In helping Youngstown State achieve two victories during the opening week of women’s basketball conference play, Penguins junior McKenah Peters has been named the Horizon League player of the week while Taylor Petit has been selected as the Horizon League freshman of the week. The conference office announced its award winners on Tuesday.

This is the first time in Peters’ career that the LaGrange native has been named the Horizon Player of the Week. She was named the conference’s top player for the week by the website College Sports Madness on Monday. Petit was the league’s freshman of the week the opening week of the season.

“We’re very proud of McKenah and Taylor for all of their hard work and dedication to the team,” YSU coach John Barnes said. “Their tenacity showed in our two wins last week, and both are very deserving of receiving the league’s weekly awards.”

Peters averaged 15.5 points and 11 rebounds and posted two career highs. She tied for the league’s top-scoring effort on opening night when she posted a career-high 22 points in the win over IUPUI. Peters scored 19 of those 22 points in the second half as she went 7-of-9 from the field overall and 5-of-6 from 3-point range. She followed that up by grabbing a career-high 14 rebounds in the win over UIC.

Petit averaged 13 points for the week, and she scored a career-best 19 points in the win over UIC. She was 5 of 12 from the field, 3 of 7 from 3-point range and 6 of 6 from the free-throw line against the Flames. The Schofield, Wis., native scored seven points in the come-from-behind win over IUPUI, and she was involved in two of the biggest plays of the game in the fourth quarter. Petit dove on the floor for a loose ball that led to Macee Williams fouling out, and she hit a floater with 36 remaining to put YSU ahead 74-72.

Youngstown State will play its next five contests on the road, beginning with a game at Northern Kentucky on Thursday at 7 p.m. The contest will be broadcast live on 1390 WNIO-AM and ESPN-Plus.