YSU women gearing up to open season Sunday

The Penguins, sporting a veteran lineup, will open at Buffalo.

YOUNGSTOWN —Heading into the 2006-07 season, the Youngstown State women’s basketball team faced the daunting challenge of playing without a senior class and just three players with two years of Division I playing experience.

In gearing up for the start of the 2007-08 campaign, which begins Sunday at Buffalo, the composition of Coach Tisha Hill’s squad is almost in direct contrast to the makeup of the previous year’s team.

Four seniors, six juniors, three sophomores, 13 letterwinners and 10 players with at least two years of collegiate playing experience give Hill her most veteran team of her tenure.

That team familiarity coupled with the return of 93 percent of the scoring and 88 percent of the rebounding has the Penguins looking to make a surge up the Horizon League ladder.

“It is very instrumental to our program to have an entire returning squad back that fully understands our system and vision,” Hill said. “The addition of both Kelsey [Gurganus] and Tiara [Scott] in the lineup will certainly assist in a very powerful returning roster.

Of Hill’s 13 players, eight are listed as guards.

That number of backcourt choices gives Hill a myriad of alternatives and multiple looks to show the opposition, which may include three- and four-guard sets.

“The speed and creativity of our guards is very exciting,” Hill said. “The shooters can shoot and the penetrators are such a threat with their versatility.”

Running the point for the fourth year is senior Lauren Branson. A three-year starter, Branson’s responsibilities will be to distribute the ball and be the team leader on and off the court.

The only “natural” point guard on the squad, Branson has 62 career starts, has appeared and started in 28 consecutive games and ranks seventh on the all-time assists chart with 326.

Juniors Monique Godfrey and Velissa Vaughn each posted solid sophomore campaigns averaging 10.8 and 8.2 points per game, respectively.

Godfrey led the Penguins with a 12.1 scoring average against Horizon League opponents and Vaughn connected on 47.9 percent of her 3-pointers against league foes.

Add Gurganus, a Southern Miss. transfer, into the fray and the Penguins have three players which can be used interchangeably between the point and two-guard slots. Gurganus, a redshirt junior, played in 56 games while with the Golden Eagles and started 24 games as a freshman.

Senior Heather Karner, the team’s leading scorer last season with 10.9 points per game, headlines the three-guard/small forward options for the Penguins.

Karner, who scored 34 points against Cincinnati last season, made a team-high 52 3-pointers last season and was named to the Horizon League All-Newcomer Team.

Sophomore Toni Roscoe, who was granted a medical redshirt last season, may be the team’s purest 3-point shooter and is poised to make significant contributions this season.

Senior Kira Mowen and sophomore Kaitlyn March are also expected to compete for time in the back court. Last season, Mowen played in 22 games while March in appeared in 10 contests.

Led by senior Jessica Schloemp, the low-block is composed of five multitalented players who give the Penguins varied strengths.

Schloemp, a 6-3 forward, has logged 1,669 minutes in 83 career games and averaged six points and 4.8 rebounds per game while nursing a foot injury last season. Schloemp has the ability to be a difference maker after posting nine points and 7.1 rebounds per game, which ranked third in the Horizon League, as a sophomore.