Game Preview
- The Youngstown State women's basketball team will begin a 2022-23 season with high anticipation and lofty goals on Monday against Wofford at Beeghly Center. Tipoff against the Terriers is set for 7 p.m., and the game will be broadcast live on 1390 WNIO and ESPN3.
- 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 who started at least 20 games on last year's team that hung a championship banner, and YSU also brought in four talented newcomers.
- 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.
- Lilly Ritz is a Preseason All-Horizon League First Team selection after ranking among the top three in the conference in scoring, rebounding, field-goal percentage, double-doubles and steals in 2021-22. The fifth-year senior forward was also named to the league's All-Defensive Team, along with fourth-year guard Mady Aulbach. Ritz, Aulbach, Malia Magestro, Paige Shy and Megan Callahan are the four returning players who each started at least 20 games 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 151, and his .559 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.
- Wofford is a formidable season-opening opponent for the Penguins. The Terriers were picked to finish second in the Southern Conference preseason poll, and they are coming off a season in which they went 17-14 and played in the WNIT.
- Monday's game will be just one of two contests in Beeghly Center in November. The Penguins will play their next three games on the road before returning home to host St. Francis Brooklyn on Nov. 26. YSU will then play six home games in December.
Tickets, Promotions & Fan Information
- Advance tickets for Monday's game are available on YSUsports.com, over the phone at (330) 941-1978 or at the Stambaugh Stadium Athletics Ticket Office. The Beeghly Center Ticket Office and gates will open at 6 p.m. on Monday.
- Promotions
- YSU Schedule Magnet Giveaway, courtesy of Compco, HBK, and 21 WFMJ
- Food Can Drive: Bring a canned good and receive a $5 GA ticket
- $1 Popcorn Night
- Veterans Appreciation Game presented by NECA IBEW. Service members may receive four free tickets to the game.
Youngstown State vs. Wofford
A Win Would…
- Improve YSU's record to 27-21 in season openers
- Give the Penguins a 6-4 record in season-opening titles under Head Coach John Barnes
- Be YSU's first ever against a team from South Carolina
- Be Head Coach John Barnes' 308th career victory and his 152nd at YSU
Scouting the Terriers
- Wofford went 17-14 overall last season to post its fourth straight winning record. The campaign finished with an appearance in the Women's NIT, which was the first-ever postseason tournament for the Terriers at the Division I level.
- Wofford was picked to finish second in the SoCon by the league's head coaches, and the media poll slotted it fourth. Jackie Carman, who is from Twinsburg, Ohio, and Lilly Hatton both earned preseason all-conference accolades after being Wofford's top two scorers in 2021-22. They are the only two returning starters, but the Terriers are excited about the prospects of USC Upstate transfer Rachael Rose, who was Big South Freshman of the Year in 2021-22.
Series History
- This is the first meeting between Wofford and Youngstown State in women's basketball. In fact, YSU has never played a team from the Southern Conference, and it has played a team from South Carolina just twice previously.
- YSU vs. South Carolina Teams: The Penguins hosted Clemson on Dec. 19, 2003, and lost 79-75 in what was a homecoming game for Tigers' guard Maggie Slosser, who was a graduate of Poland High School. Youngstown State's only other game against a team from the Palmetto State is a contest against Winthrop that was played at Stetson University on Dec. 21, 2010. The Penguins dropped that contest 50-46.
- Jarrells' Familiarity: YSU guard Dena Jarrells played her first three collegiate seasons at Chattanooga, which is a member of the SoCon with Wofford. On Feb. 26 against the Terriers, Jarrells scored 22 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished out two assists in 37 minutes.
Nov. 7 in YSU History
- This is the first time in school history that the Penguins have played on Nov. 7. The Penguins have opened a season earlier than Nov. 5 just twice in school history - Nov. 5 in 2019 and Nov. 6 in 2018.
