Youngstown State will begin its February slate at home on Saturday as it hosts Milwaukee at noon at Beeghly Center. The game will be broadcast live on 570 WKBN, iHeart, ESPN+ and the ESPN app. The Penguins will wear their pink jerseys in support of breast cancer awareness.

Gameday Info

YSU vs. Milwaukee

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 11 a.m. on Saturday.
• Promotions
  • Pink Game
  • Pink Shirt giveaway, courtesy of Mercy Health

A Glimpse at the Guins

• YSU has just three home games remaining on its regular-season schedule, and it will be looking to continue some recent success on Rosselli Court. The Penguins have won four of their last five in Beeghly Center dating back to Dec. 31.
• YSU is 8-14 overall and 4-8 in Horizon League play as it continues the second half of the conference slate. The Penguins are 4-3 at home and 0-5 on the road against league opponents, and they'll be looking to avenge a 66-58 loss at Milwaukee on Jan. 13 in which they trailed by two in the final minute.
• The Penguins are coming off a 69-63 loss at IUPUI on Wednesday morning in another contest that was a one-possession game in the final minute.
• The Penguins lead the country in assist percentage as 71.2% of their field goals come from an assist.
• Dena Jarrells is five points away from reaching 1,000 in her career. The fifth-year senior who is in her second season at YSU ranks among the top five players in the Horizon League in both assists (3.6) and 3-pointers (2.0) per game.
• Emily Saunders leads the league while ranking among the top 20 players nationally with a .632 field-goal percentage and 2.3 blocks per game. She posted her second double-double of the season with 18 points and 10 rebounds at IUPUI.
• YSU ranks second in the Horizon League in scoring defense at 61.4 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.
• John Nicolais, who is in his 11th season at YSU, is serving as interim head coach. John Barnes had been on leave to focus on family since Oct. 2 before announcing his resignation as head coach on Jan. 19. 
• 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 35-19 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 65-25 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. Milwaukee

A Win Would

• Improve YSU's overall record to 9-14 this season and its Horizon League record to 5-8.
• Allow YSU to split the season series with Milwaukee.
• Give YSU three wins its last five games.
• Be YSU's fifth win at Beeghly Center in the last six tries.

Milestone Watch

• Mady Aulbach is five steals from 100, and she needs 13 assists to reach 250 in her career.
• Dena Jarrells needs five 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 three assists from reaching 200 as a Penguin.
• Shay-Lee Kirby is six steals and eight assists shy of 100 of each in her career.
• Malia Magestro needs four more free throws to reach 200 in her career.
• Emily Saunders is four rebounds away from 250 in her career, and she needs five blocks to reach 100 in her career. She will reach 400 points as a Penguin with her next point.
• 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 Panthers

• Milwaukee comes to Youngstown as one of the hottest teams in the conference, having won six of its last seven games. One of those victories was a 66-58 triumph over YSU on Jan. 13, and the only loss since Jan. 5 was a two-point loss at Detroit Mercy. The Panthers are 13-10 overall and 7-5 in conference games, and they are in a four-way tie for third place in the standings.
• Milwaukee ranks third in the Horizon League in scoring defense allowing 61.7 points per game, and it is sixth in offense at 67.9 points per contest. The Panthers are second in the conference in rebounding margin at plus-4.3, and they rank in the top half of the league in most statistical categories.
• Kendall Nead leads Milwaukee with 14.9 points per game, and she ranks among the top 20 players in the country in field-goal attempts this season. Kamy Peppler is pacing the conference in assists (5.2) and 3-pointers (2.2) per game. Anna Lutz leads Milwaukee in rebounding with 6.9 per contest, and she is shooting 52.9% from the field.

Series History and Matchup Notes

Overall: Milwaukee leads 33-20
Barnes/Nicolais Era: 13-9 • Home: 11-14 • Away: 8-19 • Neutral: 1-0
Current Win Streak: 2 by Milwaukee

• Milwaukee holds a 33-20 advantage in the all-time series with YSU, but the Penguins have won 15 of the last 24 encounters dating back to the 2012-13 season. YSU has won eight of the last 11 meetings at Beeghly Center.
• The Penguins had a string of tough setbacks from 2017-21 in Milwaukee, losing by four in 2017, by one at the buzzer in 2018, by three in overtime in 2019, by five in 2020 and by nine in the conference tournament in 2021. They won 60-56 in 2022 and 61-51 in 2023 in the building.
• Youngstown State and Milwaukee have become rivals in the Horizon League Tournament as the teams have eliminated each other in three of the last six seasons. YSU ousted Milwaukee in both 2017-18 and 2018-19, and the Panthers ended the Penguins' season in 2020-21.

