Fresh off two road wins last week, Youngstown State will try to keep improving as it heads to Wright State to play a Valentine's Day contest against the Raiders. Tipoff at the Nutter Center on Wednesday is set for 7 p.m., and the game will be broadcast live on 1390 WNIO, iHeart, ESPN+ and the ESPN app.

Gameday Info

YSU at Wright State

A Glimpse at the Guins

• The Penguins have won five of their last seven games, and they've won three straight contests for the first time this season. YSU is 11-14 overall and 7-8 in Horizon League play, and it is just one game out of fifth place in the conference standings. The Penguins have already matched their February win total from 2022-23.
• YSU swept its Michigan road trip for the fifth straight time, and it won two very different games. The Penguins won 85-79 in a shootout at Oakland on Thursday, and they endured a defensive battle at Detroit Mercy on Saturday for a 55-49 win.
• The Penguins are averaging 66.9 points over their last seven games as they've gone 5-2. That's 10 points higher than they averaged in their first 18 games. Over the last seven games, four players are averaging double figures, and starting guards Dena Jarrells, Shay-Lee Kirby and Malia Magestro are all shooting better than 32% from 3.
• Emily Saunders leads the league while ranking among the top 20 players nationally with a .623 field-goal percentage and 2.2 blocks per game.
• Magestro has been the Penguins' top scorer in Horizon League play with 12.7 points per game, which is the 10th-best mark in the conference. She's also averaging career highs with 2.3 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game over the entire season. 
• The Penguins rank third in the country in assist percentage as 68.9% of their field goals come from an assist.
• YSU ranks 16th nationally in free-throw percentage at 77.9%, and the Penguins are shooting a league-best 81.4% from the line in Horizon League play.
• 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 ranks second in the Horizon League in scoring defense at 61.8 points per game. Eight of the Penguins' 14 losses have come when they've allowed 66 points or fewer, and they have dropped five 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 38-19 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.

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. Wright State

A Win Would...

• Improve YSU's overall record to 12-14 this season and its Horizon League record to 8-8.
• Be YSU's fourth straight victory and its sixth win in the last eight contests.
• Give the Penguins three consecutive road wins.
• Allow YSU to split the regular-season series with Wright State.
• Be YSU's third straight road win over the Raiders. Of note, the win on Jan. 7, 2022, was due to a COVID-19-related forfeit.
• Be YSU's fourth in February, which would surpass last season's win total in the month.

Milestone Watch

• Mady Aulbach is one steal from 100, and she needs nine assists to reach 250 in her career.
• Dena Jarrells is nine 3-pointers away from 200 in her career, and she needs three steals for 100 in her career. She is 25 points from 500 as a Penguin.
• Shay-Lee Kirby is four points away from reaching 300 as a Penguin. She is two assists and two steals shy of 100 of each in her career, and she needs 18 3s for 200 in her career.
• Emily Saunders needs two blocks to reach 100 in her career, and she is six points from 500 in her career.
• Paige Shy needs one steal to reach 100 in her career. She is also five field goals away from 250 in her career.

Scouting the Raiders

• Wright State is 15-11 overall and 9-6 in Horizon League play entering Wednesday's game. The Raiders already have seven more wins than they did in 2022-23, a season in which they won six of their final 11 games. Wright State is third in the conference standings with its 9-6 mark that is a half-game better than Purdue Fort Wayne.
• Wright State averages 71.4 points offensively, and it ranks second in the Horizon League with 8.2 3-pointers per game while shooting 33.9% from beyond the arc. Defensively, Wright State allows 70.6 points per contest, and opponents shoot 43.3%. That is the second-highest percentage in the conference.
• Malone transfer Alexis Hutchison leads the Horizon League in scoring with 19.2 points per game, and she ranks among the top five in the conference in 3-pointers (2.0) and assists (3.1) per game. Kacee Baumhower averages 12.0 points and leads the conference with an .867 free-throw percentage, and Layne Ferrell averages 10.8 points to go along with 1.6 blocks per contest.

Series History and Matchup Notes

Overall: Wright State leads 40-30
Nicolais Era: 7-16 • Home: 18-16 • Away: 12-22 • Neutral: 0-2
Current Win Streak: 1 by Wright State

• Wright State owns a 40-30 lead in the all-time series that dates back to 1979. Cleveland State is the only opponent YSU has played more in its history.
• The programs were members of the Mid-Continent Conference in the 1992-93 and 1993-94 seasons, and they've been in the Horizon League together since 2001-02. The Penguins won 19 of the first 25 meetings in the series, and Wright State had won 11 out of 12 games from 2016-2021.
• YSU swept the regular-season series in 2021-22 and 2022-23, and Wright State won the first meeting in 2023-24. The Penguins had scored at least 76 points in three straight games before Wright State won 82-68 on Dec. 29, 2023, in Beeghly Center.
• YSU has fared better at home against the Raiders with an 18-16 record versus a 12-24 mark away from Beeghly Center.

