Youngstown State will play its final home game of the regular season on Tuesday as it continues to fight for seeding in the upcoming conference tournament. The Penguins will host Cleveland State on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m., and the game will be broadcast live on 570 WKBN, iHeart, ESPN+ and the ESPN app.

Gameday Info

YSU vs. Cleveland State

Tickets, Promotions & Fan Information

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

• Advance tickets for Tuesday'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 Tuesday.
• Promotions
  • Hot Dog Wally Night - $ 2 Hot Dogs
  • YSU Team Picture giveaway, courtesy of McDonald's, 21 WFMJ and NovaCare
  • Burgan Real Estate Putt for Tuition - One Lucky YSU Student will have the chance to win free tuition for a year!
  • Toy Drive benefiting Paige Shy's Pre-Physician Assistant Club. Toys will be delivered to a local hospital
  • Veterans Appreciation Day, presented by NECA-IBEW

A Glimpse at the Guins

• The Penguins are 5-1 this month, and they have won seven of their last 10 games to climb up to fifth place in the Horizon League standings. YSU is one game out of fourth but just two games ahead of ninth place as six teams have records between 10-8 and 7-11, creating a headache-inducing amount of tiebreaker scenarios. The last two games will challenge the Penguins, who will host the league-leading Vikings and play at Purdue Fort Wayne, which has already clinched a top-four seed, on Saturday.
• YSU is coming off an impressive 68-64 win at Northern Kentucky on Saturday in which the Penguins trailed by as many as 18 points in the first half and 13 in the second half. Dena Jarrells scored all 25 of her points in the final 23 minutes of the game, and Shay-Lee Kirby added 21 as the Penguins beat a Norse team also trying to make a surge up the league standings.
• Jarrells ranks second in the Horizon League with 2.1 3-pointers per game after making five against the Norse. Kirby made four 3s in the contest, and the Penguins made a season-high 12 as a team.
• YSU ranks third in the Horizon League in scoring defense at 61.9 points per game. Eight of the Penguins' 15 losses have come when they've allowed 66 points or fewer, and they have dropped six games by six points or less.
• YSU ranks 22nd nationally in free-throw percentage at 77.5%, and the Penguins are shooting a league-best 80.4% from the line in conference play.
• Malia Magestro is shooting 81.8% from the charity stripe in conference games, which ranks third in the circuit, and she is averaging 12.2 points against the league.
• Emily Saunders grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds at Northern Kentucky, and she continues to rank among the top 25 players nationally with a .606 field-goal percentage and 2.2 blocks per game.
• 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 40-20 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 66-26 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. Cleveland State

A Win Would

• Improve YSU's overall record to 14-15 this season and its Horizon League record to 10-9.
• Snap a three-game skid against Cleveland State and avenge a 79-37 loss to the Vikings on Jan. 6.
• Allow YSU to split the regular-season series with CSU.
• Be YSU's ninth this season at Beeghly Center.
• Be YSU's sixth in February, which would be three more victories than it had in the month in 2022-23. The Penguins would have their best winning percentage in the month since 2017-18.

Milestone Watch

• Dena Jarrells needs one steal for 100 in her career. She is also two 3-pointers away from making 100 as a Penguin.
• Shay-Lee Kirby needs 12 3s for 200 in her career.
• Abby Liber needs seven points to reach 100 in her career.
• Lindsey Linard needs one rebound for 100 as a Penguin.
• 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 Vikings

• Cleveland State is tied with Green Bay for first place in the Horizon League with a 16-2 conference mark, and the Vikings are 25-4 overall. CSU has impressively posted that record despite losing preseason Horizon League Player of the Year Destiny Leo to an injury in the sixth game of the season. The Vikings are 15-0 at home, and their lone loss in the 2024 calendar year was a 69-56 decision at Detroit Mercy on Jan. 27.
• The Vikings rank sixth in the country with 16.8 made free throws per game, and they are in the top 25 nationally in field-goal percentage (.468) and 3-point field-goal percentage (.365). They lead the conference in scoring offense at 75.4 points per game, and they are second in scoring defense allowing 60.7 per contest.
• A pair of transfer guards have stepped up to lead the team in scoring with Leo's injury. Mickayla Perdue ranks second in the conference averaging 16.8 points, and she leads the conference with 63 3-pointers. Colbi Maples is averaging 16.1 points, and she ranks seventh in the country with 179 free-throw attempts. Jordana Reisma is CSU's top-scoring post with 9.9 points per game, and she has 30 blocks. Carmen Villalobos averages 5.3 points to go along with 6.7 rebounds, and she leads the league with 64 steals.

Series History and Matchup Notes

Overall: Youngstown State leads 45-37
Barnes/Nicolais Era: 11-11 • Home: 28-11 • Away: 13-25 • Neutral: 4-1
Current Win Streak: 3 by Cleveland State

• Youngstown State has played Cleveland State more than any other program in its history and owns a 45-37 record against the Vikings in a series that dates back to Jan. 19, 1976. The Northeast Ohio rivals have played each other at least once in each of the first 48 seasons of YSU's intercollegiate program.
• The Penguins have won nine of the last 15 meetings against the Vikings, and they have won 11 of the 14 most-recent encounters at Beeghly Center dating back to the 2011-12 season. The Penguins swept the Vikings in 2021-22, and the Vikings flipped the script and won both meetings in 2022-23.

