Youngstown State will conclude the first loop through its Horizon League double Round Robin schedule on Wednesday as it host Northern Kentucky at Beeghly Center. Tipoff against the Norse 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. Northern Kentucky

Tickets, Promotions & Fan Information

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• Advance tickets for Wednesday'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 Wednesday.
• Promotions
  • Midweek Madness - $2 Beer Wednesdays for all fans
  • YSU Student T-Shirt Giveaway and first 100 YSU Students receive free Chick-fil-A Sandwich
  • Burgan Real Estate Putt for Tuition - One Lucky YSU Student will have the chance to win free tuition for a year!
  • Lanyard Giveaway, courtesy of State Farm, Rulli Brothers, WFMJ

A Glimpse at the Guins

• Youngstown State will conclude the first loop through its Horizon League double Round Robin schedule on Wednesday as it host Northern Kentucky at Beeghly Center. Tipoff against the Norse is set for 6:30 p.m., and the game will be broadcast live on 570 WKBN, iHeart, ESPN+ and the ESPN app.
• The Penguins will be looking to win their fourth straight home game as they look to build momentum for the second half of the league slate. Wednesday's contest will be the first competition for YSU since it beat Purdue Fort Wayne 66-57 on Thursday.
• YSU shot at least 50% in three of the four quarters and 47.2% overall, and Dena Jarrells, Paige Shy and Emily Saunders each scored 16 points. Defensively, the Penguins held the Mastodons to 32.8% shooting, and PFW's top two scorers coming into the contest combined for six points.
• YSU is 7-12 overall and 3-6 in league play, and it has an opportunity to elevate in the league standings with just one road game from Jan. 14 through Feb. 7.
• This is the first game for the Penguins since John Barnes announced his resignation as head coach on Jan. 19. John Nicolais, who is in his 11th season at YSU, is now serving as interim head coach. Barnes had been on leave to focus on family since Oct. 2.
• The Penguins lead the country in assist percentage as 72.8% of their field goals come from an assist. Dena Jarrells ranks fourth in the Horizon League in assists per game, and she is second in 3s per contest.
• Emily Saunders leads the league with a .627 field-goal percentage and 2.3 blocks per game. She also ranks among the top 25 nationally in both categories.
• YSU ranks third in the Horizon League in scoring defense at 61.8 points per game. Seven of the Penguins' 12 losses have come when they've allowed 66 points or fewer, and they have dropped four games by six points or less.
• YSU has nine returning letterwinners and three starters back from last year's squad that went 19-11 and tied for third in the Horizon League standings.
• YSU is 34-17 in Horizon League play since the start of the 2021-22 season, and it has won at least 13 conference games in three of the past six campaigns.
• 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 64-24 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. Northern Kentucky

A Win Would

• Improve YSU's overall record to 8-12 this season and its Horizon League record to 4-6.
• Give YSU a 9-8 advantage in the all-time series against NKU.
• Be YSU's fourth in the last five meetings with the Norse.
• Avenge a 59-58 loss to NKU in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Horizon League Women's Basketball Championship in Beeghly Center in March.
• Be YSU's fourth straight victory on Rosselli Court.

Milestone Watch

• Mady Aulbach is two field goals shy of 100 in her career, and she's one rebound away from 300 in her career.
• Dena Jarrells needs 30 points to get to 1,000 in her collegiate career. She is also 19 3-pointers away from 200 in her career.
• Shay-Lee Kirby is 11 assists and 10 steals shy of 100 of each in her career.
• Malia Magestro is seven 3-pointers shy of 150 and six field goals shy of 250.
• Emily Saunders needs 13 blocks to reach 100 in her career.
• Paige Shy needs five steals to reach 100 in her career. She is also six field goals away from 250 in her career.

Scouting the Norse

• Northern Kentucky is 3-14 overall and 1-7 overall, but the numbers indicate that the Norse have turned a corner offensively over the past two weeks. NKU has scored 81, 83 and 83 in its last three games, which are three of its top four scoring totals of the season.
• The Norse are averaging 70.5 points against conference opponents, which ranks fourth in the league, but they are allowing a conference-high 78.3 points in league play. Overall, NKU ranks sixth in the league in field goal percentage and field goal percentage defense.
• Forward Carter McCray is the reigning Horizon League Freshman of the Week, and she is averaging 14.3 points and a league-high 9.9 rebounds. Preseason all-league guard Kailee Davis missed 10 games but is averaging 11.9 points and 2.2 3s per game overall, and she is averaging 15.6 points in league play.

Series History and Matchup Notes

Overall: Tied 8-8
Barnes/Nicolais Era: 8-7 • Home: 6-3 • Away: 2-5 • Neutral: 0-0
Current Win Streak: 1 by Northern Kentucky

• The all-time series between Youngstown State and Northern Kentucky is tied 8-8, and recent games have been extremely tight between the programs. All three games last season were decided in the final 12 seconds, and nine of the last 12 meetings have either been within four points or gone to overtime.
• Both teams have been better on their home floors as YSU is 6-3 at Beeghly Center and 2-5 on the road. Three of YSU's five losses all time at NKU have come at the buzzer or in overtime. Each team won on the opposing court in 2023-24, including when NKU won 59-58 in the quarterfinals of the Horizon League Championship to end YSU's season on March 2. The Penguins had won three straight decisions heading into that loss in the conference tournament.
• YSU assistant coach Malika Glover played guard for the Norse from 2012-15 under previous NKU coach Dawn Plitzuweit. She is a two-time NKU graduate, earning her bachelor's degree in 2014 and her master's degree in public administration in 2016.

