Youngstown State will begin its second tour of Horizon League play and conclude a three-game homestand as it hosts Robert Morris on Saturday at Beeghly Center. Tipoff against the Colonials on Rosselli Court is set for 1:30 p.m., and the game will be broadcast live on 570 WKBN, iHeart, ESPN+ and the ESPN app.

Gameday Info

YSU vs. Robert Morris

Tickets, Promotions & Fan Information

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

• Advance tickets for Saturday'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 12:30 p.m. on Saturday.
• Promotions
  • Kids Day, presented by Raising Cane's & Austintown Bounce. Activites will be in the gymnastics room on the first floor of Beeghly Center beginning at 12:30 p.m.
  • Kids T-Shirt Giveaway, courtesy of State Farm
  • Youth Sports Day
  • Foul Shots after the game for kids 12-and-under
  • Post-game autographs, courtesy of Texas Roadhouse in Niles
  • Pete Light Switch Plate Cover giveaway, courtesy of MercyHealth, State Farm and WFMJ

A Glimpse at the Guins

• The Penguins had won three straight game on their home court before dropping a 62-56 decision to Northern Kentucky on Wednesday. YSU had two stretches of missing 10 straight field-goal attempts in the game, which offset a strong defensive effort in which it held the Norse well below their recent scoring output.
• YSU is 7-13 overall and 3-7 in league play as it begins the second half of the double Round Robin conference schedule. The Penguins in a stretch of having just one road game from Jan. 14 through Feb. 7 as they look to make a move up the standings.
• The Penguins rank second in the country in assist percentage as 72.2% of their field goals come from an assist.
• Dena Jarrells ranks fourth in the Horizon League with 3.7 assists per game, and she is second with 2.2 3s per contest. Jarrells needs 15 points to reach 1,000 for her career.
• Emily Saunders leads the league with a .634 field-goal percentage and 2.3 blocks per game. She also ranks among the top 20 nationally in both categories.
• YSU ranks third in the Horizon League in scoring defense at 61.8 points per game. Eight of the Penguins' 12 losses have come when they've allowed 66 points or fewer, and they have dropped five games by six points or less.
• This is the second 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.
• 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 34-18 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 64-25 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. Robert Morris

A Win Would

• Improve YSU's overall record to 8-13 this season and its Horizon League record to 4-7
• Give YSU a 24-8 advantage in the all-time series against Robert Morris.
• Allow YSU to split the regular-season series with the Colonials.
• Be YSU's seventh in the last eight meetings with RMU.

Milestone Watch

• Mady Aulbach is one field goal shy of 100 in her career, and she's nine steals from 100.
• Dena Jarrells needs 15 points to get to 1,000 in her collegiate career. She is also 16 3-pointers away from 200 in her career, and she's 10 assists from reaching 200 as a Penguin.
• Shay-Lee Kirby is 10 assists and eight steals shy of 100 of each in her career.
• Malia Magestro is seven 3-pointers shy of 150 and three field goals shy of 250. She needs nine more free throws to reach 200 in her career.
• Emily Saunders needs 10 blocks to reach 100 in her career. She is four blocks from 50 this season, which would tie for second on YSU's single-season all-time list.
• Paige Shy needs two steals to reach 100 in her career. She is also six field goals away from 250 in her career.

Scouting the Colonials

• Robert Morris is 6-14 overall and 2-9 in Horizon League play following a 56-39 loss to Detroit Mercy on Wednesday. The Colonials are looking to snap an eight-game losing skid dating back to their 60-49 win over IUPUI on Dec. 29.
• RMU is much like YSU where the defense has been ahead of the offense this season. The Colonials are surrendering 65.2 points per game but are scoring just 57.5 points offensively.
• Simone Morris leads Robert Morris with 10.6 points per game, and Louella Allana has team highs of 59 assists and 26 3s. Danielle Vuletich is the top rebounder with 7.1 per contest, and she also has a team-best 20 blocks.

Series History and Matchup Notes

Overall: Youngstown State leads 23-8
Barnes/Nicolais Era: 9-4 • Home: 13-2 • Away: 10-6 • Neutral: 0-0
Current Win Streak: 1 by Robert Morris

• Youngstown State and Robert Morris have played 31 times, and YSU has won six of the last seven meetings between the schools located approximately 60 miles apart. The Penguins have won six of the eight encounters since the Colonials joined the Horizon League in 2020-21.
• The teams played 14 times between 1983 and 1996, and they played just four times between 1996 and 2014. The Penguins and Colonials have met 13 times in the John Barnes/John Nicolais era, and YSU holds a 9-4 advantage in those contests.
• Two of those wins in the last decade have come in overtime, and the victory at the UPMC Events Center on Jan. 22, 2022, came in the final second when former Colonial Megan Callahan hit a go-ahead 3-pointer for the Penguins.
• The 13 games in the Barnes era have been relatively low-scoring. The winning team has scored 65 points or fewer in regulation in 11 of the 13 contests.