Preseason News & Notes
Horizon League Preseason Favorites
For the first time in program history, the Youngstown State women's basketball team has been selected as the favorites in the Horizon League Preseason Coaches Poll. With four starters back from last year's team that shared the regular-season crown with IUPUI, YSU received eight out of a possible 11 first-place votes in the 2022-23 preseason poll. That gave the Penguins 118 points, which was 12 more than second-place Green Bay and 16 more than third-place Cleveland State. Youngstown State was picked seventh in the 2021-22 preseason poll, and all 11 coaches ranked the Penguins either first or second in 2022-23.
Ritz Named Preseason All-League
Fifth-year senior Lilly Ritz was voted to the Preseason All-League First Team. Last season she was named to the All-Horizon League First Team and the All-Defensive Team, which was her first season at the Division I level. A transfer from Division II Wheeling, she ranked among the top three players in the conference in scoring (16.9 ppg), rebounding (9.5 rpg), field-goal percentage (.569) and double-doubles (11). Defensively, she ranked third in steals (2.0 spg), sixth in blocks (0.93 bpg) and fifth in defensive rebounding (5.9 rpg). Ritz had YSU's highest scoring average since 2014-15, highest rebounding average since 2012-13, fourth-best shooting percentage in program history and the most steals per game since 2010-11. She was the first Penguin ever to earn all-defense and all-league accolades in the same season.
Returners from 2021-22
Ritz headlines YSU's long list of contributors from last year's squad that is hoping to hang another championship banner in Beeghly Center. Ritz started 26 of the 27 games she was available for last season, and four other returns started at least 20 contests. Chelsea Olson, the lone non-returning starter from 2021-22, started all 30 contests, and Mady Aulbach (26), Megan Callahan (22), Paige Shy (22) and Malia Magestro (20) combined to start in the other three guard positions in every contest.
Aulbach was named to the Horizon League All-Defensive Team alongside Ritz in 2021-22, and she ranked second on the team with 79 assists. Shy (53), Magestro (48) and Callahan (44) were the top three Penguins in 3-pointers made last season.
In total, Youngstown State returns 79.5 percent of its scoring, 72.4 percent of its 3-pointers, 80 percent of its rebounds, 64.6 percent of its assists, 63.2 percent of its blocks and 80.7 percent of its steals from last season.
Transfers Should Provide Boost
Youngstown State has four newcomers on its roster in 2022-23, and three of them came via the transfer portal from Division I institutions. Point guard Dena Jarrells led Chattanooga in 3-pointers, assists and steals last season and averaged a team-high 11.4 points in SoCon games. Wing Shay-Lee Kirby averaged 7.2 points, made 47 3-points and shot 39.6 percent from beyond the arc last season at Austin Peay. Forward Emily Saunders appeared in 20 games last season at Tennessee and shot 54.5 percent from the field. They join freshman Mackenzie Hurd, a guard from Buchtel, Ohio, who earned Special Mention All-Ohio honors, as newcomers on this year's team.
Country Roads to Youngstown
Youngstown State's program has had a West Virginia flair in recent seasons, and it will be even more evident in 2022-23. Four natives of the Mountain State are on the 2022-23 roster, and all four players were members of the WV Thunder AAU program together. Paige Shy transferred to YSU from Marshall prior to last season, and three of her former AAU teammates joined her in the offseason. Dena Jarrells, who graduated from St. Joseph Central Catholic with Shy, was the first to commit. Shay-Lee Kirby was the next to commit, and Emily Saunders followed. Saunders went to Wyoming East High School, which was the same alma mater as former Penguin Gabby Lupardus (2018-22). Associate Head Coach John Nicolais is also a West Virginia native. In their high school careers, Shy, Jarrells, Kirby and Saunders combined for seven state titles and 13 first-team all-state selections, and Kirby and Saunders were both named West Virginia's player of the year during their careers.
