Game Preview
- Youngstown State will play its first road game in more than a month as it begins a week in Michigan with a contest on Thursday against Detroit Mercy. Tipoff at Calihan Hall is set for 7 p.m., and the game will be broadcast live on 1390 WNIO and ESPN+.
- The Penguins went 5-1 in their six-game homestand that concluded on New Year's Eve with a 60-44 victory over Purdue Fort Wayne. YSU went 4-0 in non-conference contests during the homestand, and it split two Horizon League games with the Mastodons and Cleveland State. The Penguins outscored their opponents 465-293 (77.5-48.8 on average) over the six games.
- YSU's last road contest resulted in a 76-62 win at Wright State on Dec. 4, and the Penguins will be looking to go 3-0 on the road in league play against the Titans. Youngstown State also has a 59-55 win at Northern Kentucky on its resume.
- Saturday's win over Purdue Fort Wayne was YSU's 22nd victory of the 2022 calendar year. That is the most in a calendar year since 2014 and tied for the fifth-most for a year in program history.
- YSU leads the Horizon League with 17.2 assists per game and a .440 field-goal percentage. Dena Jarrells, who made her first start of the season at point guard against Purdue Fort Wayne, ranks third in the conference individually with 3.8 assists per contest. Her 4.5 assists per game in conference play tops the league.
- Lilly Ritz ranks among the top 20 players in the country in field-goal percentage (.641), rebounds per game (10.3) and double-doubles (7). She shot 76.6% (49-for-64) from the field during YSU's six-game homestand.
- 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.
- Malia Magestro scored 16 points in the win over Purdue Fort Wayne, and she went 4-for-7 from 3-point range to extend her streak of games with a 3 to 10 straight. She ranks ninth in the Horizon League with 12.6 points per game, and she is tied with teammate Megan Callahan for sixth in the conference in 3s per game at 1.92.
- 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 160, and his .565 winning percentage is the third-best mark in school history.
Youngstown State vs. Detroit Mercy
A Win Would...
- Improve YSU's overall record to 10-4 this season and its Horizon League record to 4-1.
- Be YSU's ninth straight over Detroit Mercy and its fifth straight at Calihan Hall.
- Give YSU a 3-0 mark in Horizon League road games and a 3-3 overall record on the road.
- Be Head Coach John Barnes' 317th career victory and his 161st at YSU.
Scouting the Titans
- Detroit Mercy is 2-11 overall and 0-4 in Horizon League play entering this week. The Titans beat Canisius, a common non-conference opponent with YSU, 70-65 on Nov. 13, and their most-recent victory was 91-84 over Miami-Hamilton on Dec. 8. The Titans fell 82-79 to a Georgia Southern team that is currently 9-2 on Dec. 11, and that started their current five-game slide.
- Irene Murua is nearly averaging a double-double with 10.3 points and 9.0 rebounds to lead the Titans. She ranks third in the Horizon League in rebounds per game, and Emma Trawally Porta is pacing the conference with 2.27 blocks per game.
- Kate Achter is in her first season as Detroit Mercy's head coach. She spent the previous six seasons as the head coach at Loyola Chicago, and the Ramblers were 18-12 in 2021-22.
Series History
Overall: Youngstown State leads 26-23
Barnes: 12-5 • Home: 17-8 • Away: 9-15 • Neutral: 0-0
Current Win Streak: 8 by Youngstown State
- Youngstown State has won eight straight meetings against Detroit Mercy to take a 26-23 lead in the all-time series that dates back to the 1982-83 season. YSU has won six of the last seven contests at Calihan Hall and four straight matchups at Beeghly Center. Two of the last three meetings have been decided by eight points or fewer – a 72-66 decision in Youngstown on Feb. 21, 2020, and a 64-56 margin in Detroit on Nov. 20, 2021. The teams did not play during the 2020-21 season.
- There was a stretch where the Penguins' and Titans' benches had ties. Former Detroit Mercy head coach Bernard Scott was YSU's recruiting coordinator from 2008-10, and former Titans assistant Tara Fleming played for the Penguins from 2001-05. Former Titan player and head coach Autumn Rademacher was an assistant coach at YSU during the 2019-20 campaign.
Last Season vs. Detroit Mercy
- In Detroit: Youngstown State battled through eight ties and 14 lead changes but survived for a 64-56 win over the Titans on Nov. 20, 2021, at Calihan Hall. YSU trailed 54-53 with 3:20 left but closed out the game on an 11-2 run. Lindsey Linard's three-point play sparked an 8-0 spurt that finished with another and-one by Lilly Ritz, which put the Penguins up 61-54 with 39 seconds remaining. Linard, Ritz and Jen Wendler combined to score 36 of YSU's 64 points and go 15-for-21 from the field. The game was tied at 35 at halftime, and the score was within two points the entire third period.
