Youngstown State will try to carry momentum from its recent homestand on the road as it heads to Indianapolis for a Wednesday morning encounter with IUPUI. Tipoff against the Jaguars at The Jungle is set for 11 a.m., and the contest will be broadcast live on 1390 WNIO, iHeart, ESPN+ and the ESPN app.

Gameday Info

YSU at IUPUI

A Glimpse at the Guins

• Youngstown State went 2-1 in its three-game homestand with wins over Purdue Fort Wayne and Robert Morris and a loss to Northern Kentucky. YSU is coming off arguably its best offensive performance of the season as it shot 50% and scored at least 15 points in each quarter against the Colonials. The Penguins never trailed and led by double digits for the final 25 minutes.
• YSU is 8-13 overall and 4-7 in Horizon League play as it goes to Indianapolis looking for its first conference road win and its first sweep of 2023-24. 
• The Penguins lead the country in assist percentage as 72.6% of their field goals come from an assist.
• Dena Jarrells is seven points away from reaching 1,000 in her career. The fifth-year senior who is in her second season at YSU ranks fourth in the Horizon League in both assists (3.7) and 3-pointers (2.0) per game.
• Emily Saunders leads the league while ranking among the top 20 players nationally with a .648 field-goal percentage and 2.4 blocks per game.
• YSU ranks second in the Horizon League in scoring defense at 61.0 points per game. Eight of the Penguins' 13 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 third 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 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 35-18 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.

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. IUPUI

A Win Would...

• Improve YSU's overall record to 9-13 this season and its Horizon League record to 5-7.
• Be YSU's first win at The Jungle since Feb. 8, 2018.
• Allow the Penguins to sweep the season series against the Jaguars for the first time since IUPUI joined the Horizon League in 2017-18.
• Give YSU three wins its last four games.
• Be the Penguins' first conference road victory of the campaign.

Milestone Watch

• Mady Aulbach is one field goal shy of 100 in her career, and she's eight steals from 100. Aulbach needs 13 assists to reach 250 in her career.
• Dena Jarrells needs seven 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 six assists from reaching 200 as a Penguin.
• Shay-Lee Kirby is eight assists and eight steals shy of 100 of each in her career.
• Malia Magestro is two 3-pointers shy of 150, and she needs six more free throws to reach 200 in her career.
• Emily Saunders needs six blocks to reach 100 in her career, and she is 14 rebounds away from 250 in her career.
• 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 Jaguars

• IUPUI is 4-15 overall and 2-8 against Horizon League opponents, and the Jaguars are looking to stop a three-game slide. IUPUI is 3-7 at The Jungle, and they beat Detroit Mercy and Northern Kentucky earlier this month. Most recently, IUPUI fell 65-59 at home to Oakland on Sunday.
• IUPUI is averaging 64.6 points offensively, but the Jaguars are surrendering a league-high 77.7 points on defense. IUPUI is averaging 11.3 offensive rebounds per contest, which ranks third in the league, and the Jaguars are pacing the conference with 4.05 blocks per contest.
• Individually, Katie Davidson, a transfer from Miami (Ohio) who did not play in the first meeting with YSU, ranks second in the conference with 18 points per game. Another transfer, Tahlia Walton, is averaging 12.9 points, and Jazmyn Turner averages 9.3 points and a team-high 6.4 rebounds.
• IUPUI head coach Kate Bruce was an assistant on Bob Boldon's staff at YSU from 2010-13. Then known as Kate Schrader, she helped the Penguins go 23-10 and win a game in the Women's NIT in 2012-13. Jaguars freshman Alexa Hocevar is the younger sister of Athena Hocevar, who was a true freshman on YSU's Horizon League regular-season championship team in 2021-22.

Series History and Matchup Notes

Overall: IUPUI leads 13-10
Barnes/Nicolais Era: 4-10 • Home: 5-5 • Away: 4-7 • Neutral: 1-1
Current Win Streak: 1 by Youngstown State

• IUPUI holds a 13-10 lead in the all-time series between the programs in a series that dates back to the 1998-99 season when both schools were members of the Mid-Continent Conference. YSU left the Mid-Con for the Horizon League in 2001-02, and IUPUI joined the Penguins in the Horizon League in 2017-18.
• The teams split the season series in the first three years that IUPUI was in the Horizon League, and IUPUI won seven straight games in the serries before the Penguins won 58-56 on New Year's Eve.
• Four of the last five meetings have been decided by single digits, and each of the last three meetings in Youngstown have come down to the final possession in regulation. YSU lost in overtime in 2022, and it fell 64-61 in January 2023. In December, the Penguins won 58-56 as Shay-Lee Kirby made two free throws with 1.4 seconds left.

