Women's Basketball Visits No. 2 Wright State in Horizon League Quarterfinals

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March 11, 2008

Women's Basketball Visits No. 2 Wright State in Horizon League Quarterfinals

    After picking up the program’s first Horizon League Tournament victory on Monday, the No. 7 Youngstown State women's basketball team (14-16) goes for its third straight win and its first Horizon League quarterfinal triumph when it visits No. 2 Wright State, Wednesday, March 12.
    Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at the Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio.

Last Time Out
Senior Heather Karner set the Youngstown State single-season 3-pointer record after hitting five and leading the No. 7 YSU women’s basketball team with 18 points en route to a 65-54 win over No. 10 Detroit on Monday evening at the Beeghly Center.
    Karner, who has made 83 3-pointers this season, also grabbed five rebounds and dished out two assists to pace the Penguins to their first Horizon League Tournament victory. Junior Tiara Scott also reached double figures with 11 points.
    The Penguins also benefitted from another strong performance at the free-throw line, converting 22-of-28 or 78.6 percent, including 15-of-18 (83.3 percent) in the second half.

The Series
This will be the 36th meeting between the Penguins and the Raiders and the third contest this season. Youngstown State owns a 21-14 advantage in the all-time series and swept the season series from the Raiders this year, winning 61-58 at the Beeghly Center on Jan. 17 and 66-58 at the Nutter Center on Feb. 16. This will also be the 13th meeting between the schools since the 2003-04 season.

Last Time Against Wright State
    Four players scored in double figures and the Youngstown State women’s basketball team shot 50 percent from behind the 3-point line en route to a 66-58 win over Wright State on Feb. 16 at the Nutter Center.
    Senior Heather Karner led the Penguins (12-12, 7-6 Horizon League) with a game-high 19 points while senior Lauren Branson scored 17 points. Tiara Scott added 12 points and senior Jessica Schloemp contributed 10 points.
    Leading by seven points, 46-39, five minutes into the second half, Branson hit consecutive 3-pointers and Karner converted two free throws to balloon the Guins advantage to 15, 54-39, at the 11:50 mark.
    The Penguins, who went 9-of-18 from behind the 3-point line, extended their edge to as many as 17 points, 59-42, after Karner nailed her fifth 3-pointer of the game with 6:36 to go.

Raiders Familiar Tourney Foe
This will be the third time since 2004 that the Penguins and Raiders have met in the Horizon League tournament and the third time they will square off in the Nutter Center. In 2004, the Guins dropped a 58-56 overtime heartbreaker to the Raiders in a first-round game. YSU also fell to the Raiders 66-52 in a quarterfinal matchup in 2005.

Guins Going For First Quarterfinal Win
Youngstown State picked up its first Horizon League Tournament win on Monday after defeating Detroit 65-54 at the Beeghly Center. However, the Penguins have never advanced to Horizon League semifinals since joining the league and are 0-4 in tournament quarterfinals.

Scott, Branson Pick Up League Honors
Youngstown State junior Tiara Scott was named to the All-Horizon League Second Team and All-Newcomer Team and senior Lauren Branson was named to the league’s All-Defensive Team. Scott led the Penguins with 15 points per game and averaged 6.6 rebounds per game against Horizon League foes. She also averaged 13 points per game overall and ranked 11th in the league in scoring. Branson, who led the Horizon League with 5.9 assists in league games, averaged 2.1 steals per game in league play. Branson also led the league with 158 assists and 5.5 assists per game in all regular-season games.

Karner Sets Single-Season Record
With five 3-pointers against Detroit on Monday, senior guard Heather Karner broke the YSU single-season 3-pointers made record of 79 set by Tiffany Adams in 1992-93. Karner, who has 83 3-pointers this season, also moved into sixth place on the all-time list with 135 career 3-pointers made in two seasons. Karner also tied a career high with five 3-pointers en route to a game-high 23 points in YSU's 71-62 win over UIC on March 8. She also made five 3-pointers against Valparaiso on Jan. 31 and March 1.

A Win Will
• Mark YSU’s 15th victory of the season.
• Give Head Coach Tisha Hill her 46th career victory.
• Give YSU its first Horizon League Tournament quarterfinal victory.
• Mark the most wins (15) since the 1999-2000 season.
• Mark the 469th win in program history.

No Love For HK
Despite ranking eighth in scoring and leading the league with 51 3-pointers and 2.83 3-pointers made per game against league foes, Youngstown State senior Heather Karner did not pick up any postseason accolades. Overall, Karner averaged 14 points per game, which ranks seventh in the league, and made 83 3-pointers, good for second in the circuit.

Vaughn 20-20 Vision
For the first time in her career, junior Velissa Vaughn has scored at least 20 points in consecutive games after dropping in 21 against Butler on Feb. 28. The Clairton, Pa., native went 6-of-18 from the field, including two 3-pointers, and 7-of-9 from the 3-point line. On Feb. 23, Vaughn scored a career-high 28 points against Cleveland State.

Schloemp Streak at 103
Senior Jessica Schloemp owns a games played streak of 103 straight. Schloemp has also played in 113 of 114 career games. Schloemp also ranks seventh all-time with 113 games played.

Branson Nearing Fourth
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 487 assists. Branson needs six more to move into a tie for fourth place on the all-time assist chart with Caroline McCombs (493, 1994-98).

Branson Nets Academic Award
    Senior Lauren Branson was named Academic All-District IV Second-Team 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 player 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
With a win, the Penguins will take on No. 3 Milwaukee or No. 6 Valparaiso on Friday, March 14. Tipoff is will be at 5:30 p.m. or 8 p.m. and will be played at the highest remaining seed.