Game Preview
- After a seven-day following its season-opening victory, Youngstown State will get back into action Tuesday with a trip to Penn State. Tipoff against the Lady Lions at the Bryce Jordan Center is set for 7 p.m., and the game will be broadcast live on 570 WKBN and B1G+.
- The Penguins beat Wofford 81-72 last Monday on the first day of the NCAA season. Lilly Ritz, a Preseason All-Horizon League First-Team selection, posted 27 points and 20 rebounds in the victory. Both of those totals were highs for Ritz in her tenure as a Penguin, and it was the only 20-20 game in the country last week. Paige Shy (16), Malia Magestro (12) and Megan Callahan (11) also scored in double figures.
- The Penguins won the school's first regular-season conference title in 23 years last season as it shared the Horizon League crown with IUPUI. YSU went 24-7 overall and advanced to the Women's NIT behind what was largely a roster full of new faces. Now in 2022-23, five players return – Mady Aulbach, Callahan, Magestro, Ritz and Shy – who started at least 20 games on last year's team that hung a championship banner.
- While the core of the roster is familiar, the target on the Penguins' back is not. For the first time in program history, Youngstown State was picked as the preseason favorite to win the Horizon League by the conference's coaches. Last season, YSU was picked to finish seventh in the preseason poll.
- Ritz is the reigning Horizon League Player of the Week after her 27-point, 20-rebound performance against Wofford. She was named to the All-Horizon League First Team in 2021-22 after ranking among the top three in the conference in scoring, rebounding, field-goal percentage, double-doubles and steals in 2021-22.
- This is YSU's 10th season under Head Coach John Barnes, who was named the Horizon League Coach of the Year in 2021-22. Barnes is second in career victories at YSU with 152, and his .561 winning percentage is the third-best mark in school history.
- This is the 50th anniversary season of Beeghly Center, which opened in 1972-73. The first women's game played in the arena was on Jan. 31, 1976. YSU is 46-15 at home since the start of the 2018-19 season for a .754 winning percentage, and it is 21-5 in its last 26 games on Rosselli Court.
Youngstown State vs. Penn State
A Win Would...
- Improve YSU's record to 2-0 this season.
- Be the first over Penn State in five meetings.
- Be YSU's first against a Big Ten opponent since Dec. 8, 1990 (Michigan).
- Give YSU its first win over a team from a Power Five conference since Nov. 13, 2018, when it beat Pitt.
- Be Head Coach John Barnes' 309th career victory and his 153rd at YSU
Scouting Penn State
- Penn State is 2-0 this season with a pair of home victories. The Lady Lions beat Norfolk State 67-61 to open the campaign Wednesday, and they followed that with a 77-49 victory over Fairfield on Friday. Penn State begins the season with five straight home games.
- Guard Makenna Marisa has recorded a double-double in each of the first two games of the season, posting 24 points and 11 rebounds against Norfolk State and 14 points and 10 assists versus Fairfield.
- Marisa averaged 22.2 points in 2021-22, and she is one of four returning starters from last year's team that won 11 games and led the Big Ten with 269 steals. Marisa was named to the Watch List for the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard of the Year Award, and she was a consensus All-Big Ten First-Team pick last season.
Series History
Overall: Penn State leads 4-0
Barnes: 0-2 • Home: 0-0 • Away: 0-4 • Neutral: 0-0
Current Win Streak: 4 by Penn State
- Youngstown State has played at Penn State four times in the series history, and the first two meetings came in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. The Penguins lost 94-71 to the Nittany Lions in YSU's first-ever postseason game on March 15, 1996, and Penn State won 83-63 on March 17, 2000.
- This will be the second straight season and the third time since 2015 that YSU and Penn State will play in December.
Last Meeting vs. Penn State
- Youngstown State scored 14 of the first 16 points of the game but had an extended field-goal drought and never recovered in a 78-58 loss at Penn State on Dec. 12, 2021.
- The Penguins started 6-of-8 from the field and led the Lady Lions 14-2 following a Lilly Ritz basket with 6:05 left in the opening quarter. Penn State called timeout, and YSU missed its next 26 field goal attempts in a drought that lasted 19:30.
- Youngstown State made enough free throws to stay in the game and trailed just 38-25 when Ritz ended the field goal drought at the 6:35 mark of the third period. YSU trailed just 44-36 in the final minute of the third quarter, but Penn State scored the next 14 points to pull away.
- YSU outscored Penn State 16-14 in the first period and 13-10 in the third, but the Lady Lions held a 22-7 edge in the second and a 32-22 advantage in the fourth.
- Penn State held a sizable 52-20 scoring advantage in the paint, and the Lady Lions scored 14 points from offensive rebounds.
