YSUsports.com - Women's Basketball: Cold Shooting Dooms Guins in Loss to UWGB

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Feb. 8, 2008

Women's Basketball: Penguins Set to Take On Milwaukee In Important Tilt

    Youngstown State (10-11, 5-5 Horizon League) continues its two-game homestand when it entertains Milwaukee (11-10, 6-4 Horizon League) on Saturday afternoon.
    Tipoff is slated for 4:35 p.m. at the Beeghly Center and will be broadcast live on 570 WKBN-AM and the Horizon League Network.

Penguins Think Pink
As part of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association’s (WBCA) global initiative to increase breast cancer awareness, the Youngstown State women’s basketball players will don pink warm-up t-shirts and wear pink shoelaces during the contest. The YSU coaching staff will also wear pink shirts and tennis shoes with pink laces. Youngstown State is one of more than 900 team sparticipating in this year’s event.

Last Time Out
    Youngstown State suffered a tough shooting performance en route to dropping a 75-47 decision to Green Bay on Thursday night at the Beeghly Center.
    The Penguins were within four points midway through the first half, but made only one field goal the remaining 9:40 of the first stanza and trailed by 14 at the break.
    YSU trailed 18-14 after Velissa Vaughn’s hoop with 9:40 left. However, UWGB (17-4 and 9-1) scored the next seven points to go in front 25-14.

The Series
This will be the 20th meeting between the Penguins and Panthers since 1991. The Panthers own a 14-5 advantage in the all-time series, including winning the last five contests. In the last meeting at the Beeghly Center, the Panthers escaped with a 76-70 victory over the Penguins.

Scouting The Panthers
The Panthers are currently 11-10 overall and 6-4 in the Horizon League, which is good enough for third place in the league standings. Milwaukee is coming off a 68-58 loss to Cleveland State on Thursday evening. Freshman Maurika Hickman led the Panthers with 22 points while freshman Lindsay Laur added 13 points. Junior Traci Edwards leads the Panthers and ranks second in the league with 18.1 points per game. Edwards also leads the Horizon League with 9.6 rebounds per contest. Senior Aubri Rote is second on the team in scoring with 9.2 points per game.

Last Time Against the Panthers
Youngstown State trailed by as many as 17 points in the second half only to see an impressive comeback attempt fall short in a 76-66 loss to Milwaukee on Jan. 10. Junior Tiara Scott led the Penguins with 22 points, including 14 in the second half, and senior Lauren Branson posted 17 points with five assists and three steals. The Penguins trailed 50-33 at the 14:51 mark but used an 18-2 run over the next five minutes to get within one point, 52-51 at the nine minute mark.

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.

A Win Will
• Mark YSU’s 11th victory of the season.
• Give Head Coach Tisha Hill her 42nd career victory.
• Mark YSU’s six victory over the Panthers.
• Snap a five-game losing streak to the Panthers.
• Give YSU its sixth Horizon League win of the year.
• Mark the 465th win in program history.
• Mark the most home victories since the 2004-05 season (7).

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 103 3-point baskets. Karner also made a career-best five 3-pointers in YSU’s 92-79 win over Valparaiso on Jan. 31.

Guins on National Scene
Seniors Lauren Branson and Heather Karner exemplary performances this season have given the Guins exposure on the national scene. Branson ranks 10th with a 2.5 assists-to-turnover ratio and 28th nationally with 5.1 assists per game while Karner ranks 42nd nationally 2.4 3-pointers made per game.

Vaughn Shining Versus League
Since Horizon League play started, junior Velissa Vaughn has been outstanding. After scoring just 17 points in the first 11 games, Vaughn has scored 124 points for an average of 12.4 points per game, including a season-best 19 points against Detroit on Jan. 19. The 5-foot-8 guard is shooting 41.3 percent from behind the 3-point line.

92 A League High
Youngstown State’s 92 points against Valparaiso on Jan. 31 marked the first time since 2005 that the Guins scored at least 90 point in a game. It is also a league scoring high this season.

Branson Inching Toward Fifth
Senior guard Lauren Branson continues her move up the YSU all-time assist chart. With two assists against Green Bay on Feb. 7, Branson ranks sixth with 433 career assists and needs 15 more to move into fifth place past Colleen Cook (447, 1994-98).

Need To Lead
The Penguins have led at halftime in 12 of 20 games this season and own an 8-4 record in those games.

Schloemp Streak at 94
Senior Jessica Schloemp owns a games played streak of 94 straight. Schloemp has also played in 104 of 105 career games.

Scott’s Efficiency
Junior Tiara Scott is currently on pace to set the fifth-highest single-season field-goal percentage in school history. Scott’s .551 field-goal percentage ranks seventh on the single-season list.

Assist Me, Please
Senior Lauren Branson continues to prove her value as a point guard. This season, the 5-foot-6 guard has tallied 107 assists to just 48 turnovers in 33.2 minutes per game. She leads the Horizon League with 5.1 assists per game and is second with a 2.2 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Seniors Tabbed Team Captains
Guards Lauren Branson, Heather Karner and Kira Mowen and senior forward Jessica Schloemp have been named team captains for the 2007-08 basketball season.

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 hit the road for two games beginning with a Valentine’s Day contest against Detroit, Thursday, Feb. 14. Tipoff is slated for 5:30 p.m. at Calihan Hall. The Guins also visit Wright State, Saturday, Feb. 16, at 1 p.m. at the Nutter Center.