success so far has been responding from losses with emphatic wins.
• Following losses, YSU has won its next game by an average of 19.8 points. The closest games were decided by nine points – against Cleveland State and Akron. YSU led Cleveland State from start to finish and led Akron for the final 31 minutes.

Penguins are Horizon League's Top Free-Throw Shooting Team

• Youngstown State owns the Horizon League's best team free-throw percentage at 72.3 percent.
• Heidi Schlegel is the top individual free-throw shooter in the conference at 85.5 percent. Shar'Rae Davis ranks ninth at 74.5 percent, and Brandi Brown is 12th at 68.6 percent.
• YSU has slowed down at the line in league games, making 67.7 percent of its attempts. That mark ranks seventh in the conference. Schlegel is third individually in league play at 88.2 percent.

YSU Conquers One-Day's-Rest Test

• With its win over Loyola on Saturday, YSU snapped an 11-game losing streak in contests played with just one day of rest leading up to it.
• Three of the Penguins five losses this season came with one day of rest. The other two came with at least six days of rest.

Brown Sets Two Records, Eyes More

• Brandi Brown set her first two career records in YSU's two games last week.
• She broke YSU's record for career free-throw attempts against Cleveland State on Thursday, and she set the record for career free-throw makes against Loyola two days later. Brown is 375-for-554 in her career from the free-throw line.
• Brown is also six starts, 117 rebounds and 401 minutes from other career records. She currently ranks third in YSU history in both points and rebounds.
• In 108 career games, Brown has 1,778 points, an average of 16.5 per game. Wanda Grant is second with 1,829 points, and Dorothy Bowers is first with 2,324. Brown is 52 points shy of passing Grant, and she needs to average roughly 18.5 points the rest of the season to reach 2,000.
• Brown has 1,080 rebounds and needs four more to pass Bowers for second on the career list. Brown needs to average roughly 8.2 rebounds the rest of the season to break Wanda Grant's school record of 1,178.
• Brown is one of only three players in both YSU and Horizon League history to surpass 1,700 points and 1,000 rebounds.

Re-Discoving Its Outside Touch

• The Penguins made 11-of-30 from 3-point range (36.7 percent) against Loyola on Saturday and were 5-of-13 against Cleveland State last Thursday (38.5 percent).
• Prior to those two games, YSU had shot below 35 percent from beyond the arc in seven straight games. In that seven-game stretch, YSU shot 28.4 percent from the arc and went 4-3. In the other 11 games this year, YSU is shooting 36 percent from beyond the arc and is 9-2.

Penguins Rank 72nd in RPI

• At the beginning of the week, YSU ranked 72nd in the official NCAA RPI. Green Bay is the only Horizon League team above the Penguins at 18. Detroit is next at 116.
• YSU debuted in the RPI at No. 53 on Jan. 7. The Penguins haven't finished above 220 since 1999-2000 (89th).

Among D-I Leaders in 3's Per Game

• Through games completed on Jan. 24, Youngstown State ranked eighth in Division I with 8.4 3-pointers per game.
• The Guins ranked fifth nationally last year with 9.2 3-pointers per game and set school and Horizon League records for 3-pointers made in a season last year with 275.
• In fact, YSU has re-set the school record for 3-pointers made and attempted in Coach Bob Boldon's first two seasons.
• The Penguins have made at least seven 3-pointers 35 times in the last 48 games dating back to the start of last season.

A Much-Improved Defense

• YSU has held opponents to an average of 56.9 points per game this season. That is a 10.6-point improvement from last season
• The Penguins haven't allowed fewer than 64 points per game since 1990-91, and they haven't allowed fewer than 60 points on average since 1979-80.
• Although it's higher than desirable, opponents' .411 shooting percentage is the lowest since the 2006-07 season.
• Last season, the Guins ranked second-to-last in the Horizon League scoring defense (67.5 points per game). This season, they are second in the HL in scoring defense.
• YSU has held 13 teams under 60 points, and it is 11-2 in those contests.
• The Penguins have held four straight opponents under 60 points twice this season. Prior to this season, they hadn't done it once since the 1990-91 season.

An Impressive Turnover Margin

• The Penguins rank third in the Horizon League with a plus-3.8 turnover margin. The fourth-place team is minus-0.1. Plus-3.8 is the sixth-best margin in school history and the best 1999-2000.
• YSU has outscored opponents off turnovers 15 times in the first 18 games and are 12-3 in such contests. The Guins are outscoring opponents off turnovers by an average of 9.8 points per game.
• The Penguins rank second in the Horizon League with 19.3 turnovers forced per game.
• YSU is committing 15.5 turnovers per game, which ranks fourth in the HL. If it holds up, that will also be a school record for fewest turnovers per game over a season. The record is currently 16.0 in 2010-11.

Academic Success

• The YSU women's basketball team posted a team grade-point average of 3.52 during the fall semester, which was the highest of any team on campus.
• Four Penguins – Brandi Brown, Liz Hornberger, Taylor Hvisdak and Kelsea Newman – registered a 4.0 GPA.
• YSU ranked sixth on the WBCA Academic Top 25 Team Honor Roll during the 2011-12 academic year with a 3.550 GPA.
• Brown was voted the Horizon League Scholar-Athlete of the month for both November and December.

Schlegel is HL's Top Bench Player

• Schlegel is averaging a league-best 10.3 points off the bench this season, and she's added 4.7 boards per contest.
• Among players eligible to be named the Horizon League's Sixth Player of the Year (must come off the bench 67 percent of the time), Schlegel is out-scoring the closest player by 3.5 points per game. She is also the leader in minutes off the bench.
• Schlegel averaged 9.7 points and 4.6 rebounds last year in 27 games, 17 of which she started.

Tapeless Touvelle on a Hot Stretch

• Since junior Monica Touvelle stopped taping an injured finger on her non-shooting hand on Nov. 30, she is shooting 44.8 percent (30-of-67) from 3-point range in 13 games. In the five games she wore the tape, she shot 28.6 percent (10-of-35).
• Touvelle is shooting 46.9 percent in league play, which ranks second in the conference.
• Touvelle has made at least two 3-pointers in 10 straight games dating back to YSU's win over Wilmington on Dec. 9.
• Touvelle has made 118 3-pointers in her career, which is the 11th-most in school history.

B.B.'s Double-Doubles

• YSU senior Brandi Brown has posted 13 double-doubles in 18 games this season. That ranks as the seventh-most in the country.
• Brown has 49 double-doubles in 108 career games, just over 45 percent of the time. She had 14 as a freshman, 13 as a sophomore and nine as a junior.
• She began this season with five straight double-doubles, which was the best streak of her career.
• Since 1982, Dorothy Bowers is the only Penguin with more career double-doubles with 58 from 1984-88.