• Youngstown State begins its 23rd season of Horizon League play this Thursday as it takes on Detroit Mercy at Beeghly Center. Tipoff against the Titans is set for 6:30 p.m., and the game will be broadcast live on 570 WKBN, iHeart, ESPN+ and the ESPN app.

Gameday Info

YSU vs. Detroit Mercy

Tickets, Promotions & Fan Information

Tickets | Gameday & Parking Information | Visitors Guide | Promotional Schedule | YSU Mobile App - iOS - Android

• Advance tickets for Thursday'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 5:30 p.m. on Thursday.
• Promotions
  • 2021-22 Horizon League Championship Replica Banner giveaway
  • Hot Dog Wally Night - $2 hot dogs
  • YSU Student T-Shirt Giveaway and first 100 YSU Students will receive pizza, courtesy of Pizza Hut
  • AAA Card Game - General Admission Tickets BOGO
  • Medical Mutual Faculty & Staff Appreciation Night

A Glimpse at the Guins

• The Penguins enter conference play with a 2-4 record against perhaps the most challenging non-league schedule in at least a decade. YSU has played three straight teams coming off of postseason appearances leading up to Thursday's contest.
• YSU went 0-2 at the Las Vegas Holiday Classic over Thanksgiving weekend, falling 63-50 to preseason Atlantic 10 favorite Rhode Island and 74-70 to preseason Big Sky favorite Northern Arizona. Those followed a loss at West Virginia on Nov. 19 and a 54-52 setback to Western Michigan in Youngstown on Nov. 16.
• Last week was an encouraging week offensively, specifically for two starting guards and two reserve guards. Shay-Lee Kirby averaged 15.5 points, while fellow starter Paige Shy averaged 14. Each of them scored 21 points against NAU, and both made five 3-pointers in Las Vegas. Off the bench, Abby Liber averaged seven points, and Haley Thierry averaged six.
• Youngstown State has won eight of its 10 Horizon League openers going back to 2013-14, which is when Acting Head Coach John Nicolais and Head Coach John Barnes arrived on campus. Barnes is on leave to focus on personal family matters.
• YSU is 31-11 in Horizon League play over the last two seasons, and it has won at least 13 conference games in three of the past six campaigns. The Penguins were picked to finish third in the league's preseason poll.
• 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.
• 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.
• Forward Emily Saunders was named the Horizon League's first Player of the Week after playing huge roles in YSU's wins the opening week. Saunders leads the Penguins with 11.2 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, and she tops the conference with a .660 field-goal percentage.
• Youngstown State has enjoyed tremendous success at Beeghly Center. The Penguins have had a winning record at home in 10 of the last 11 seasons, and they are 60-21 on Rosselli Court since the start of the 2018-19 campaign.

Program Staples

• Shooting 3s: Youngstown State 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.

Youngstown State vs. Detroit Mercy

A Win Would...

• Improve YSU's record to 3-4 this season.
• Give YSU nine wins in its 11 Horizon League openers in the John Nicolais era.
• Be YSU's 11th straight over Detroit Mercy.
• Improve YSU's home record to 3-1 this season.
• Give the Penguins a 61-21 record in Beeghly Center since the start of the 2018-19 campaign.

Milestone Watch

• Mady Aulbach is nine field goals shy of 100 in her career.
• Dena Jarrells needs one 3-pointer for 150 in her career, and four rebounds for 200 in her career.
• Shay-Lee Kirby is one rebound away from 300 in her career.
• Emily Saunders needs four points to reach 200 as a Penguin, and she is four rebounds from 100 at YSU.
• Paige Shy needs 26 points to reach 700 in her career She also needs 11 rebounds to reach 400 in her collegiate career.

Scouting the Titans

• Detroit Mercy has shown that it is a much-improved team from last year's squad that finished 5-25 and was 4-20 when it played at Beeghly Center in February. The Titans are coming to Youngstown with four wins again, only this time it is through seven games as they are 4-3 with double-digit victories at Eastern Michigan and Dayton. Thursday is also the Horizon League opener for the Titans.
• A big area of improvement for the Titans has been at the 3-point line. Detroit Mercy is shooting 35.5% from beyond the arc this season, which is the fourth-best clip in the conference. UDM was last in the league with a 21.8% success rate from long distance in 2022-23.
• Forward Irene Murua was a Preseason All-League Second Team selection, and she leads the team with 11.1 points while shooting 63% from the field. Six additional Titans are averaging at least six points per contest, and Myonna Hooper and Imani McNeal have both made eight 3-pointers.
• The Titans were picked to finish 10th in the league's preseason poll.

