Women's Basketball Continues Homestand Against Butler Thursday

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Feb. 27, 2008

Women's Basketball Continues Homestand Against Butler Thursday

   The Youngstown State women’s basketball team (12-13, 7-7 Horizon League) continues its three-game homestand and seeks some revenge from an earlier season loss when it hosts Butler in an important Horizon League contest, Thursday, Feb. 28.
    Tipoff is set for 7:05 p.m. at the Beeghly Center and will be broadcast live on 570 WKBN-AM and the Horizon League Network.
    The Guins are seeking their eight Horizon League win of the season and looking to snap a four-game losing skid to the Bulldogs.
    Butler (17-9, 7-8 Horizon League) is looking to sweep the season series from the Guins for the second straight year and to extend its win streak over YSU to five.

Last Time Out
    Junior Velissa Vaughn scored a career-high 28 points but Youngstown State succumbed to a hot-shooting Cleveland State squad and dropped an 82-66 decision on Saturday afternoon at the Beeghly Center.
    With the scored tied in the first four minutes of the game, Vaughn, who went 11-of-20 from the field, hit a jumper and a 3-pointer to give the Guins a five-point edge, 16-11, at the 14:17 mark.
    However, the Vikings, who shot 53.8 percent for the game, used a 15-1 run over the next five minutes to take a nine-point lead, 26-17, with nine minutes remaining in the half.

The Series
This will be the 16th meeting between the Penguins and the Bulldogs since 2002 with Butler owning a 10-5 advantage in the all-time series. After winning the first four contests, the Guins have dropped 10 of the last 11, including the last four match ups. The last time the Guins defeated Butler was a 71-63 victory at the Beeghly Center on Feb. 2, 2006. Butler won the last meeting at the Beeghly Center, 80-56, on Dec. 30, 2006.

Last Time Against the Bulldogs
    Youngstown State shot just 32.2 percent from the field and committed 21 turnovers dropping a 63-48 decision to Butler on Feb. 2 at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
    Junior Tiara Scott led the Penguins with 17 points and eight rebounds while junior Velissa Vaughn scored 13 points.
    Leading by nine at the intermission, 26-17, Butler scored six of the first eight points of the second half to extend their advantage to 13, 32-19, at the 18:12 mark.
    A jumper by Scott and two 3-pointers by Vaughn brought the Penguins within five 32-27, with 16 minutes left. After an exchange of baskets held the difference at five, 34-29, Butler would score eight straight points to bolster its lead back to 13 and the Guins would never recover.

Scouting The Bulldogs
Butler owns an overall mark of 17-9 and a 7-8 Horizon League record entering Thursday’s game. After starting the season 12-2, the Bulldogs have gone 5-7 over the last 12 games, including coming off a 67-63 win over Detroit last Saturday. Junior Lade Akande leads the Bulldogs with 16.2 points per game and is second with 6.7 rebounds per game. Susan Lester is also averaging in double figures with 12.5 points per contest. She also leads the squad with 7.1 rebounds per game.

A Win Will
• Mark YSU’s 13th victory of the season.
• Give Head Coach Tisha Hill her 44th career victory.
• Mark YSU’s sixth win over the Bulldogs.
• Snap a four-game losing skid to the Bulldogs.
• Give YSU its eighth Horizon League win of the year, which ties the mark for most league wins in a season.
• Mark the most wins (13) since the 1999-2000 season.
• Mark the 467th win in program history.

Vaughn Turns In Career Night
Junior Velissa Vaughn turned in the best performance of her career in the 82-66 loss to Cleveland State last Saturday. Vaughn scored a career-best 28 points on 11-of-20 shooting from the field with four 3-pointers. Her 11 field goals made was also a career-best.

Karner Climbing 3-Point Single-Season Chart
With two 3-pointers against Cleveland State last Saturday, senior Heather Karner became has made 64 treys this season and moved into fifth place on the single-season list past Dianne Rappach (63, 1990-91). She needs three more to move into fourth place past Barb Fabianova (66, 2004-05). Karner has also attempted 191 3-pointers, which ranks second on the single-season chart.

Great Scott
Junior Tiara Scott has been tearing up the league since the start of the new year. The Denver, Colo., native leads the Penguins with 16 points per game against Horizon League foes. As well as averaging seven rebounds per game, Scott has scored in double figures in 12 of 14 league games and has scored at least 20 points four times. Scott also ranks fourth in the league in scoring, fifth in rebounds and is third in field-goal percentage (.567).

Branson Nationally Ranked
Senior Lauren Branson is proving she is a point guard in the truest sense. The Cincinnati, Ohio, native ranks 11th in the country with a 2.13 assist-to-turnover ratio and 32nd nationally with 5.1 assists per game.

Karner Joins Century Club
In less than two seasons, senior Heather Karner moved into the top 10 all-time for 3-pointers made and became the 10th player in school history to make at least 100 3-pointers in a career. Karner ranks ninth with 116 3-point baskets.

Branson Moves Past 450
Senior guard Lauren Branson continues her move up the YSU all-time assist chart. With five assists against Cleveland State on Feb. 23, Branson eclipsed the 450 career assist plateau and now has 454 assists.

Need To Lead
The Penguins have led at halftime in 14 of 25 games this season and own an 10-4 record in those games.

Schloemp Streak at 98
Senior Jessica Schloemp owns a games played streak of 98 straight. Schloemp has also played in 108 of 108 career games.

Branson Nets Academic Award
    Senior Lauren Branson was named Academic All-District IV by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA

    Branson, a 2006-07 Academic All-Horizon League pick, carries a 3.93 grade-point average in special education and is the fourth Youngstown State student-athlete in 2007-08 to earn academic all-district laurels.
    She joins football players Bob Perez and Tom Zetts and volleyball player Jessica Fraley as YSU student-athletes to earn that distinction.
    She also becomes the fifth Youngstown State women’s basketball to pick up the CoSIDA award.
    The last women’s basketball player to earn academic all-district honors was Jen Perugini in 2004-05.

Karner Nabs Preseason Laurels
Senior Heather Karner was named to the Horizon League Preseason All-League Second-Team in a vote of the circuit’s head coaches, sports information directors and select media. Karner led the Penguins with 10.9 points per game and was named to the all-newcomer team last season.

Up Next
The Guins close out the home portion of their schedule and celebrate Senior Day against Valparaiso on Saturday, March 1. Tipoff is slated for 4:35 p.m. and is part of a men’s and women’s basketball doubleheader.