The Youngstown State women's basketball team will try to sweep the regular-season series with Cleveland State for the first time since 2005-06 when it hosts the Vikings at Beeghly Center on Thursday at 7:05 p.m. The contest will be broadcast live on 570 WKBN, iHeartRadio and the HLN.

The Penguins beat the Vikings 72-63 in Cleveland on Jan. 24, which started a six-game winning streak for YSU that finally came to a close in Green Bay on Saturday. Brandi Brown had 28 points and 17 rebounds in the victory over Cleveland State last month, and she had a game-high 20 points in the loss to Green Bay. Brown was joined in double figures by Liz Hornberger (11 points) and Shar'Rae Davis (10), but the other five Penguins who played combined for five points in 111 minutes. YSU forced Green Bay into 17 turnovers but was only able to convert those into nine points. The Penguins were outscored 28-10 in the paint and 14-2 on second-chance points.

Even with the loss, Youngstown State has its best record through 23 games since the 1997-98 season, and it is off to its best start in 12 Horizon League seasons with a 7-3 conference mark. If the Penguins can beat Cleveland State, they will match their highest Horizon League win total ever. YSU is 5-0 in games immediately after losses so far this season, and it is also 8-1 at Beeghly Center.

Brown continues to be one of just three players in the country to rank among the top 25 nationally in points and rebounds per game. The senior forward is also tied for eighth in the country with 17 double-doubles. YSU is 10th nationally with 8.3 3-pointers per game, with Hornberger and Monica Touvelle both averaging more than two 3-pointers per contest. YSU ranks second in the league in scoring defense at 56.3 points per game, and Cleveland State is second in offense at 67.8 points per game.

Youngstown State will have a short turnaround and play at Loyola on Saturday at noon Eastern.

Tickets and Promotions

Tickets are available for purchase on YSUsports.com, by phone at (330) 941-1978, and at the main YSU Athletics Ticket Office in Stambaugh Stadium until 5 p.m. on Thursday. The Beeghly Center ticket office will open at 6 p.m. on Thursday. All fans in attendance will receive a YSU lanyard, courtesy of Farmers National Bank, Covelli Enterprises and 21 WFMJ.

#YSUWBB Summary

• YSU is in its 38th season in 2012-13 and its third under head coach Bob Boldon.
• The Penguins already have their most wins in a season since 1999-2000.
• The Penguins are averaging 8.3 3-pointers per game this season, which ranks 10 in the country. They averaged 9.2 3-pointers per game last season.
• YSU is plus-7.9 in scoring margin this season. That's a 10.8-point improvement from last season and a 33.7-point improvement from three years ago.
• Opponents are scoring 56.3 points per game against YSU, the lowest since 1978-79. They averaged 67.5 points last year.
• YSU is averaging 64.1 points this season, down 0.5 points from last season.

A Win Would

• Give YSU 18 wins in its first 24 games for the first time since 1997-98.
• Improve YSU to 6-0 after losses.
• Give YSU its first season sweep of Cleveland State since 2005-06.
• Be YSU's eighth Horizon League victory, matching its highest total ever.
• Make YSU 9-1 at Beeghly Center.

Game Recap vs. Green Bay

Green Bay got off to hot starts offensively in both halves, and its defense kept YSU from making a second-half push in a 60-46 victory on Saturday afternoon at the Kress Events Center.

Green Bay led by as many as 10 early in the first half, but YSU scored the next 11 points and led 21-20 with 7:51 on the clock. The Penguins did not make a field goal the rest of the period but still trailed just 30-25 at halftime.

The Phoenix then went on a 17-7 run in the first six minutes of the second half to go up 47-32, and YSU wasn't able to get closer than 12 the rest of the way.

• Brandi Brown scored a game-high 20 points on 7-for-11 shooting for YSU.
• Liz Hornberger made a career-high three free throws and scored 11 points. Shar'Rae Davis added 10 points, but the other five Penguins who played combined for five points in 111 minutes.
• Brown matched her season high with four 3-pointers.
• YSU was 12-for-23 from the free-throw line and missed the front end of two one-and-one opportunities in the second half.
• Amanda Barger blocked her first career shot.
• YSU tied its season-low with 14 field goals made, matching the first time it played GB.
• The Penguins had a season-low five assists.
• Monica Touvelle did not make a 3-pointer for the first time in 15 games.
• Green Bay made 8-of-10 to start the first half and 6-of-8 to start the second half. Aside from those two stretches, it shot 26 percent.
• The teams made one field goal combined in the final 7:27 of the first half. YSU did not make one for the final 7:51 of the period.
• YSU forced Green Bay into 17 turnovers, its second-most at home this season.
• The 14-point margin was the second-lowest this season at the Kress Center.

