Youngstown State will go for its third straight victory and try to maintain its improvement on offense on Saturday in a contest at Detroit Mercy. Tipoff at Calihan Hall against the Titans is set for 1 p.m., and the game will be broadcast live on 1390 WNIO, iHeart, ESPN+ and the ESPN app.

Gameday Info

YSU at Detroit Mercy

A Glimpse at the Guins

• The Penguins have won four of their last six games, and they head to Detroit Mercy owning a 10-14 overall record and a 6-8 mark in conference play. YSU is averaging 69 points over its last six games as it has gone 4-2.
• YSU raced past Oakland for an 85-79 victory at the O'rena on Thursday to win its first Horizon League road game of the season. All five starters scored in double figures for the Penguins, who had their highest scoring output of the season while shooting 55.2% from the field.
• Three Guins scored at least 18 points on Thursday, and Shay-Lee Kirby matched her career-high with 24 points. Dena Jarrells, who scored her 1,000th career point last Saturday against Milwaukee, had 19, and Malia Magestro scored 18. Magestro is averaging 12.8 points in league play, which ranks 11th in the conference.
• Emily Saunders leads the league while ranking among the top 25 players nationally with a .626 field-goal percentage and 2.2 blocks per game.
• The Penguins rank third in the country in assist percentage as 69.4% of their field goals come from an assist. YSU ranks 30th nationally in free-throw percentage at 77.3%, and the Penguins are shooting a league-best 80.7% 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 fourth in the Horizon League in scoring defense at 62.3 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 37-19 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. Detroit Mercy

A Win Would...

• Improve YSU's overall record to 11-14 this season and its Horizon League record to 7-8.
• Give the Penguins a road sweep of Oakland and Detroit Mercy for the fifth straight trip dating back to 2017-18. YSU did not make the trip in the COVID-19 season of 2020-21.
• Be YSU's sixth straight win at Calihan Hall dating back to 2018.
• Be YSU's third in February, which would match last season's win total in the month.
• Allow the Penguins to split the regular-season series with the Titans.
• Give YSU five wins its last seven games.

Milestone Watch

• Mady Aulbach is four steals from 100, and she needs 10 assists to reach 250 in her career.
• Dena Jarrells is 12 3-pointers away from 200 in her career, and she needs three steals for 100 in her career.
• Shay-Lee Kirby is 16 points away from reaching 300 as a Penguin. She is three assists and four steals shy of 100 of each in her career.
• Emily Saunders needs three blocks to reach 100 in her career, and she is 12 points away 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 Titans

• Detroit Mercy is a vastly-improved team from when the Penguins last played at Caliahan Hall. The Titans are 15-10 overall and 8-6 in Horizon League play, and they are an impressive 8-1 on their home court. Detroit Mercy had 16 wins in the last six seasons combined.
• The Titans lead the conference in field-goal percentage defense at 37.6%, and they are shooting 42.3% on offense, which ranks fourth in the circuit. Detroit Mercy leads the league with 28.5 defensive rebounds per game and a plus-5.7 rebounding margin. The Titans rank at the bottom of the conference in turnover margin (minus-5.24) and assist-to-turnover ratio (0.58).
• Irene Murua leads the Titans offensively with 11.4 points per game, and fellow post Emma Trawally Porta is averaging 9.7 points while leading the team with 7.9 rebounds per game and 37 blocks. The Titans have five four players averaging between 6.1 and 7.4 points per contest.

Series History and Matchup Notes

Overall: Youngstown State leads 28-24
Barnes/Nicolais Era: 14-6 • Home: 18-9 • Away: 10-15 • Neutral: 0-0
Current Win Streak: 1 by Detroit Mercy

• Youngstown State holds a 28-24 lead in the all-time series with Detroit Mercy, and the Penguins had won 10 straight meetings before the Titans won 59-50 at Beeghly Center in November. The all-time series dates back to the 1982-83 campaign.
• YSU has won five straight encounters and seven of the last eight contests at Caliahan Hall, including a 65-48 triumph last January.
• There was a stretch where the Penguins' and Titans' benches had close ties. Former Detroit Mercy head coach Bernard Scott was YSU's recruiting coordinator from 2008- 10, and former Titans assistant Tara Fleming played for the Penguins from 2001-05 Former Titan player and head coach Autumn Rademacher was an assistant coach at YSU during the 2019-20 campaign.