Last Meeting

Jan. 13, 2024 – at Milwaukee

Recap | Box Score

Youngstown State had a frantic comeback bid in the fourth quarter come up short and fell 66-58 at Milwaukee on Jan. 13, 2024. YSU led 32-23 with 2:37 left in the first half after Malia Magestro made three 3s in a span of 74 seconds. However, Milwaukee scored the final eight points of the half as part of a 24-2 run that stretched nearly nine minutes into the third quarter. Milwaukee went on to lead 55-39 with nine minutes left before YSU went on a 21-3 burst to get within 60-58 with 2:20 remaining. The Penguins, however, did not score the rest of the contest, and Kamy Peppler hit a 3-pointer with 24 seconds left to give Milwaukee a 61-58 lead. Magestro finished with 18 points, and Dena Jarrells added 17.

Recapping IUPUI

Game Summary

Youngstown State couldn't overcome scoring struggles in the final 30 minutes and an overwhelming amount of foul trouble as it fell 69-63 at IUPUI on Wednesday.

The Penguins made seven of their first eight field goal attempts in the game as both teams had a high-scoring pace at the outset, but they shot 26.7% over the final three quarters. YSU led 16-15 after five minutes, and it held a 21-20 advantage with two minutes left in the opening quarter. The Jaguars scored the final five points of the quarter, and they held the upper hand the rest of the day.

Youngstown State was whistled for 30 fouls, and IUPUI went 32-for-39 at the free-throw line. Six different Penguins had at least four fouls, which made lineup combinations a challenge throughout the contest.

Four Penguins scored in double figures, and Emily Saunders posted her second double-double of the season with 18 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Malia Magestro scored 14 points and made her 150th career 3-pointer.

Neither team led by more than two until Magestro's milestone triple gave the Penguins a 19-16 lead with 3:48 left in the opening quarter. IUPUI scored the next four points to take a 20-19 advantage, and YSU's final lead of the contest came on the next possession on a Saunders putback with 2:09 on the clock. The Penguins missed their final three shots of the quarter, and they went 3-for-16 in the second period as IUPUI led 39-33 at halftime.

IUPUI held 11-point leads twice in the third quarter, the second time coming at 48-37 with 4:36 left.  In the fourth, Saunders' putback with 5:37 on the clock brought the Penguins to within a possession at 58-55, but they went more than four minutes after that without a field goal. The defense was up to the task and kept the game close, and a 3-pointer by Kirby with 1:11 left brought YSU to within 64-61, and Saunders made two free throws with 59 seconds remaining to make the score 64-63. That's as close as YSU would get.

Notes

• YSU was whistled for 30 fouls, its most in a contest since a double-overtime game against Milwaukee on Feb. 9, 2008. The last regulation game in which YSU committed 30 fouls was on Jan. 12, 2008, at Green Bay.
• Fouls were 8-0 in IUPUI's favor in the first quarter, and that allowed the Jaguars to make 11 free throws in the opening period.
• Shay-Lee Kirby fouled out, and the other five Penguins who played more than 11 minutes each had four fouls.
• IUPUI took advantage of its free-throw opportunities by making 32 of its 39 attempts for 82.1%. The Jaguars were shooting 65.3% at the charity stripe coming into the contest.
• YSU implemented its full-court press for most of the contest, and it helped generate 21 turnovers. The Penguins had 13 steals, which tied their total from the game against Robert Morris.
• YSU has reached double digits in steals in each of the last three games. The last time a Penguins team had at least 10 steals in three straight contests was December 2012.
• Haley Thierry had six of those steals for the Penguins, which is the highest individual total by a YSU student-athlete since Janae Jackson had six in the 2015-16 season opener against Canisius.
• Thierry made her fourth straight start, and she has been a spark for the Penguins. She is averaging 6.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 4.0 steals in those four contests.
• The Penguins were 7-for-8 from the field, and the Jaguars were 5-for-6 when the first media timeout of the game occurred at the 4:54 mark. After that point, YSU was 14-for-54 (25.9%), and IUPUI was 13-for-44 (29.5%).
• YSU had just nine assists on 21 field goals. It was just the third time this season that YSU had fewer than 11 assists in a game.
• Four Penguins reached double figures for the second time this season. Emily Saunders led the way with 18 points, Malia Magestro had 14, Shay-Lee Kirby finished with 13, and Thierry scored 11.
• Saunders added 10 rebounds to collect her second career double-double and her first since the season-opening victory against Xavier.
• Magestro became the fourth Penguin this season to eclipse 150 career 3-pointers when she made her second of the contest at the 3:48 mark. She made 18 as a true freshman in 2020-21, and she followed that with 48 in 2021-22 and 54 last season.
• Kirby reached double figures and made multiple 3-pointers in a game for the first time since she made six 3s in an 18-point effort at St. Bonaventure on Dec. 16.

Up Next

Youngstown State will play its next three contests on the road, beginning with a trip to the Detroit area for a pair of games next week. The Penguins will play at Oakland on Feb. 8 at 7 p.m., and they'll play at Detroit Mercy on Feb. 10 at 1 p.m. Both games will be broadcast live on 1390 WNIO and ESPN+