Scouting Report
- The Youngstown State women's basketball team will go for its
fourth straight victory on Saturday when it plays at Valparaiso.
Tipoff at the Athletics-Recreation Center is set for 2:35 p.m.
Eastern, and the game will be broadcast live on 570 WKBN,
iHeartRadio and ESPN3.
- YSU scored the final 11 points to rally for a 79-73 win at
Milwaukee on Thursday evening. The Penguins improved to 18-7
overall and 7-5 in Horizon League play with the victory. With four
games left, YSU is in fourth place in the standings by two games.
The top four seeds play at home in the first round of the league
tournament.
- After Saturday, the Penguins will play two of their final three
games of the regular season at Beeghly Center as they try to secure
a first-round home game. YSU is 9-2 at home this season. Oddly, YSU
will play Valparaiso twice in the final four games after not
playing the Crusaders up to this point.
- Heidi
Schlegel had a heroic effort at the Klotsche Center with 38
points in the Penguins' victory. Those 38 points were a career high
and the most scored by a Horizon League player this season.
- Schlegel is the reigning Horizon League Player of the Week
– by the conference office and College Sports Madness –
after averaging 19.5 points and 12 rebounds in leading the Guins to
two wins last week. She was also named the conference player of the
week on Jan. 19. She ranks fourth in the league in scoring and is
third in rebounding.
- Youngstown State has surpassed its win total from all of last
season with at least five games remaining. YSU has won at least 15
games for the third straight season after winning 14 or fewer in
each of the previous 12 seasons.
- The Penguins are 29-14 overall since the start of Horizon
League play in 2013-14, and they are 28-16 in conference games
since the start of league play in 2012-13.
- Youngstown State ranks seventh in the country in free-throw
percentage at 77.3 percent. It also leads the Horizon League in
3-point field-goal percentage (.359) and ranks second in field-goal
percentage (.429).
- Indiya
Benjamin and Nikki Arbanas are the
Horizon League's top two freshmen in 3-point field goals and
assists per game, and they rank fourth and sixth, respectively, in
points per game.
On This Date
- YSU is playing on Feb. 21 for the third straight season, and
the Penguins will be looking extend its winning streak on the date
to three. Youngstown State is 6-6 all time on Feb. 21, including
3-3 on the road.
- YSU is 6-1 on Feb. 21 when scoring at least 66 points and it is
0-5 when scoring fewer than 66.
- Dorothy Bowers scored 43 points, tied for the third-most in
school history, in a 102-68 Penguins win at Austin Peay on Feb. 21,
1987. That is the most points ever by a Penguin in a road game. She
also set a school record by making 15 free throws in that contest.
The 102 points are the the 13th most in a game in school
history.
- More recently, Brandi Brown had 33 points in a home game
against Cleveland State in 2013.
Scouting Valparaiso
- Valparaiso is 2-2 in February after entering the month with a
4-16 mark. The Crusaders are 6-18 overall, 4-8 at home and 2-9 in
Horizon League play with victories at Detroit and against
Milwaukee. Valpo lost 87-45 at Green Bay on Thursday.
- Valpo's top two scorers, Dani Franklin and Jasmyn Walker, are
both freshmen. Franklin, who missed Thursday's game, is averaging
13.2 points, and Walker is averaging 9.5 points and 7.5 rebounds.
Franklin has come off the bench in all but two of her 23 games, and
she leads the league in 3-point field-goal percentage.
- As a team, Valparaiso is second in the league in free-throw
percentage and third in 3-point field goal percentage. The
Crusaders are last in the league in scoring offense and scoring
defense.
Series with Valparaiso
- Youngstown State is 21-14 all time against Valparaiso in a
series that dates back to 1993. Both teams were in the
Mid-Continent Conference from 1992-2001, and only one of the 35
games in the series was not in conference play or in a conference
tournament.
- YSU has beaten Valpo in seven of the last eight meetings and is
9-5 in Horizon League play against the Crusaders. YSU is 7-10 in
its history at the Athletics-Recreation Center.
- The Penguins beat Valparaiso twice in the championship game of
the Mid-Continent Conference Tournament – in 1998 and 2000
– to go to the NCAA Tournament.
Recapping Milwaukee
Heidi Schlegel scored a career-high 38 points, and Nikki Arbanas
hit a clutch 3-pointer late to lift Youngstown State to a 79-73
victory at Milwaukee on Thursday evening.
Schlegel scored six straight points after Milwaukee led 73-68
with 3:04 left. Arbanas' triple came at the end of the shot clock
with 10.4 seconds remaining, and it gave the Penguins a 77-73
cushion. YSU scored the final 11 points of the game.
Behind 11 early points from Kelsea Newman and a
10-0 run, YSU led 22-10 just 10 minutes into the game. Milwaukee
scored the next seven points to get within 22-17, and YSU's largest
lead the rest of the period was eight.
An 8-0 run in the second half put the Penguins up 44-34, but
Milwaukee went on a 24-10 burst over the next seven minutes to take
a 58-54 advantage. The Penguins didn't lead again until Schlegel
made both ends of a one-and-one with 55 seconds left, and Arbanas'
triple came on YSU's next possession.
Arbanas and Newman both finished with 11 points, and Jenny
Lindner led Milwaukee with 25. Ashley Green had 16 points and 14
rebounds for UWM, but the Penguins held her scoreless in the second
half.
Quick Notes
- Schlegel's 38 points came on 14 field goals, three of which
were triples, and seven free throws. She was 14-of-20 from the
field, 3-of-3 from beyond the arc and 7-of-10 from the free-throw
line.
- Jenna
Hirsch (7) and Latisha Walker (3)
both had season highs in assists.
- Kelsea Newman accounted for 11 of YSU's first 15 points over
the first 7:40 of the game. She did not score again, and UWM did
not allow her to take a shot in the final 30 minutes.
- YSU made at least 10 3-pointers for the sixth time this
season.
- UWM made 12 3-pointers, the most against YSU this season.
- Milwaukee had five turnovers in the final three minutes after
committing six total in the first 37 minutes.
All About Schlegel's 38
- YSU fifth-year senior forward Heidi Schlegel had the pinnacle
performance of her memorable career on Thursday when she scored 38
points at Milwaukee.
- Those 38 points topped her previous career high by 10 points,
and Schlegel tied for the eighth-most points in a game in school
history. She joins a select group of Dorothy Bowers (three times),
Wanda Grant (three times), Brandi Brown (twice), and Brianne
Kenneally (once) as the only players to score at least 38 points in
a game.
- Schlegel's 38 points came on 14 field goals, three of which
were 3-pointers, and seven free throws. The 38 points and the 14
field goals are the most by a Horizon League player this season.
Nationally, Schlegel's 38 points rank tied-for-24th in a game this
season.
- Schlegel's first points of the game did not come until the
10:59 mark of the first half. She scored 16 points in the first
half and 22 in the second half. Schlegel scored 16 of YSU's final
19 points of the first half, and she scored 10 straight Penguins
points in both halves. The final six points of the 10-point burst
in the second half started when YSU trailed 73-68, and it ended
with the Penguins leading 74-73.