Last Meeting

Dec. 29, 2023 – at Youngstown State

Recap | Box Score

Malia Magestro scored 22 points, but Youngstown State fell 82-68 to Wright State on Dec. 29, 2023, at Beeghly Center. Wright State scored the first eight points of the game and did not trail. Alexis Hutchison scored a game-high 26 points to lead the Raiders, who scored 14 more points than any other opponent has scored on Rosselli Court this season. The Penguins were able to keep the Raiders to just three 3-pointers, but the Raiders were 25-for-40 inside the arc and went 23-for-31 from the free-throw line. Emily Saunders scored 14 points but was limited to 15 minutes due to foul trouble, and fellow Penguin post Lindsey Linard scored a career-high 10 points. YSU trailed just 56-50 heading into the fourth, and it made its first four field goal attempts of the final stanza and remained within six at 62-56 with eight minutes remaining. Wright State went on a 15-6 run to build a 15-point lead with 2:37 on the clock, and the Raiders went 12-for-15 from the free-throw line in the quarter.

Recapping Detroit Mercy

Game Summary

Youngstown State fought through a low-scoring battle at Detroit Mercy to beat the Titans 54-49 on Saturday and win its third consecutive game.

Dena Jarrells made three 3-pointers in the second quarter and finished with a team-high 12 points, and Malia Magestro and Shay-Lee Kirby scored 11. Magestro and Kirby hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the fourth quarter when the Titans had trimmed an 11-point lead down to three, and Magestro came up with the biggest offensive rebound of the game with 13 seconds left and YSU up by three. The Titans were forced to foul Magestro, and the senior made both of her free-throw attempts for the final points of the game and her 10th and 11th of the second half.

Both teams struggled to make shots consistently throughout the contest, but Youngstown State made seven 3s and went 13-for-14 from the free-throw line to hold the advantage. YSU shot 34.7% from the field, while Detroit Mercy shot 36%. The Titans made one more field goal, but YSU had five more 3s and two more free throws. The Penguins also forced 20 turnovers, and they converted those into 24 points.

YSU led 9-6 after a low-scoring first quarter, and the Penguins extended their lead to 17-10 on a 3-pointer by Jarrells with 6:34 left in the second. Detroit Mercy scored the next nine points to take a 19-17 advantage, and the Titans led again at 23-22 in the final minute of the half. Jarrells buried her third trey on YSU's final possession to give the Penguins a 25-23 lead at halftime, and they did not trail again.

The margin was between two and four points in the third period until Abby Liber made two free throws with 2:32 on the clock to give YSU a 35-29 lead. YSU's advantage was 37-31 heading into the fourth, and the Penguins stretched their lead to 11 at 42-31 when Kirby hit a 3 with 8:18 left in the period. The Titans went on a 10-2 burst to get within 44-41 with 4:39 remaining, and YSU answered with a six-point run to go up 50-41. Detroit Mercy then went on its own 6-0 run to get within three, and an Emily Saunders bucket with 49 seconds left gave YSU a 52-47 lead. The Titans matched it to get back within 52-49, and Magestro rebounded a Jarrells miss for the final points with nine seconds remaining.

Notes

• Youngstown State swept the Oakland-Detroit Mercy swing for the fifth straight trip. The Penguins went into the trip 1-7 on the road this season and 0-5 in conference road tilts. Detroit Mercy was 8-1 at home on Dick Vitale Court.
• The Penguins won for the third time this season when scoring fewer than 55 points. Previously, YSU topped Xavier 55-41 and Akron 53-52.
• YSU scored 24 points off turnovers, which tied for its third-highest total of the season. The Penguins scored 44.4% of their points off turnovers, which is their highest percentage of the campaign.
• YSU scored 10 of its 16 points off turnovers in the second quarter, and eight of the 17 points in the fourth period came off turnovers.
• Youngstown State went 3-for-5 from 3-point range in the fourth quarter and 3-for-9 from long distance in the second half as it closed out the Titans. In the first meeting with Detroit Mercy, YSU was 1-for-12 from long distance in the second half. Overall the Penguins were 7-for-20 from 3-point range, which was a big improvement from when they went 6-for-34 against the Titans on Nov. 30.
• The Penguins were outscored 15-4 at the free-throw line in the first meeting. On Saturday, YSU held a 13-11 advantage on points at the charity stripe.
• Dena Jarrells scored all 12 of her points in the first half, and she made three 3-pointers in the second quarter. She has 50 3s this season, which is 12 more than last season and seven away from her career high.
• Shay-Lee Kirby made multiple 3-pointers and scored in double figures for the fourth straight game. She is 13-for-26 from beyond the arc in the last four contests. Including her 24-point outing at Oakland last Thursday, Kirby averaged 17.5 points last week.
• Lindsey Linard scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds off the bench. It was her second-highest scoring output against a Horizon League opponent this season, and she had her second-highest rebounding total of the campaign. She played 23 minutes, which was the second-most in her Penguins career.
• Malia Magestro tied her career high with five assists. It was the ninth time in her career that she's had nine.
• Magestro scored all 11 of her points in the second half. She was 2-for-3 overall from the field, 1-for-2 on 3-point attempts, and 6-for-6 from the free-throw line. She also had three assists and two steals in the half.
• Magestro has made at least two free throws in nine straight games and 11 times in her last 13 contests. She had 14 free throws in the 12 games heading into the holiday break. In the 11 games since, she has made 47.
• Emily Saunders grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. She has at least six rebounds in seven of her last eight contests.

Up Next

Youngstown State will celebrate Senior Day on Saturday as it takes on Green Bay at 1:30 p.m. The contest against the Phoenix will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and 1390 WNIO.