YSU vs. Big Ten and Power Five Opponents
- Big Ten: YSU is 1-12 all-time in games played against Big Ten opponents with the win coming against Michigan on Dec. 8, 1990, at Beeghly Center. All time, the Penguins are 1-1 against Michigan, 0-1 against Minnesota, 0-3 versus Indiana and Ohio State, and 0-4 against Penn State.
- Power Five: Youngstown State has played a team from a Power Five conference in 14 of the last 15 years (since 2007-08) with the lone exception being 2020-21. Eight of those 14 contests have come against Pitt, and YSU has beaten the Panthers twice – in 2012-13 and 2018-19. YSU is playing a Big Ten team for the fourth time in the last eight years.
Nov. 15 in YSU History
- This is the second straight year and the fourth time overall that Youngstown State is playing on Nov. 15.
- In 2021, YSU beat Akron 57-55 in the first game in front of home fans in 631 days. The Penguins played tenacious defense to offset their off night shooting. Both teams shot below 33 percent from the field, but YSU made four 3-pointers in the fourth period.
- In a win over Niagara in 2014, freshman guard Nikki Arbanas dazzled in her Penguins debut, making all five of her 3-point attempts and finishing with a game-high 25 points.
Recapping Wofford
- Youngstown State held off a second-half charge behind a historic effort from Lilly Ritz to top Wofford 81-72 on Monday evening in Beeghly Center.
- Ritz scored 27 points and grabbed 20 rebounds for the first 20-20 game by a Penguin in more than nine years, and three other YSU players reached double digits in scoring. Youngstown State never trailed as it knocked off the Terriers, who were picked to finish second in the SoCon and played in the WNIT last season.
- Ritz's 27 points came in less than 27 minutes of action as she battled foul trouble. YSU was whistled for 25 of the 46 fouls in the game, and Wofford went 24-for-28 from the free-throw line to offset its 33.3 percent shooting from the field.
- In addition to Ritz's 27 points, Paige Shy scored 16 points and went 3-for-6 from beyond the 3-point line, Malia Magestro had 12 points, and Megan Callahan contributed 11.
- Youngstown State led 20-9 with 34 seconds left in the opening quarter, and the lead reached 15 twice in the second quarter. It was a 37-24 Penguins advantage at halftime, and Wofford started the second half on a 13-2 run to get within 39-37 with 6:41 on the clock. YSU's lead was back up to 59-48 heading into the fourth, but the Terriers made another charge and got within 73-72 with 1:52 remaining. That ended up accounting for the Terriers' last points as YSU got five straight stops on defense to preserve the win.
- YSU had its highest point total against a Division I opponent since Feb. 5, 2021, when it beat Purdue Fort Wayne 102-60.
- Youngstown State was 6-for-26 from beyond the 3-point arc, but the Penguins made 21 of their 33 two-point attempts for 63.6 percent. That was also the same number of makes and attempts that they had from the free-throw line. Shy and Magestro, who led the Penguins in 3-pointers made in 2021-22, combined to go 5-for-10 from long distance.
- Ritz nearly had a double-double in the first quarter with eight points and nine rebounds. She had 13 of each statistic at halftime, 23 points and 16 rebounds through three quarters and finished with 27 and 20. She grabbed her 20th rebound total and her 15th defensive carom on Wofford's final possession.
- Youngstown State was 21-for-33 from the free-throw line overall, and it was 20-for-27 after the first quarter. While Ritz finished 11-for-19 on her own, she made 11 of her final 15 attempts from the charity stripe.
- YSU was pleased with its 17-to-11 assist-to-turnover ratio in the game. Ten of the 11 Penguins who appeared had at least as many assists as turnovers. Mady Aulbach and Paige Shy each had four assists and one turnover.
- The Penguins' three transfers each got into the scoring column in their first games at YSU. Forward Emily Saunders was the top scorer among the newcomers with six points in seven minutes, and she added two rebounds and two blocks. Dena Jarrells had five points and two assists in 13 minutes, and Shay-Lee Kirby recorded four points, three rebounds and an assist in 18 minutes.
Program Staples
- Shooting 3s: Youngstown State has led the Horizon League in 3-pointers per game in each of the last eight seasons. A Penguin has ranked in the top six of the conference individually in 3s per game in each of the last 10 seasons.
- Strong In The Post: The Penguins have had a post be named to the Horizon League's first team, second team or freshman team in eight of the last 10 seasons and 13 times in the last 16.
- Sharing The Ball: A Penguin has led the Horizon League in assists per game in six of the last seven years.
- Academics: YSU has appeared on the WBCA Academic Top 25 Honor Roll 11 times in the last 12 years. The Penguins have been in the top 10 in five of the last seven years.
- Postseason Play: YSU has played in the WNIT or the WBI in six of the last 10 years.
Up Next
- Youngstown State will continue its three-game, non-conference road stretch at Akron on Friday. Tipoff at James A. Rhodes Arena is set for 7 p.m., and the game will be broadcast live on 570 WKBN and
