2023–24 Youngstown State Penguins women's basketball team

The 2023–24 Youngstown State Penguins women's basketball team represented Youngstown State University during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Penguins, led by interim head coach John Nicolais, played their home games at the Beeghly Center in Youngstown, Ohio as members of the Horizon League.

2023–24 Youngstown State Penguins women's basketball
Conference	Horizon League
Record	13–15 (9–9 Horizon)
Head coach	John Nicolais (interim)
Assistant coaches	Teonna Jewell Malika Glover
Home arena	Beeghly Center
Seasons ← 2022–23 2024–25 →

2023–24 Horizon League women's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Cleveland State	18	–	2		.900			29	–	6		.829
Green Bay †	17	–	3		.850			27	–	7		.794
Purdue Fort Wayne	13	–	7		.650			23	–	13		.639
Wright State	11	–	9		.550			18	–	15		.545
Milwaukee	10	–	10		.500			16	–	16		.500
Detroit Mercy	9	–	11		.450			17	–	16		.515
Youngstown State	9	–	11		.450			14	–	18		.438
Oakland	8	–	12		.400			12	–	17		.414
Northern Kentucky	8	–	12		.400			11	–	20		.355
IUPUI	5	–	15		.250			7	–	23		.233
Robert Morris	2	–	18		.100			6	–	24		.200
† 2024 Horizon League tournament winner

On October 2, 2023, it was announced that head coach John Barnes would be taking a leave of absence to focus on "personal family matters," with associate head coach John Nicolais serving as acting head coach in Barnes' absence.^[1] On January 19, 2024, Barnes announced that he would be stepping down after ten years at the helm, with associate head coach John Nicolais serving as interim head coach for the remainder of the season.^[2]

Previous season

The Penguins finished the 2022–23 season 19–11, 13–7 in Horizon League play, to finish in a tie for third place.^[3] In the Horizon League tournament, they were defeated by Northern Kentucky in the quarterfinals.^[4]

Roster

2023–24 Youngstown State Penguins women's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Mady Aulbach 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) Sr Blackhawk High School Beaver Falls, PA G 2 Malia Magestro 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Sr Kennedy Catholic High School Hermitage, PA G 10 Dena Jarrells 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) Sr Chattanooga Dunlow, WV G 11 Abby Liber 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) So Saint Louis Avon, OH G 14 Abbie Davidson 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) Fr Salem High School Salem, OH G 20 Mackenzie Hurd 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) RS Fr Nelsonville-York High School Buchtel, OH G 21 Amya McLeod 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) Fr Rome Free Academy Rome, NY G 22 Shay-Lee Kirby 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Sr Austin Peay Vienna, WV G 23 Haley Thierry 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Jr Laurel School Willoughby Hills, OH G 24 Bella Samz 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Fr Arrowhead High School Oconomowoc, WI F 31 Emily Saunders 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) Sr Tennessee Mullens, WV F 32 Paige Shy 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Sr Marshall Huntington, WV F 40 Jen Wendler 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Sr Owen-Withee High School Withee, WI F 52 Lindsey Linard 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Sr Duquesne Cleveland, OH	Head coach John Nicolais (interim) (Glenville State) Assistant coach(es) Teonna Jewell (Davis & Elkins) Malika Glover (Northern Kentucky) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: February 8, 2024