Last Meeting

Jan. 6, 2024 – at Cleveland State

Recap | Box Score

Cleveland State built a 21-4 lead at the end of the first quarter and led by double digits the rest of the way in a 79-37 victory over Youngstown State at the Wolstein Center on Jan. 6, 2024. The Penguins missed their first 14 field-goal attempts, and they finished making just 20.6% of their attempts. Cleveland State also had 19 steals, which were the most by a YSU opponent since November 9, 2023. Fifth-year senior Emily Saunders blocked seven shots, the most by a Penguin in 20 years, and YSU had 11 steals, which was its most in the season up to that point. Haley Thierry was YSU's top scorer with seven points off the bench, and Mackenzie Hurd made two 3s.

Recapping Northern Kentucky

Game Summary

Youngstown State overcame an 18-point deficit behind clutch efforts across the lineup and rallied to win 68-64 at Northern Kentucky on Saturday at Truist Arena.

The Penguins trailed 25-7 13 minutes into the game, and they were down 47-34 with just over 13 minutes left before they rallied. YSU cut the deficit to 48-43 heading into the fourth quarter, and the Penguins outscored the Norse 25-16 in the final period to come away with the win. YSU didn't lead until Dena Jarrells hit a 3-pointer to put the Penguins ahead 64-63 with 1:04 left in the game.

Jarrells tied her career high with 25 points, and Shay-Lee Kirby scored 21. Both of those players scored 10 points in the fourth quarter, and Jarrells scored all 25 of her points in the final 23 minutes. Emily Saunders grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds and blocked four shots.

The Penguins trailed just 10-7 with less than 40 seconds left in a low-scoring first period, but NKU made three 3s during a 15-0 run that gave it a 25-7 advantage at the 7:13 mark of the second period. The margin was 27-11 after YSU's 12th turnover of the game led to an NKU bucket with 4:49 left, but the Penguins committed just three turnovers the rest of the game.

Jarrells scored eight points during the final two-and-half minutes of the first half to help YSU trim the deficit to 32-24. NKU built its lead back to 47-34 with 3:24 remaining in the third quarter, and Mady Aulbach, Kirby and Jarrells made 3s during a 9-1 run to close out the quarter.

The Penguins tied the score for the first time at 58-58 with 3:57 let, and YSU's first lead came at 64-63 on a Jarrells trey with 1:04 on the clock. NKU tied the game with a free throw, and Haley Thierry scored with 31.5 seconds left to make the score 66-64. Kirby then stole a pass on NKU's next possession and made two free throws with 22.1 seconds remaining to push the difference to four, and the Norse had two misses on their next possession.

Notes

• The Penguins made a season-high 12 3-pointers on 23 attempts. Jarrells went 5-for-10, Kirby was 4-for-6, Aulbach was 2-for-4, and Thierry was 1-for-1. The last time YSU made at least 12 3s in a game was when it sank 13 against St. Francis Brooklyn in the fifth game of the 2022-23 season.
• Previously, the largest margin YSU overcame in a victory this season was when it trailed Oakland by seven in a 70-63 win on Jan. 3. The last double-digit deficit that YSU overcame in a win was on Jan. 20, 2022, at Robert Morris when it was down by 12 and won on a Megan Callahan 3 in the final seconds. YSU last overcame a deficit of at least 18 points when it beat Eastern Michigan 79-77 on Nov. 16, 2019, in a game that it trailed 43-25 with 3:29 left in the first half.
• Jarrells tied her career high with 25 points, matching the 25 she had at IUPUI in Feb. 2023. She reached double digits for the 50th time in her career.
• Jarrells also made her 200th career 3-pointer, scored her 500th point as a Penguin, and grabbed her 250th career rebound in the contest.
• Aulbach had a season-high five assists, and she recorded the 250th assist of her career. She played a season-high 37 minutes, and she tied her career high with one block.
• Aulbach moved into second place by herself in career games played at YSU with 136.
• Kirby scored at least 20 points for the third time this season. She had two 20-point games in the first four seasons of her career
• Linard grabbed her 100th rebound at YSU, and she had an assist in a game for the 15th time in her career.
• Saunders grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds and went over 300 career rebounds in the process.
• It was another entry in a long list of close games between the Penguins and Norse. For the 11th time in the last 14 meetings, the game was decided by six points or fewer or went to overtime. YSU won by four for the second straight contest at Truist Arena.
• YSU's starters combined for 65 of its 68 points, but interim head coach John Nicolais was quick to point out the contributions of his bench players that helped the Penguins stay within striking distance at the end of the first half. Freshman Abbie Davidson played a career-high 10 minutes in the game, and Lindsey Linard added five rebounds to her three points in 10 minutes. Linard, Davidson, Abby Liber and Bella Samz were all positive in the plus-minus category.

Up Next

Youngstown State will finish the regular season with a game at Purdue Fort Wayne on Saturday at 3 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on 570 WKBN and ESPN+.