Scouting Cleveland State

Cleveland State is 12-13 overall and 4-8 in conference play heading into this week. Of its eight league losses, though, five have come by one possession and another came in overtime. The Vikings won nine games in a 10-game stretch from Nov. 28 to Jan. 12. Shalonda Winton has two triple-doubles this season and ranks fourth in the country in scoring at 22.6 points per game. She also leads CSU in rebounds, assists, blocks, steals and turnovers.

Last Time vs. Cleveland State

Brandi Brown and Heidi Schlegel combined for 46 points, and YSU withstood a Cleveland State rally in a 72-63 road win on Jan. 24.

Brown matched her season high with 28 points and added 17 rebounds, and Schlegel had a season-best 18 points and eight rebounds.

The Penguins scored 11 of the first 12 points of the game and led from start to finish. Cleveland State cut the margin to two with less than seven minutes left, but YSU scored the next seven points and led by at least five the rest of the way.

Series With Cleveland State

Youngstown State has played Cleveland State more than any other opponent, and the Penguins hold a 32-27 lead in the all-time series. YSU won the first six meetings from 1976 to 1979, and the Penguins also won 11 straight contests in the series from 1985 to 1993. The Vikings have won 11 of the last 13 meetings, but YSU has won two of the last four. The Penguins beat Cleveland State 70-48 at Beeghly Center last year and is 18-8 in the building against the Vikings overall.

17-6: Best Start in 15 Years

• Youngstown State has 17 wins in its first 23 games for the first time since the 1997-98 season, 15 years ago.
• With at least seven games remaining, YSU has already surpassed the win totals from each of its previous 12 seasons, including last year's 10-20 record.
• YSU's seven conference wins are already the most since 2007-08 and the third-most in 12 seasons in the Horizon League.
• The 10 non-conference wins tied the 1997-98 team for the most in school history.
• The Penguins won their first six home games for the first time since the 1991-92 season. Their eight wins at Beeghly Center are the most since 1999-2000.
• YSU's nine road wins are the most in the last 13 years.

Racking Up Conference Wins

• YSU has seven league wins, the most since 2007-08 when it went 8-10.
• It won six straight Horizon League games from Jan. 24 to Feb. 14 for the first time in school history.
• The Penguins have led by at least 11 points in seven of their 10 conference games.
• YSU is plus-6.2 in scoring margin in conference games. Its previous best scoring margin since joining the Horizon League is minus-2.4 in 2007-08.

Brown vs. Winton: Two of HL's Best

• Thursday's contest will feature two players in Youngstown State's Brandi Brown and Cleveland State's Shalonda Winton who are likely contenders for the Horizon League Player-of-the-Year Award.
• In the first meeting between the two teams, Brown scored 28 points, grabbed 17 rebounds and had three steals. Winton countered with 14 points and nine rebounds while being limited to 13 field-goal attempts.
• For the year, Brown leads the Horizon League in rebounding while ranking ahead of Winton in field-goal percentage, 3-point field-goal percentage and double-doubles. Winton is the league's leader in scoring, and she ranks ahead of Brown in assists, free-throw percentage, steals, 3-pointers per game, blocks and minutes. Winton also has two triple-doubles.
• For their careers, Brown ranks seventh in Horizon League history in points and third in rebounds. Winton is ninth in points and fifth in rebounds.

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.

Brown Closing in on 100 Double Figures Games

• YSU senior Brandi Brown has scored in double figures 95 times in her 113 career games. She needs five to get to 100.
• Brown has been in double figures in all 23 games this season. She scored at least 10 points 19 times as a freshman, 28 times as a sophomore and 25 times last year as a junior.

Penguins Rank 62nd in RPI

• YSU ranks 70th in the official NCAA RPI. That is its best ranking since 1997 and 195 spots better than last year.
• Mercer, up 198 spots, is the only team in the country to improve its RPI more than YSU from last season.
• Green Bay is the only Horizon League team above YSU at 23. Detroit is next at 100.
• Dayton (17) and Toledo (46) are the only schools in Ohio above Youngstown State. The other schools in Northeast Ohio rank 126th (Akron), 225th (Cleveland State) and 337th (Kent State).

Brown's Place in League History

• With six games left in her Horizon League career, Brandi Brown continues to cement herself as one of the top players in conference history.
• The senior forward ranks seventh in league history in career points with 1,861, six points behind sixth place. Three players in league history have scored 2,000 points.
• Brown is even better in career rebounds, ranking third with 1,139. She is 54 behind second.
• Brown is the active career leader in both categories. She leads the closest active player in scoring by 114 points and the closest active rebounder by 99 caroms.
• Brown is one of two players in conference history with 1,800 points and 1,100 rebounds.

Brown at the National Level

• Brandi Brown ranks eighth in all of Division I with 17 double-doubles, and she is 11th with 11.5 rebounds per game and 22nd in scoring with 19.3 points per game.
• Brown is one of three players in the country who rank in the top 25 in both scoring and rebounding. She joins Stanford's Chiney Ogwumike and Middle Tennessee's Ebony Rowe.
• Heading into this week, Brown ranked fifth among active Division I players in career rebounds. She is also 19th among active D-1 players in points.