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 8, 2023* 6:30 p.m., ESPN+		Xavier	W 55–41	1–0	31 – Saunders	14 – Saunders	6 – Kirby	Beeghly Center (1,259) Youngstown, OH
November 11, 2023* 6:30 p.m., ESPN+		Slippery Rock	W 78–32	2–0	22 – Saunders	9 – Saunders	5 – Jarrells	Beeghly Center (1,612) Youngstown, OH
November 16, 2023* 5:00 p.m., ESPN+		Western Michigan	L 52–54	2–1	15 – Shy	6 – Shy	6 – Jarrells	Beeghly Center (1,182) Youngstown, OH
November 19, 2023* 4:00 p.m., ESPN+		at West Virginia	L 40–94	2–2	12 – Jarrells	5 – Saunders	2 – 2 tied	WVU Coliseum (1,619) Morgantown, WV
November 24, 2023* 5:30 p.m.		vs. Rhode Island Las Vegas Holiday Classic	L 50–63	2–3	10 – Kirby	4 – 2 tied	4 – Kirby	Orleans Arena  Paradise, NV
November 25, 2023* 5:30 p.m.		vs. Northern Arizona Las Vegas Holiday Classic	L 70–74	2–4	21 – 2 tied	6 – 2 tied	4 – 3 tied	Orleans Arena  Paradise, NV
November 30, 2023 6:30 p.m., ESPN+		Detroit Mercy	L 50–59	2–5 (0–1)	12 – Saunders	8 – Shy	5 – Jarrells	Beeghly Center (1,523) Youngstown, OH
December 3, 2023 12:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Robert Morris	L 63–65	2–6 (0–2)	16 – Thierry	8 – 2 tied	4 – Kirby	UPMC Events Center (311) Moon Township, PA
December 6, 2023* 6:30 p.m., ESPN+		Akron	W 53–52	3–6	13 – Saunders	8 – 2 tied	5 – Magestro	Beeghly Center (1,761) Youngstown, OH
December 9, 2023* 4:00 p.m., NEC Front Row		at Saint Francis	W 69–32	4–6	23 – Saunders	8 – Thierry	5 – 2 tied	DeGol Arena (124) Loretto, PA
December 16, 2023* 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		at St. Bonaventure	L 47–55	4–7	18 – Kirby	7 – Saunders	5 – Jarrells	Reilly Center (225) St. Bonaventure, NY
December 21, 2023* 11:00 a.m., ESPN+		Canisius	L 59–65	4–8	22 – Jarrells	7 – 2 tied	6 – Jarrells	Beeghly Center (2,251) Youngstown, OH
December 29, 2023 6:30 p.m., ESPN+		Wright State	L 68–82	4–9 (0–3)	22 – Magestro	8 – Magestro	5 – Jarrells	Beeghly Center (1,285) Youngstown, OH
December 31, 2023 12:00 p.m., ESPN+		IUPUI	W 58–56	5–9 (1–3)	19 – Saunders	9 – Saunders	5 – Magestro	Beeghly Center (2,147) Youngstown, OH
January 3, 2024 6:30 p.m., ESPN+		Oakland	W 70–63	6–9 (2–3)	18 – 2 tied	6 – Linard	6 – Shy	Beeghly Center (1,277) Youngstown, OH
January 6, 2024 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Cleveland State	L 37–79	6–10 (2–4)	7 – Thierry	6 – Thierry	3 – Shy	Wolstein Center (368) Cleveland, OH
January 11, 2024 8:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Green Bay	L 47–85	6–11 (2–5)	10 – 2 tied	7 – Shy	4 – Shy	Kress Events Center (1,531) Green Bay, WI
January 13, 2024 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Milwaukee	L 58–66	6–12 (2–6)	18 – Magestro	9 – Saunders	4 – Magestro	Klotsche Center (596) Milwaukee, WI
January 18, 2024 6:30 p.m., ESPN+		Purdue Fort Wayne	W 66–57	7–12 (3–6)	16 – 3 tied	7 – Shy	6 – Shy	Beeghly Center (1,726) Youngstown, OH
January 24, 2024 6:30 p.m., ESPN+		Northern Kentucky	L 56–62	7–13 (3–7)	17 – Saunders	7 – 3 tied	4 – 2 tied	Beeghly Center (1,304) Youngstown, OH
January 27, 2024 1:30 p.m., ESPN+		Robert Morris	W 71–46	8–13 (4–7)	23 – Saunders	11 – Thierry	4 – 3 tied	Beeghly Center (3,102) Youngstown, OH
January 31, 2024 11:00 a.m., ESPN+		at IUPUI	L 63–69	8–14 (4–8)	18 – Saunders	10 – Saunders	3 – Jarrells	IUPUI Gymnasium (349) Indianapolis, IN
February 3, 2024 12:00 p.m., ESPN+		Milwaukee	W 73–66	9–14 (5–8)	23 – Magestro	10 – Saunders	4 – Saunders	Beeghly Center (1,724) Youngstown, OH
February 8, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Oakland	W 85–79	10–14 (6–8)	24 – Kirby	7 – Thierry	6 – Thierry	OU Credit Union O'rena (358) Rochester, MI
February 10, 2024 1:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Detroit Mercy	W 54–49	11–14 (7–8)	12 – Jarrells	8 – Saunders	5 – Magestro	Calihan Hall (303) Detroit, MI
February 14, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Wright State	W 72–52	12–14 (8–8)	14 – Magestro	8 – Jarrells	5 – Kirby	Nutter Center (1,167) Fairborn, OH
February 17, 2024 1:30 p.m., ESPN+		Green Bay	L 59–71	12–15 (8–9)	19 – Saunders	11 – Saunders	7 – Jarrells	Beeghly Center (1,884) Youngstown, OH
February 24, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Northern Kentucky	W 68–64	13–15 (9–9)	25 – Jarrells	16 – Saunders	5 – Aullbach	Truist Arena (1,132) Highland Heights, KY
February 27, 2024 6:30 p.m., ESPN+		Cleveland State	L 53-56	13-16 (9-10)	14 – Shay-Lee	8 – 2 tied	6 – Magestro	Beeghly Center (1,947) Youngstown, OH
March 2, 2024 3:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Purdue Fort Wayne	L 64-73	13-17 (9-11)	17 – Saunders	9 – Saunders	5 – Jarrells	Hilliard Gates Sports Center (820) Fort Wayne, IN
Horizon League tournament
March 5, 2024 7:00 pm, ESPN+	(7)	(10) IUPUI First Round	W 73-50	14-17	18 – Magestro	6 – Saunders	5 – Aulbach	Beeghly Center (929) Youngstown, OH
March 7, 2024 5:30 pm, ESPN+	(7)	at (2) Green Bay Quarterfinals	L 57-94	14-18	15 – Kirby	6 – Saunders	7 – Jarrells	Kress Events Center (2,019) Green Bay, WI
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern.

Sources:^[5][6]