Youngstown State's challenging non-conference schedule continues as it faces two opponents coming off of postseason appearances at the Las Vegas Holiday Classic. The Penguins will take on Rhode Island and Northern Arizona at The Orleans Hotel & Casino at a tournament over Thanksgiving. Both games will be broadcast live on 1390 WNIO and iHeart Radio with Drae Smith courtside for the call of both games.

Gameday Info

A Glimpse at the Guins

• YSU is 2-2 this season as it heads to Nevada for the two neutral-site contests. The Penguins began the campaign with a 55-41 win over Xavier and a 78-32 triumph over Division II Slippery Rock, and they ended their season-opening homestand with a disappointing 54-52 loss to Western Michigan when they felt like they didn't have their best effort. YSU then fell 94-40 at West Virginia on Sunday.
• Defense has been the theme through the first four contests of the season. YSU has scored more than 55 points just once this season, and, likewise, it has allowed more than 55 points just once.
• Forward Emily Saunders was named the Horizon League's first Player of the Week after playing huge roles YSU's wins the opening week. She averaged 21 points and 11.5 rebounds while shooting 76% from the field. She is averaging 15 points and 7.5 rebounds and shooting 71.8% from the floor through four games.
• John Nicolais is serving as YSU's Acting Head Coach while John Barnes is on leave to focus on personal family matters. Nicolais has been with the program since 2013-14, and he was YSU's Associate Head Coach for the past two seasons.
• YSU returns nine letterwinners and three starters from last year's squad that posted a 19-11 record and tied for third in the Horizon League standings with a 13-7 conference record. It was the third time in the last six years that YSU finished with at least 19 wins overall and 13 wins within the league.
• The Guins were picked to finish third in the Horizon League in the conference's preseason coaches poll.
• The Penguins depend on the strength of six fifth-year seniors and two fourth-year seniors, who supply plenty of leadership in the locker room in addition to a veteran presence on the court.

Program Staples

• Shooting 3s: Youngstown State has led the Horizon League in 3-pointers per game in eight straight seasons from 2014-15 through 2021-22. The Penguins have made at least 200 3-pointers every season since 2010-11 except the COVID-19-shortened campaign in 2020-21. Individually, a Penguin has ranked in the top seven of the Horizon League individually in 3s per game in each of the last 11 seasons.
• Strong In The Post: The Penguins have had a post be named to the Horizon League's first, second or third-team in nine of the last 11 seasons and 14 times in the last 17. They've had a first-team honoree in three of the last five years, including each of the last two.
• Sharing The Ball: A Penguin has led the Horizon League in assists per game in six of the last eight years. As a team, the Penguins have paced the conference in assists per game in three of the last five campaigns, including 2022-23.
• Academics: YSU has appeared on the WBCA Academic Top 25 Honor Roll 12 times in the last 13 years. The Penguins have been in the top 10 in five of the last eight years. The Penguins were second in both 2019-20 and 2020-21, and they were 12th in 2022-23.
• Postseason Play: YSU has played in the WNIT or the WBI in six of the last 11 years.

Previewing the Matchups

Schedule and Tournament Notes

• Youngstown State is playing on a neutral floor for the first time since 2019. That contest was played at Little Caesars Arena in the semifinals of the Horizon League Basketball Championship. YSU's last win at a neutral site was against Milwaukee at Little Caesars Arena in 2018.
• This is Youngstown State's first trip west of the Mississippi River since it played at Northern Arizona on Nov. 28, 2016. YSU also played in a tournament at Hawaii that season, and it hasn't flown for a non-conference game since.
• YSU is playing in its first tournament around Thanksgiving since it played at the Teresa Phillips Thanksgiving Classic in 2015, which was hosted by Tennessee State in Nashville.
• Youngstown State is 3-3 all-time in Las Vegas. The Penguins played in tournaments hosted by UNLV three times, and they went 0-2 in 1987, 1-1 in 1992 and 2-0 in 1997.

YSU vs. Rhode Island

A Win Would...

• Improve YSU's record to 3-2 this season.
• Be YSU's first over Rhode Island.
• Give YSU its first win over a current Atlantic 10 team since 2018.
• Be YSU's first on a neutral floor since 2018.
• Give Acting Head Coach John Nicolais a 3-2 career record.

Milestone Watch

• Mady Aulbach is nine field goals shy of 100 in her career.
• Dena Jarrells needs two 3-pointers for 150 in her career, and six rebounds for 200 in her career.
• Shay-Lee Kirby is 10 rebounds away from 300 in her career and 23 points from 700 in her career.
• Malia Magestro is two points shy of 700 in her career.
• Paige Shy will needs five points to score her 500th as a Penguin. She also needs 17 rebounds to reach 400 in her collegiate career.

Scouting Rhode Island

• Rhode Island heads to Las Vegas with a 3-2 record with dominating wins over Sacred Heart and UMass Lowell to start the season and three straight games decided by nine or 11 points. In the Rams' last game, they held a two-point lead at No. 14 NC State before falling 67-58 on Sunday.
• Rhode Island has averaged 24 wins in its last two seasons, and last season it won a share the Atlantic 10 Regular Season Championship and won two games in the Women's NIT as part of a 26-win campaign. The Rams lost in the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament last year to Saint Louis, which current Penguin Abby Liber played for.
• URI was the preseason favorite in the Atlantic 10 Preseason Poll, and four Rams players were featured on the preseason all-conference team.
• Friday will be the first meeting between Youngstown State and Rhode Island.