Hoping for an Uptick on Offense

• YSU will be hoping to get out of a mini slump on offense against Cleveland State.
• The Penguins have been held to under 60 points in each of the past three games, scoring 58 against Detroit and Milwaukee and 46 versus Green Bay.
• It's the first time in the Coach Bob Boldon era that the Penguins have been under 60 points in three straight affairs.
• The struggles at the free-throw line go back further as YSU has failed to make at least 70 percent of its free throws in nine of its last 11 contests.
• Fortunately, YSU has held six opponents to 60 points or fewer in six straight games. That is the longest stretch for a Penguins team since 1979-80.

Schlegel is One of League's Top Bench Players

• YSU sophomore Heidi Schlegel is perhaps the Horizon League's top bench player this season. She averages 9.9 points and 4.6 rebounds off the bench this season in 25.6 minutes per game.
• 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 leads the league in scoring, rebounding, steals and minutes.
• Compared to second place in each category, Schlegel averages 2.3 more points, eight more minutes and 0.9 more steals per game. She is tied for the lead in rebounds.

Flagg, Davis Among HL's Top Newcomers

• YSU has two of the Horizon League's top newcomers in Shar'Rae Davis and Karen Flagg.
• Davis leads the Horizon League in assists per game, and, among newcomers, she ranks fifth in scoring and ninth in rebounding. Davis was the Horizon League Newcomer of the Week on Nov. 12 and Dec. 3.
• Flagg ranks second among newcomers in blocks, third in rebounds and seventh in assists and points. She was the league's newcomer of the week on Feb. 11.

Hornberger, Touvelle Form Outside Threat

• YSU has two of the top 3-point shooters in the Horizon League with juniors Liz Hornberger and Monica Touvelle.
• Hornberger ranks fourth in the conference with 2.2 3-pointers per game, and Touvelle is right behind her with 2.1 per contest. Touvelle ranks second in 3-point percentage at 39.5 percent, and Hornberger is ninth at 36.6 percent.
• Both players have made 49 3-pointers this season. Only three other times in school history have two Penguins made 50 3-pointers in the same season. There has never been a pair to each make 55 in a year.
• Touvelle has hit multiple 3-pointers in 13 of the last 15 games, and Hornberger has made multiple in six straight games.

The Winning Formula

• YSU is 17-1 when shooting at least 35 percent from the field and 13-0 when opponents shoot less than 40 percent.
• The Penguins are 15-2 when allowing fewer than 60 points and 16-1 when they at least match their opponents in points in the paint.
• The Guins are 12-0 when at least tying in rebounding margin. Along the same lines, they are 13-1 when at least tying in second-chance points.

Among D-I Leaders in 3's Per Game

• Through games completed on Feb. 17, Youngstown State ranked 10th in Division I with 8.3 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 set and 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 38 times in the last 53 games dating back to the start of last season.

A Much-Improved Defense

• YSU has held opponents to an average of 56.3 points per game this season. That is an 11.2-point improvement from last season.
• Only nine teams in the country have improved its scoring defense by more than YSU.
• 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' .400 field goal percentage is the lowest since the 2004-05 season and three percent below last season's mark.
• Last season, the Guins ranked second-to-last in the Horizon League scoring defense and last in field goal percentage defense. This season, they are second in the HL in scoring defense and third in field goal percentage defense.

Brown Sets Third Career Record

• Brandi Brown set her third career record at YSU on Saturday at Green Bay, starting for the 113th time. She passed Caroline McCombs (1994-98) for the record.
• Earlier this year, Brown set career records for free throws made and attempted.
• Brown is also 40 rebounds and 222 minutes from setting other career records. She currently ranks second in YSU history in both points and rebounds.
• In 113 career games, Brown has 1,861 points, an average of 16.5 per game. Dorothy Bowers holds the school record with 2,324. Brown is 139 points from 2,000 with at least seven games remaining.
• Brown has 1,139 rebounds, 39 behind Wanda Grant's school record of 1,178.

Hornberger's Career Year

• Junior Liz Hornberger is enjoying a career year up to this point, already setting career highs for a season in points, rebounds, assists and steals.
• In fact, Hornberger is 18 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists from matching the totals of her previous two seasons combined.
• Hornberger has scored in double figures eight times in 2012-13. She scored 10-plus points three times total in her first two years.

Rebounding Getting Better

• YSU has held a rebounding edge in 11 of its first 23 games and is minus-0.1 in rebounding margin for the year. That'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, plus-0.5 is YSU's best mark since being plus-0.5 in 2005-06.
• The Penguins have out-rebounded seven of their last 11 opponents and are 6-0 in conference play when holding an edge on the glass. YSU is plus-0.2 in rebounding margin in conference play, even with a minus-24 at Valparaiso in the league opener.