Last Meeting

Dec. 3, 2023 – at Robert Morris

Recap | Box Score

Youngstown State went on a second-half surge and led with 22 seconds left, but Robert Morris made plays in the final sequence to defeat the Penguins 65-63 on Dec. 3, 2023,  at the UPMC Events Center. The Penguins trailed by nine, 48-39, with three minutes left in the third quarter, but they went on a 16-3 run to take a 55-51 lead at the 7:29 mark of the fourth. After that, YSU did not make a field goal until an Emily Saunders bucket put it ahead 60-59 five minutes later, and Saunders split two free throws with 22.0 seconds left to give YSU its final lead at 63-62. Naomi Barnwell, who had a game-high 19 points, scored on a baseline drive to put the Colonials ahead 64-63 with 15.9 seconds on the clock. The Penguins had a turnover on their next possession, and they had to foul to extend the game. Louella Allana made her first free throw but missed her second, and YSU didn't rebound the miss cleanly and never got off a shot attempt after passing to the frontcourt. Haley Thierry scored 10 of her career-high 16 points in the second half, and and Saunders and Malia Magestro each scored 13 points.

Recapping Northern Kentucky

Game Summary

Youngstown State tried to make a huge comeback attempt in the fourth quarter, but the Penguins couldn't overcome a tough night shooting from the field and fell 62-56 to Northern Kentucky on Wednesday night in the Beeghly Center.

Emily Saunders scored 17 points and was 8-for-11 from the field, and she added seven rebounds and three blocks. Dena Jarrells scored 15 points and had four assists while grabbing six rebounds, and Malia Magestro and Shay-Lee Kirby finished nine and eight points respectively. The rest of the team combined for seven points.

Youngstown State trimmed an 18-point third-quarter deficit down to four in the final minute. YSU allowed just one field goal in the final 11:55 of the contest and held NKU to 62 points after the Norse had scored at least 81 points in each of their last three games. However, the Penguins missed their first 10 field-goal attempts in the fourth quarter, and they were in a big hole since going 3-for-13 and being outscored 21-9 in the second period.

Shay-Lee Kirby scored the Penguins' final eight points of the first period, and her three free throws with 1:57 left in the quarter gave YSU its largest lead at 16-10. The advantage was 16-13 heading into the second, and Saunders gave the Penguins a 20-16 edge on a jumper at the 9:04 mark. After that Saunders bucket, NKU scored the next seven points as part of a larger 18-5 run to close out the half. A 3-pointer by Jarrells with 7:36 on the clock tied the score at 23, but that was YSU's last field goal of the half.

Saunders and Magestro scored in the first 70 seconds of the third quarter to get the Penguins to within five at 34-29, but NKU scored nine of the next 10 points to take a 43-30 lead with 6:04 on the clock. The Norse led by double digits until YSU cut the margin to nine in the final three minutes.

Notes

• The only points in the first 4:20 of the fourth quarter was a 3-pointer by NKU's Noelle Hubert. That was the Norse's final field goal of the game.
• Emily Saunders scored two of her 17 points at the 5:36 mark for YSU's first points of the quarter, and she started a 12-0 run that lasted more than five minutes. The Penguins closed to within 60-56 on a Haley Thierry free throw with 18.9 seconds left, but NKU's Kennedy Igo made two free-throw attempts to push the score to its final margin. YSU missed two shots on its next possession, and NKU ran out the clock.
• NKU had scored 81, 83 and 83 points in its last three games, and the Penguins held the Norse to 62. Three of NKU's top four scorers were held under their scoring averages, but Macey Blevins offset that by scoring a game-high 20 points. She and Khamari Mitchell-Steen combined for 17 of NKU's 21 points in the second quarter.
• The Penguins made four of their first five attempts of the game, but they made just four of their final 21 tries in the first half. YSU made one of its last eight attempts in the first quarter, and it missed its last 10 shots in the second quarter.
• YSU was also plagued by turnovers in that key second quarter for the Norse. The Penguins had six turnovers that led to 10 points
• YSU scored on at least its first two possessions in each of the first three quarters.
• Youngstown State finished 6-for-28 from 3-point range, and four of those makes came on nine attempts in the third quarter. Dena Jarrells made two of her three triples in that period, and Mady Aulbach and Mackenzie Hurd also made 3s in the quarter.
• Jarrells scored at least 15 points for the third straight game. She's scored in double figures in nine of the last 12 games, and she is averaging a career-high 10.8 points per game. Jarrells is 15 points away from reaching 1,000 in her career. The fifth-year senior also tied career high with six rebounds, matching her total from her Penguins debut against Wofford in 2022-23.
• Thierry had a career and game-high five steals, which was two more than her previous career high. The five steals are the most by a Penguin in a game this season.
• The Penguins had 11 steals as a team, which tied their season high from the game at Cleveland State on Jan. 6.
• Mady Aulbach grabbed the 300th rebound of her career, and Paige Shy grabbed her 450th.
• Saunders blocked three shots to bring her season total to 46. She has blocked multiple shots in 11 of her last 14 games.
• Shay-Lee Kirby scored eight points in a span of 2:35 in the first quarter. She made her first 3-pointer since the St. Bonaventure game on Dec. 16.

Up Next

Youngstown State will play an afternoon game at IUPUI on Wednesday. Tipoff at The Jungle will be at 11 a.m., and the game will be broadcast live on 1390 WNIO and ESPN+/