Last Meeting

March 2, 2023 – at Youngstown State

Youngstown State scored 15 straight points to take the lead in the final moments, but Northern Kentucky's Lindsey Duvall scored on a drive with 3.8 seconds left to send the Norse to a 59-58 victory in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Barbasol Horizon League Women's Basketball Championship. Lilly Ritz grabbed 21 rebounds, which was a Horizon League Tournament record for a single game, and scored 17 points in her final game as a Penguin. She scored 10 of those points in the fourth quarter as the Penguins made their charge. NKU shot 51.7% in the second and third periods and led by as many as 16 at 43-27 with 4:50 left in the third quarter. Megan Callahan completed YSU's 15-0 run by scoring on a driving layup with 8.1 seconds left in the fourth to give YSU its first lead since the score was 14-12.

Recapping Purdue Fort Wayne

Game Summary

Three players scored in double figures, and YSU had a strong defensive effort in a 66-57 victory over Purdue Fort Wayne on Thursday evening at Beeghly Center.

Dena Jarrells, Emily Saunders, and Paige Shy each scored 16 points to the lead Penguins, who shot at least 50% in three of the four periods and 47.2% overall.

Defensively, Youngstown State held the Mastodons to just 32.8 percent from the field and limited leading scorer Amellia Bromenschenkel to four points on 1-for-12 from the field. Shy drew the primary assignment against Bromenschenkel, and Haley Thierry also played a big role defensively as Bromenschenkel and Shayla Sellers went a combined 2-for-19 from the field and scored six points.

The Penguins and Mastodons battled through 14 lead changes and five ties before the Penguins pulled away in the final 12-and-a-half minutes. Tied at 37-37, the Penguins scored the final four points of the third quarter and led by as many as 11 points late in the fourth quarter to come away with their third straight home victory.

The Penguins went 13-for-24 from the field (54.2 percent) in the second half, including 7-for-12 in the fourth quarter. YSU also went 9-for-10 from the free-throw line in the final 10 minutes.

YSU made seven of its first eight attempts from the field and led 15-11, but the Mastodons scored the final five points of the quarter and led 16-15. A Shy layup with 3:37 left in the second quarter gave the Penguins a 25-20 advantage, and YSU's lead was 27-26 at the intermission.

The score was within a possession the first 9:28 of the third quarter until Saunders gave the Penguins a 41-37 lead with 32 seconds left. YSU stretched its lead to nine on a Shy 3-pointer with 8:47 left in the fourth, and the largest lead was 11 at 53-42 and 57-46.

Notes

• The Penguins allowed just one field goal over a stretch of more than nine minutes in the second half as they gained control of the game. After Jazzlyn Linbo's basket gave Purdue Fort Wayne a 34-32 lead at the 7:09 mark of the third period, the Mastodons made one field goal and scored four points total over the next 9:13.
• YSU beat Purdue Fort Wayne for the sixth straight time at Beeghly Center and for the eighth time in the last nine encounters with the Mastodons.
• Haley Thierry made her second career start and her first at home. She responded by scoring eight points and tying her career high with five assists in 25 minutes. She also grabbed five rebounds and had two steals, and she was a key part of YSU's defensive effort.
• Dena Jarrells, Paige Shy and Emily Saunders each scored 16 points. They combined for 48 points, and YSU's starters scored 61 of the team's 66 points.
• Jarrells went over 400 points as a Penguin as she went 5-for-8 overall from the field, 4-for-7 from 3-point range and 2-for-2 from the free-throw line. She increased her career scoring total to 970 points.
• Saunders went over 400 career points, and she now has more points this season than in her first four collegiate seasons combined. The fifth-year senior transfer from Tennessee has 212 points in 2023-24. She had 69 points as a Lady Vol and 129 last season for 198 total entering this season.
• Saunders blocked four shots to bring her total this season to 43. That is already tied for the sixth-most in program history. The school record of 85 set by Donna Djorovic in 1992-93 will be tough to reach, but second place on YSU's single-season list is 50.
• Shy surpassed 750 career points and 200 career assists in a game where she filled the box score. She finished with 16 points, seven rebounds, six assists, two steals. Each of those totals were team highs. She also drew six fouls and blocked a shot.
• Malia Magestro tied her career high with two blocks.
• Purdue Fort Wayne was able to stay in the game despite shooting 32.8% because of offensive rebounds and taking advantage of turnovers. The Mastodons had 19 offensive rebounds and converted them into 13 second-chance points. Purdue Fort Wayne also scored 15 points off of 15 YSU turnovers.
• YSU made three more field goals than the Mastodons despite having 14 fewer field-goal attempts.
• The Penguins had a season-high 22 assists on their 25 field goals. Four different YSU players had at least four assists in the game.

Up Next

Youngstown State will begin the second half of its Horizon League schedule by hosting Robert Morris on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. The game against the Colonials at Beeghly Center will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and 570 WKBN.