The Youngstown State women's basketball team will host Indiana State in the first round of the Women's National Invitational Tournament on Thursday at 7:05 p.m. at Beeghly Center. The game will be broadcast live on 570 WKBN, iHeartRadio and HorizonLeague.com.

The Penguins will be playing in their first postseason tournament since the 1999-2000 NCAA Tournament. YSU finished the regular season 21-8, its best record since that 1999-2000 season, and reached the semifinals of the Horizon League Tournament for the first time since joining the conference 12 years ago. The Penguins have improved their win total from last season by 12, and their 22 wins are most than the last four seasons combined. Head Coach Bob Boldon is the Horizon League Coach of the Year, and senior Brandi Brown is the conference player of the year and was an all-tournament team pick. Freshman Shar'Rae Davis was named to the league's all-newcomer team.

Even with their successes over the past four months, the Penguins will enter the WNIT with a sour taste in their mouth after a disappointing effort against Loyola in the Horizon League Semifinals. YSU got off to a slugging start offensively, and a drop-off in defense followed as the Penguins found themselves down 28-8 with five minutes left before halftime. YSU made a run and trailed by just 11 two minutes into the second half but scored five points over the next 10 minutes. Loyola pulled away and won 72-45.

The Penguins earned the Horizon League's automatic berth into the WNIT by being the highest-finishing team in the conference that did not make the NCAA Tournament. YSU finished second in the Horizon League, and regular-season champion Green Bay won the conference tournament and the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

If YSU prevails against Indiana State, it will advance to play either Butler or Toledo in the second round.

Tickets

Tickets are available for purchase 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. Reserved seats will be $10, and general admission seats will be $7 apiece. Youngstown State students will be admitted free with a current and valid ID.

Game Recap vs. Loyola

Youngstown State had its worst performance of the season at the worst time and lost 72-45 to Loyola in the semifinals of the Horizon League Tournament on Friday in Green Bay.

YSU trailed by as many as 20 in the first half and cut the deficit to 11 less than two minutes into the second half. The Penguins, though, hit just one field goal over the next 10 minutes as Loyola pulled away.

The Ramblers outshot the Penguins 44.1 percent to 25.9 percent and kept them out of rhythm on the offensive end most of the night.

• Loyola's top two scorers, Simone Law and Taylor Johnson, combined for 48 points. Law had 29, and Johnson had 19. The pair had 28 of Loyola's 32 points at halftime.
• Law had 14 points during Loyola's 20-4 run that gave it a 28-8 lead. She made eight of her first nine field goal attempts.
• YSU had its lowest shooting percentage of the season.
• Shar'Rae Davis was YSU's top scorer with 12 points, but she matched her season high with five turnovers.
• The Penguins trailed 8-4 with 14:30 left, then 28-8 10 minutes later.
• After trailing 30-10, YSU cut the score to 36-25 two minutes into the second half. Loyola went on a 24-5 run over the next 10 minutes to go up 60-30.
• The duo of Liz Hornberger and Monica Touvelle went a combined 0-for-8 from 3-point range. They had made at least one 3-pointer between the two of them in each of YSU's regular season games.
• YSU scored 17 of its 45 points in a six-minute stretch from the 4:17 mark of the first half to the 18:17 mark of the second half. In the other 34 minutes of the game, it had 28 points.

Scouting Indiana State

Indiana State enters the WNIT with an 18-12 overall record that included a 10-8 mark in Missouri Valley play. The Sycamores have lost four of their last six games with each of their last two setbacks coming to Northern Iowa. One of those losses to UNI was in the quarterfinals of the Valley Tournament. Indiana State holds teams to 55.3 points per game, which ranks second in the conference. Three starters average at least 10.5 points with guard Anna Munn leading the way with 14.7 points per game.

Last Time vs. Indiana State

YSU held the nation's second-highest scoring team 22 points below its season average but couldn't muster up enough offense in a 69-56 loss at Indiana State on Dec. 6, 2006.

The Guins trailed by two at halftime and by five with six minutes left. Indiana State held a 13-5 scoring edge down the stretch.

Monique Godfrey led the Penguins with 18 points and was 5-for-11 from 3-point range. Anjalia Lyons added 11 points in 17 minutes but battled foul trouble.

Series With Indiana State

Indiana State has beaten Youngstown State three times in four meetings in a series that dates back to 1980. The Penguins and Sycamores played in back-to-back years at Kent State, and the teams split a pair of two-point victories. There was a 24-year gap between the next meeting, one that Indiana State won 96-57 at Beeghly Center on Dec. 17, 2005. YSU lost 69-56 in Terre Haute, Ind., in the last meeting on Dec. 6, 2006. YSU's last game against a team from the Missouri Valley Conference was a 90-73 loss to UNI on Nov. 26, 2011, in Los Angeles.

Back in The Postseason

Youngstown State is playing in its first postseason tournament since 1999-2000. The Penguins earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament three times in five years in the 1990s, making the field in 1996, 1998 and 2000. YSU's first postseason win came over Memphis on March 14, 1998. YSU is in the WNIT for the first time in school history.

Brown on Horizon's All-Tournament Team

Brandi Brown was named to the Horizon League's All-Tournament Team for her efforts in the Penguins' two tournament contests. She had the highest-scoring game of the tournament with 31 points in the Penguins' 69-62 victory over Cleveland State in the quarterfinals. She averaged 21 points and 12 rebounds in the tournament.

Records Watch

Youngstown State will set a new school record for games played in a season tonight with 32. A win would give the Penguins a school-record 14 victories at Beeghly Center.