- In Youngstown: Youngstown State had six players score between eight and 15 points, and the Penguins led for nearly 36 minutes in a 78-59 win over Detroit Mercy on Jan. 28, 2022, at Beeghly Center. YSU had a 13-2 run in the first period to take a 16-6 lead, and it scored the final seven points of the first half to take a 42-30 lead. The Penguins led by double digits the entire second half. Youngstown State had a sizeable 22-6 edge in points off turnovers and was plus-nine in turnover margin. That was a monumental swing from the first matchup when the Titans were plus-six in turnover margin and had a 22-11 advantage in points off turnovers. Malia Magestro led YSU with 15 points, and Lilly Ritz and Paige Shy both scored 14.
Jan. 5 in YSU History
- Youngstown State is 10-3 all-time on Jan. 5, and it will be looking for its first road win on the date since an 82-53 win at Chicago State on Jan. 5, 1995.
- YSU played on Jan. 5 in three straight years from 2017-19, and it was 2-1 in that stretch. The Penguins won their last two decisions, beating UIC 76-63 in 2018 and IUPUI 70-52 in 2019.
- YSU set a school record by grabbing 75 rebounds in 1991 against Duquesne, and it had numerous offensive highlights in a 106-48 victory over Chicago State in 1998.
Recapping Purdue Fort Wayne
Game Summary
YSU built a 15-point halftime lead and played well defensively all afternoon to beat Purdue Fort Wayne 60-44 on Saturday at Beeghly Center. Lilly Ritz led the Penguins on the box score with 20 points and 14 rebounds to record her seventh double-double, and Malia Magestro made four first-half 3-pointers in a 16-point effort. But it was the defense that carried YSU to victory as the Penguins held the Mastodons to 28.6% shooting. The Penguins led by double digits for the final 25:45 of the game, and the largest margin was 22 at 44-22 with less than four minutes left in the third quarter.
Notes
Defense leads the way: While YSU shot 44.2% from the field and made eight 3s offensively, defense was the key to the victory. Megan Callahan led the charge by holding Purdue Fort Wayne leading scorer Amellia Bromenschenkel to four points on just seven shot attempts. Bromenschenkel came into the game ranking fourth in the conference in scoring at 14.7 points per game, and she had scored 25 and 21 points in her last two outings against Maryland and Robert Morris. Purdue Fort Wayne shot 28.6% from the field, which was the lowest by a Division I opponent this season. YSU also had a season-high five blocks, and Ritz posted four individually to go along with two steals and eight defensive rebounds.
Jarrells enters starting lineup: Dena Jarrells made her first start as a Penguin, and she finished with seven assists, a season-high five rebounds and two points. Jarrells came into the game averaging 9.7 points and 5.3 assists in the previous five games. The transfer from Chattanooga is averaging 4.5 assists per game against conference opponents, which is the top mark in the league, and her 3.8 assists per game overall is the third-best mark in the conference. Mady Aulbach, who started the first 12 games at point guard, still played 25 minutes while Jarrells played a season-high 28.
High turnover total: Turnovers kept the Penguins from really pulling away against the Mastodons as YSU finished with 25 giveaways. That was one shy of the season high that was set at Penn State on Nov. 15. After taking its first 20-point lead at 40-20, YSU had 14 turnovers in the final 17-and-a-half minutes of the game. The Penguins were minus-10 in turnover margin against the Mastodons after being minus-five in the loss to Cleveland State.
Quick Hitters: YSU played the 1,300th game in school history... The Mastodons made just two free throws and went to the charity stripe just five times... YSU was whistled for 12 fouls, which was 15 fewer than what it had against Cleveland State two days prior... The Mastodons committed 11 fouls, which tied for a season low by an opponent... Four Penguins (Ritz, Magestro, Paige Shy and Shay-Lee Kirby) accounted for 52 of the team's 60 points... Shy made three 3s, her most in a game since Penn State on Nov. 15... Kirby scored 16 points combined in the games against Cleveland State and Purdue Fort Wayne after having two at Wright State and NKU.
Up Next
Youngstown State will play at Oakland on Saturday at 2 p.m. in another Horizon League contest. The game from the Athletics Center O'rena will be broadcast live on 1390 WNIO and ESPN+.