Last Meeting

Dec. 31, 2023 – at Youngstown State

Recap | Box Score

Shay-Lee Kirby made two go-ahead free throws with 1.4 seconds left as Youngstown State fought for a 58-56 victory over IUPUI on New Year's Eve at Beeghly Center. It was a tightly-contested game where the largest lead for either team was four points, and offensive rebounds were key down the stretch for YSU as it built a 55-51 lead. IUPUI's Jaela Johnson hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 56 with 24.4 seconds left, and Kirby was fouled on the right wing to set up the final free throws. Emily Saunders finished with a game-high 19 points while adding nine rebounds and four blocks, and Dena Jarrells made three 3s in a 12-point effort.

Recapping Robert Morris

Game Summary

Youngstown State had arguably its best performance of the season and got contributions from throughout the lineup in a 71-46 victory over Robert Morris on Saturday at Beeghly Center.

The Penguins never trailed, and they used pressure on the defensive end to fuel their offense. YSU forced 22 turnovers and had 13 steals, and it translated to shooting 50% from the field on the offensive end.

Emily Saunders was dominant on the inside, going 10-for-12 from the field offensively while blocking four shots defensively. She tied her career high with 23 points, and the four blocks brought her season total to 50. Malia Magestro scored eight of her 20 points in the first quarter to help the Penguins gain an early lead, and she made five 3-pointers in a 20-point effort. She added four steals, and Haley Thierry grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds.

The Penguins scored nine points off of seven turnovers in the first quarter to take a 16-10 lead, and they held Robert Morris to six points in the second quarter to extend their advantage to 31-16 at halftime. YSU led by double digits for the final 25 minutes.

The lead reached 20 when Dena Jarrells scored on a driving layup to make the score 48-28 with two minutes left in the third. Thierry's layup in the final seconds of the period gave YSU a 50-32 lead, and the Penguins scored 13 straight points in the fourth to push their lead to 65-36. The largest advantage was 71-41 when Abby Liber scored with 47 seconds left.

Notes

• YSU avenged a 65-63 loss at Robert Morris on Dec. 3. In that game, RMU outscored the Penguins 16-7 off turnovers and made nine 3-pointers. On Saturday, the Penguins held a 30-15 edge in points off turnovers and held RMU to four 3s.
• The Penguins committed just 12 turnovers and were a season-best plus-10 in turnover margin. YSU had a season-high 13 steals while forcing 22 turnovers. Four of YSU's starters each recorded at least two steals.
• YSU was very consistent in shooting the ball from quarter to quarter. The lowest percentage for a quarter was 46.7% in the first, and the peak was 53.8% in the fourth.
• The Penguins' 71 points were their most against a Division I opponent this season, and YSU matched its season high with 27 field goals.
• The Penguins had 21 assists, their second-highest total of the season, on their 27 field goals.
• Emily Saunders was 10-for-12 from the field, giving her the highest field-goal percentage by a Penguin against a Division I opponent this season. She tied her career high with 23 points, and she set new highs for a conference game and a home game. Her previous 23-point effort came at Saint Francis U on Dec. 9.
• Saunders also reached 450 career points and 200 career field goals in the game.
• Saunders blocked four more shots to bring her season total to 50. It was the 11th time this season she had at least three blocks in a game.
• Malia Magestro joined Saunders in the 20s with 20 points, marking the third time this season that two Penguins have scored at least 20 points in the same game.
• Magestro was 5-for-6 from 3-point range, giving her the highest success rate from beyond the arc by a Penguin in a game this season. She became the third Penguin to make at least five 3-pointers in a game this season, joining Dena Jarrells and Shay-Lee Kirby.
• Magestro also had a career-high four steals, and she made her 250th career field goal.
• Haley Thierry grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds, and she had six of YSU's nine offensive rebounds in the game.
• Abbie Davidson tied career highs with one assist and one rebound.
• Abby Liber scored seven points, which was her second-highest total since Dec. 9.
• Paige Shy did not play due to a hand injury she acquired during YSU's game against Northern Kentucky.

Up Next

Youngstown State will begin February by hosting Milwaukee on Saturday at noon. The Penguins will wear their pink jerseys to raise awareness for breast cancer, and there will be a pink shirt giveaway, courtesy of Mercy Health.