Series History and Matchup Notes

Overall: Youngstown State leads 28-23
Barnes/Nicolais Era: 14-5 • Home: 18-8 • Away: 10-15 • Neutral: 0-0
Current Win Streak: 10 by Youngstown State

• Youngstown State has won 10 straight meetings against Detroit Mercy to take a 28-23 lead in the all-time series that dates back to the 1982-83 season. YSU has won seven of the last eight contests at Calihan Hall and five straight matchups at Beeghly Center. Two of the last three contests on Rosselli Court have been decided by six points or fewer, including a 72-67 Penguins victory in 2022-23.
• There was a stretch where the Penguins' and Titans' benches had close 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 Meeting

• Lilly Ritz scored 26 points and helped Youngstown State fight through nine ties and 15 lead changes for a 72-67 victory over Detroit Mercy on Feb. 11, 2023, at the Beeghly Center. Ritz made eight of her last 10 attempts from the field, and YSU went on a 19-5 run midway through the second half that proved to be the difference in the game. After Detroit Mercy took a 52-50 lead at the 9:24 mark of the fourth quarter, Megan Callahan's three-point play 19 seconds later sparked a 12-0 run for the Penguins over a span of two minutes. YSU did not trail again in the contest. YSU was plus-six in turnover margin, and it held a 17-2 edge in points off turnovers.

Recapping Northern Arizona

Game Summary

Full Recap | Box Score

Youngstown State cut a 19-point second-half deficit to three in the final minute but couldn't complete the large comeback in a 74-70 loss to Northern Arizona on Saturday at the Orleans Arena. It was the second of two games for the Penguins at the Las Vegas Holiday Classic.

Paige Shy scored a career-high 21 points, 13 of which came in the second half, and Shay-Lee Kirby matched her with 21 points, which was her most as a Penguin. Malia Magestro added 10 points, and her 3-pointer with 33 seconds left made the score 73-70.

Northern Arizona took more than 20 seconds off the clock as YSU tried to force a turnover, and Olivia Moran split two free-throw attempts to give the Lumberjacks a two-possession edge. Magestro's 3-pointer on YSU's next possession was off the mark, and NAU ran out the clock.

NAU held a 19-9 advantage at the end of the first quarter, and the lead was 41-28 at halftime. The Penguins outscored the Lumberjacks 42-33 in the second half.

Northern Arizona's largest lead was 51-32 with 5:33 left in the third quarter, but the Penguins didn't back down and were able to trim the margin to single digits at 56-48 heading into the fourth.

Kirby made a lay-up on YSU's first possession of the fourth, and Abby Liber's first 3-pointer as a Penguin got the Guins to within 58-55 with 8:55 on the clock. Leia Beattie hit a 3 for the Lumberjacks 24 seconds later, and they were able to maintain at least a two-possession lead until Magestro's 3-pointer with 33 seconds left.

Notes

• Guards Shay-Lee Kirby and Paige Shy scored 21 points apiece in the contest. While having two Penguins both score 20 points isn't all that rare, having two guards reach 20 is. Before Saturday, the last guard tandem to both score 20 points in the same game was Indiya Benjamin and Alison Smolinski against Wright State on Feb. 18, 2017.
• Shy's 21 points in the game were the most in her career, topping her previous high of 19 at Penn State last season. Shy went 8-for-12 from the field and 4-for-6 from 3-point range while adding a free throw. Shy is averaging 12.8 points over the last four games.
• Kirby tied her career high with eight field goals. She had 16 of her 21 points in the first half.
• Shy and Kirby combined for 24 of YSU's 28 points in the first half.
• The Penguins improved their shooting percentage each quarter – 28.6% in the first, 42.9% in the second, 47.1% in the third and 50% in the fourth.
• YSU made a season-high 10 3-pointers on 27 attempts. The Penguins were 1-for-8 in the first period but 9-for-19 over the final 30 minutes.
• Youngstown State had 18 assists on 23 field goals, and three players – Mady Aulbach, Dena Jarrells and Haley Theirry –had four assists apiece. For Thierry, the four assists represented a new career high.
• Abby Liber had a career-high six rebounds, scored six points and made her first career 3-pointer. She averaged seven points in the two games in Las Vegas.
• Lindsey Linard blocked two shots to tie her career high.
• The Penguins were 14-for-21 from the free-throw line in the game.
• The 70 points were the most YSU has scored against a Division I opponent this season. The Penguins have scored 55 or fewer in every other Division I contest.
• Sophie Glancey finished with a game-high 26 points to lead Northern Arizona. That is the highest point total by an opposing player this season.
• NAU had a big edge in the paint, outscoring the Penguins 42-24 in the contest. The Lumberjacks were plus-six in turnover margin (17-11) and outscored YSU 18-7 off turnovers.

Up Next

• Youngstown State will continue this brief stint of Horizon League play when it travels to Robert Morris for a contest on Sunday. Tipoff against the Colonials is set for noon, and the game will be broadcast live on 570 WKBN and ESPN+.