Youngstown -- The Youngstown State women's basketball team will play 13 games against opponents who won at least 20 games last season and participate in a Thanksgiving tournament in Los Angeles during the 2011-12 season, YSU head coach Bob Boldon announced on Tuesday.
The Penguins will have a challenging start with five of the first eight contests against teams who won 20-plus games a year ago. They'll also play five of their first six contests away from Beeghly Center.
Boldon's second season will start at West Virginia on Friday, Nov. 11, and the Penguins will remain on the road to play at IPFW (Nov. 13) and at Bucknell (Nov. 16). YSU's home opener will be against American on Nov. 21, and the Guins' league opener will be versus Cleveland State on Dec. 31. YSU has just 12 home contests on the 29-game docket.
"This is a very exciting and challenging schedule for us as we continue to build our program," Boldon said. "We have a very demanding non-conference slate that will definitely prepare us for the Horizon League, and we're adding New York City and Los Angeles to our list of attractive travel destinations."
Following the home game against American, YSU will play in a two-game tournament at Loyola Marymount on Nov. 25-26. The Penguins will open against the host Lions and play against either Wyoming or Northern Iowa the following day. Youngstown State's last trip to California was at Pepperdine in 1998. YSU senior Macey Nortey (Long Beach, Calif.) and junior Brandi Brown (Pomona, Calif.) are both from the Los Angeles area.
The Penguins will return home to play back-to-back games against Western Michigan and Bowling Green on Nov. 30 and Dec. 6, and they'll close out their non-conference slate with three road contests at Ohio, Akron and Stony Brook.
The Penguins and Vikings will open Horizon League play and conclude 2011 with a contest on Saturday, Dec. 31, at Beeghly Center. The Guins will then begin their league rotation of playing on Thursdays and Saturdays when they visit Butler and Valparaiso before returning home to play Loyola and UIC on Jan. 12 and Jan. 14.
YSU will head back on the road to play Green Bay and Milwaukee before starting a season-long four-game homestand that will end the first half of Horizon League play and begin the second. The Guins will play Detroit and Wright State on Jan. 26 and Jan. 28 to end the first round against the circuit, and they'll play Valparaiso and Butler on Feb. 2 and Feb. 4 to start the second cycle.
Road games at UIC and Loyola will follow on Feb. 9 and Feb. 11, and the Guins will conclude their home schedule on Feb. 16 and Feb. 18 against Milwaukee and Green Bay. The rest of the regular-season schedule includes games at Wright State, Detroit and Cleveland State.