YSU vs. Northern Arizona

A Win vs. Northern Arizona Would

• Give YSU two straight wins over the Lumberjacks.
• Give YSU a 4-2 record against teams in the Big Sky Conference.

Scouting Northern Arizona

• Northern Arizona will take a 2-2 record on its 250-mile trip from Flagstaff, Ariz., to Las Vegas. The Lumberjacks will play Portland on Friday afternoon before they'll play Youngstown State on Saturday. NAU fell 81-48 and 87-64, respectively, to Oregon and Arizona to begin the campaign, and it has beat Benedictine University Mesa and UC San Diego last week.
• The Lumberjacks went 21-14 last season, earning a share of the Big Sky regular season title, advancing to the conference tournament championship game and playing in the Women's NIT. That was their first 20-win season since 2006-07.
• NAU, like Rhode Island, is the preseason favorite to win its conference. The Lumberjacks were picked first by the media and second by the coaches in the Big Shy's preseason poll. They return starters Emily Rodabaugh, who leads the team in scoring with 10 points per game, and Nyah Moran.

Series History and Matchup Notes
Overall: Tied 1-1
Barnes/Nicolais Era: 1-1 • Home: 1-0 • Away: 0-1 • Neutral: 0-0
Current Win Streak: 1 by Youngstown State

Recapping the last meeting: Sarah Cash scored the go-ahead basket with 4.3 seconds left as Youngstown State fought off a big Northern Arizona rally for a 69-67 win on Dec. 16, 2017, at Beeghly Center. The Penguins led by as many as 18 in the second period, but the Lumberjacks outscored the Penguins 23-9 in the third period. YSU's final deficit was 50-49. Cash finished with 24 points, and she had four of YSU's 13 steals in the game.

Recapping West Virginia

Game Summary

Full Recap | Box Score

West Virginia started strongly in the first three quarters and went on to beat Youngstown State 94-40 on Sunday afternoon at the WVU Coliseum.

Dena Jarrells, one of four West Virginia natives who start for the Penguins, led YSU with 12 points on two 3-pointers and two old-fashioned three-point plays. YSU's other Mountain State natives, Paige Shy (eight), Emily Saunders (six) and Shay-Lee Kirby (five) were the Penguins' other top scorers.

Youngstown State had turnovers on its first three possessions of the game, and West Virginia scored seven quick points to take a 7-0 lead. The Mountaineers extended the run to nine before YSU scored six of the next eight points. Jarrells got the Penguins on the board with a three-point play at the 6:14 mark, and Shy hit a 3 with 5:45 on the clock to make the score 11-6.

The margin remained five at the first media timeout, and Shy missed a 3-pointer after the break that could have brought the score to within a possession. West Virginia made three 3s around a 3-pointer by YSU's Malia Magestro to push the margin to 20-9, and WVU closed the opening session by scoring the final 10 points. The Mountaineers then scored the first nine points of the second quarter, and they led 47-19 at halftime.

WVU scored the first 18 points of the third quarter, and the Penguins went with their reserves for the final 7:40 of the quarter. WVU led 77-25 after 30 minutes, and Youngstown State's starting five came back in for the beginning of the fourth and shaved nine points off the deficit in the first four-plus minutes. The Mountaineers made three 3s in the final 3:30 to increase the final margin.

Notes

• Youngstown State had a large contingent of fans in the seats at WVU Coliseum. Student-athletes Dena Jarrells, Shay-Lee Kirby, Emily Saunders, and Paige Shy, as well as Acting Head Coach John Nicolais, are all natives of the Mountain State. Many family members, friends and students from their alma maters made the trip to Morgantown.
• The Mountaineers shot 57.1% for the game, and they shot 76.9% in the first period and 66.7% in the third. WVU went 13-for-26 from beyond the arc. Going into the contest, opponents were 9-for-68 (13.2%) on 3-point attempts against Youngstown State.
• The Penguins went 6-for-28 from 3-point range, giving them at least six 3s in all four games this season. The starters were 6-for-17.
• Jarrells led YSU with a dozen points, giving her three straight games scoring in double figures.
• Malia Magestro surpassed 700 career points in the game, and she extended her streak of making a 3-pointer to 11 games dating back to last season.
• YSU made the most of its second-chance opportunities by scoring seven points on just five offensive rebounds.
• Paige Shy made two 3-pointers for the second straight game. She went 0-for-4 to start the campaign.
• Mackenzie Hurd recorded her first career assist and tied her career high with two points. She played a career-high 11 minutes.
• Abby Liber tied her career high with two points.
• Bella Samz recorded her first career steal and matched her career high with one rebound.
• West Virginia had the highest point total by an opponent since Sacramento State scored 94 in a 102-94 Penguins victory in Hawaii on Nov. 20, 2016.

Up Next

Youngstown State will begin Horizon League play with a pair of conference contests next week. YSU will host Detroit Mercy at Beeghly Center on Nov. 30 at 6:30 p.m. in its Horizon League opener, and it will play at Robert Morris on Dec. 3 at noon.