Last Meeting

Nov. 30, 2023 – at Youngstown State

Recap | Box Score

Youngstown State went 6-for-34 from 3-point range and shot just 32.8% overall in a 59-50 loss to Detroit Mercy at Beeghly Center on Nov. 30. Emily Saunders led the Penguins with 12 points, and she had 10 of those in the second half when she was 5-for-7 from the floor. The Penguins were 5-for-22 from beyond the arc in the first half as the Titans built a 32-25 lead, and they missed their first 11 attempts from long distance in the second half. Detroit Mercy ended the first half on an 11-3 run, and they outscored the Penguins 11-4 over the first seven minutes of the second half to take a 43-29 lead with 3:05 left in the third quarter. Detroit Mercy shot 39.6% from the field for the game, and it held a big advantage at the free-throw line. The Titans were 15-for-23 their free-throw attempts, while the Penguins were just 4-for-5.

Recapping Oakland

Game Summary

Youngstown State led for more than 39 minutes and had all five starters score in double figures in an 85-79 victory at Oakland on Thursday night at the OU Credit Union O'rena. It was YSU's first Horizon League road victory of the season and its second win away from Beeghly Center in 2023-24.

The Penguins had their best offensive performance of the campaign, scoring a season-best 85 points and shooting 55.2% from the field. YSU was also 9-for-22 from 3-point range, and it shot 50% or better in all four quarters.

Shay-Lee Kirby matched her career high with 24 points while making five 3-pointers, and her four starting teammates also scored in double figures. Dena Jarrells scored 14 of her 19 points in the second half, Malia Magestro scored 18 points, and Haley Thierry and Emily Saunders both had 10. Thierry added seven rebounds, six assists and three steals, including one in the final minute on a key defensive stop.

YSU led 6-0 90 seconds into the game, and it did not trail in the half after that early burst. Kirby's first 3 gave the Penguins an 11-7 lead with 6:38 left on the clock, and seven of YSU's first 11 points came after offensive rebounds. Youngstown State's largest lead of the opening quarter came at 19-12, and YSU's biggest advantage in the first half came at 41-31 with 2:10 left. The margin was 42-36 at halftime.

YSU's largest lead of the third quarter came when Magestro hit a triple to make it a 52-41 advantage with 6:49 left. Oakland went on a 13-2 run over the next four-and-a-half minutes to tie the score at 54-54, and the Golden Grizzlies took their only lead of the night when a Maddy Skorupski 3-pointer gave them a 57-56 edge with 1:07 on the clock. Jarrells scored on the next possession, and Saunders beat the horn to give YSU a 60-57 cushion heading into the fourth.

Jarrells and Kirby made 3-pointers during a 10-0 run that increased YSU's lead back to 11 at 70-59. Kirby's fifth 3 gave YSU its largest lead of the evenign at 73-61 with 6:19 remaining. Oakland got within 77-72 and had possession with 1:15 left, but Thierry forced a turnover, and Saunders scored to stymie the comeback bid.

Notes

• The Penguins had five players score in double figures for the first time since Jan. 28, 2022, in a home win over Detroit Mercy. YSU's starters accounted for 81 of the team's 85 points.
• The Penguins had season highs for points (85) and field goals (32), and they had their second-best field-goal percentage (.552). YSU has shot 47% or better in four of its last six games.
• YSU shot 55% in a road game or a conference contest for the first time since it made 56.3% of its attempts at the O'rena on Jan. 18, 2021.
• YSU had 46 points in the paint, which was eight more points than it has had in any other game this season. The Penguins' posts had just 12 points, which means their guards combined for 34 points in the paint.
• The Penguins had 46 points in the paint, 27 points from beyond the arc, and 12 points at the free-throw line.
• YSU's 24 points in the first quarter were the most in an opening period this season, and the 25 points in the fourth tied for the most in any quarter.
• The Penguins flipped the rebounding margin by five from the first meeting with Oakland. YSU was minus-five at home against Oakland, and it was plus-five on Thursday. Limiting offensive rebounds was a big key on Thursday as Oakland had 12 offensive rebounds that it converted into 13 points. In the meeting on Jan. 3, Oakland used 23 offensive rebounds to score 24 second-chance points.
• YSU did not block a shot for the first time in a game this season.
• Shay-Lee Kirby tied her career high with 24 points, matching her total from a game at North Alabama on Nov. 25, 2020, when she was a sophomore at Austin Peay. Kirby also tied her career high with eight field goals.
• Kirby led the Penguins in 3-pointers for the third straight game. That's been a big key and a big turnaround for Kirby, who went into the game at IUPUI on a cold stretch where she was 1-for-27 from long distance over a nine-game span. Aside from those nine games, Kirby is 30-for-75 from long distance this season, which is 40%.
• Haley Thierry set a new career high with six assists.
• Dena Jarrells collected her 200th assist and her 100th rebound as a Penguin.
• Malia Magestro scored the 900th point of her career.

Up Next

Youngstown State will conclude its three-game road stretch at Wright State on Wednesday. The contest against the Raiders will begin at 7 p.m., and it will be broadcast live on 1390 WNIO and ESPN+.