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Women's Basketball NCAA Tournament
Appearances
1995-96The 1995-96 season put the Youngstown State women's basketball program on
the national map. The Penguins had won their second straight
Mid-Continent Conference regular-season title - and their first outright
title in school history - with four sophomores and just one junior in
the starting lineup. The No. 1 seed with a league record of 14-4, the
Penguins breezed throught Mid-Continent Conference tournament by
defeating Western Illinois, 69-59, Troy State, 87-67, and Buffalo,
53-43, in the championship game to earn their first trip to the NCAA
Tournament. Youngstown State was selected as No. 15 seed and drew No. 2
Penn State. The Penguins hung tough against the Nittany Lions and
trailed 42-40 at halftime and 50-49 with 15 minutes left in the game.
YSU, however, succumbed to a 19-0 Penn State rally and found themselves
down, 69-49. YSU's cinderella season with a 94-71 loss to Penn State in
the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
1997-98Fueled by their appearance in the 1996 NCAA
Tournament, the 1997-98 YSU women's basketball team was determined to
make a return trip to "The Dance" and make some noise. The Penguins, who
returned five seniors from the 1996-97 squad which went 23-6, turned in
a school-best 28-3 record, including a 16-game winning streak, and a
15-1 mark in the Mid-Continent Conference. Coming off its fourth
straight regular season conference title, YSU earned the No. 1 seed in
the Mid-Con tournament and ran the table with victories over Chicago
State, 76-57, Southern Utah, 83-73, and Valparaiso, 78-69, in the
championship to collect its second NCAA Tournament automatic berth in
three years. The Penguins earned the No. 12 seed and drew No. 5 Memphis
in the first round. The Penguins pulled off the upset of the tournament,
downing the Tigers, 91-80, for the school's first NCAA Tournament
victory. After a slow start in the second round against North Carolina
State, the Penguins saw their magnificent season come to a close with an
88-61 loss to the Wolfpack.
1999-2000In 1999-2000, the Penguins turned in an impressive 19-8 regular-season
mark but saw its streak of five consecutive regular-season conference
championships snapped. Youngstown State, however, was not deterred from
its goal of reaching the NCAA Tournament for the third time in five
seasons. The Penguins swept through the Mid-Continent Conference
Tournament by defeating Southern Utah, 84-78 in overtime, Western
Illinois, 67-56, and Valparaiso, 73-57, in the championship game to
collect their third "Dance Ticket" with the automatic berth to the
NCAA's. Once again, the Penguins were selected as the No. 15 seed and
faced No. 2 Penn State, a rematch of 1996. Although the Penguins set an
NCAA East Regional record with 12 3-pointers in a game, the Nittany
Lions defeated the Penguins, 83-63, and YSU closed out the season with
its fifth-straight 20-win season with an overall mark of 22-9.