Postseason Tournaments Under Barnes
Youngstown State earned the Horizon League's automatic bid to the Women's NIT last season, marking the fifth time in head coach John Barnes' nine seasons that the program played in a postseason tournament. The Penguins played in the WNIT in 2015, 2019 and 2022 and the WBI in 2016 and 2018. YSU has also won at least 21 games four times in Barnes' tenure, and the 24 wins in 2021-22 were the most since 1997-98.
Roster Overview
There are 14 student-athletes on this year's roster, and 10 are returners from last year's squad that went 24-7 and won a share of the Horizon League's regular season title. Still, this is a roster that doesn't have a load of experience together. Of the 14 players on the roster, only Mady Aulbach, Malia Magestro and Jen Wendler have been with the program for more than two seasons. Megan Callahan, Lindsey Linard, Lindsey Mack, Tenleigh Phelps, Lilly Ritz, Paige Shy and Haley Thierry are in their second year at YSU, and Mackenzie Hurd, Dena Jarrells, Shay-Lee Kirby and Emily Saunders are newcomers.
Callahan is in her sixth season playing Division I basketball; she played her first four at Robert Morris. Mack and Ritz are both fifth-year seniors who are in their final seasons, and Aulbach, Jarrells, Kirby, Saunders, Shy and Wendler are all fourth-year players who have two seasons of eligibility remaining. Magestro and Linard are juniors with three years of eligibility left, Thierry is a sophomore, Phelps is a redshirt-freshman, and Mack is a true freshman.
Schedule Overview
Youngstown State has 16 home games and 13 road games on its regular-season schedule, which begins on Nov. 7 against Wofford at Beeghly Center. Following the season opener against the Terriers, YSU will play its only three non-conference road tilts consecutively at Penn State (Nov. 15), Akron (Nov. 18) and Western Michigan (Nov. 22). The Penguins will then return home to host St. Francis Brooklyn on Nov. 26, and their Horizon League opener will be at Northern Kentucky on Dec. 2. YSU's first conference home game will be Dec. 29 against Cleveland State. The Horizon League Women's Basketball Championship will begin on Feb. 28.
Regulars on the Academic Top 25 Honor Roll
While the Youngstown State women's basketball program has played in multiple postseason tournaments, its success off the court is remarkable. Eleven times in the last 12 years and in eight consecutive seasons, the Penguins have posted one of the 25 best grade-point averages in the country. In five of the last seven years, they've been in the top 10. In 2021-22, YSU had the 16th-best mark in the country with a 3.622. In the two years prior, the Penguins possessed the second-best GPA among all Division I teams.
Leading in 3s
Youngstown State has led the Horizon League in 3-pointers per game for eight straight seasons. Last season, the Penguins made 250 3-pointers and averaged 8.33 per game, which was 0.05 more than Purdue Fort Wayne. Individually, Paige Shy ranked sixth in the conference in 3s per game to mark nine straight seasons where a Penguin has ranked among the top six in the conference. Malia Magestro ranked seventh right behind Shy.
Post Success
While the Penguins have been the Horizon League's top 3-point-shooting team under Head Coach John Barnes, YSU has also produced some of the conference's top posts. In Barnes' nine seasons, posts have earned all-conference honors eight times. A forward has been the Penguins' top scorer six times in Barnes' nine seasons.
Penguins Slotted 10th in Preseason Mid-Major Poll
Youngstown State is ranked 10th in the preseason release of the CollegeInsider.com Women's Mid-Major Top 25 Poll that was announced on Nov. 1. That is the highest ranking in program history, surpassing YSU's peak of 15th in 2021-22. The Penguins were ranked for nine straight weeks last season and reached 15th twice. YSU and Green Bay represent the Horizon League in the preseason top 25, and Cleveland State received the third-highest number of votes outside of the top 25. The Mid-Major Poll is made up of teams from the following conferences: America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Horizon, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, Mid-Eastern, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Southwestern, Summit, Sun Belt, West Coast, Western Athletic.
