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YOUNGSTOWN -- John Barnes was watching intently, just like other Youngstown State football fans were on Saturday night.
Barnes, the YSU women's basketball coach, was excited to see the Penguins rally to beat Eastern Washington 40-38 on an acrobatic, last-second touchdown catch by junior tight end Kevin Rader that has went viral on social media sites around the country.
The win propelled the Penguins into the Jan. 7 FCS national title game in Frisco, Texas, against James Madison.
The YSU run also spurred Barnes and his team to overcome this season.
The Penguin women's team lost senior Kelsea Newman in the season's first game and junior Nikki Arbanas in the first practice -- both to season-ending ACL tears. Arbanas returns in the fall of 2017, but not Newman, who redshirted her freshman season.
Then, junior 6-foot-1 forward Sarah Cash, who is from Lordstown, has been fighting off nagging knee issues all season.
"Watching the game and how they finished and listening to coach (Bo Pelini) after they finished, it's a Youngstown state of mind in terms of being tough and understanding nothing is going to be easy," Barnes said. "Nothing is going to be given to you.
"We're kind of going through that right now. We have adversity. How are we going to handle that adversity? We can, from the coaching staffs to the players, raise our level of toughness, work ethic and all that and make ourselves better."
YSU is forced to play its young players. The Penguins start underclassmen most nights and freshmen like Mary Dunn, Maliee Jones, Natalie Myers and Jen Oduho are seeing more time.
Barnes said it's not the season he envisioned, coming off a 21-win campaign and most of his roster returning this season.
"For the future of YSU women's basketball, it's huge," said Barnes, whose team hosts Point Park today at 11 a.m. "These players, we were hoping could get five minutes a game here and there, or may 10 minutes to get their feet wet to get some experience. Now we have three freshmen playing 20 minutes a game, staring and doing all this. It's good in ways. It's bad in ways. We're trying to take it one game at a time, trying to get better each day. Hopefully we can put a string of wins together to start conference."
The Penguins (3-7) need consistency out of their backcourt.
"Sometimes we have a player that scores 20 one game and two the next, or 17 and five," Barnes said. "I just want a string of eight to 12 and keep it in that range every night. That would help us."
Dunn has been a great help to the Penguins. The 6-foot-3 center from Washington, Pa., is the team's leading scorer and rebounder with 12.2 points and 44 rebounds -- tied with Myers.
Monday, Dunn was named the Horizon League Freshman of the Week for the third time this season.
"She's doing such a great job on the court," Barnes said. "Off the court, she's been that much of an impact or more. She's constantly got a smile on her face. Everybody loves her. She's brought a whole new element of fun and excitement to the program.
"Off the court, she's doing a heckuva job. She's be a staple down in the post after losing Cash."
Today against Point Park, Barnes hopes his team take a step in the right direction. The Penguins score 67 a game, but give up 73.
"Defense has struggled," Barnes said. "A lot of mental mistakes. Losing focus for a second at this level and the other team is making baskets. We're trying to focus on our mental toughness, trying to limit some of our defensive mistakes. Keep trying to get better."
That's all YSU can hope for going forward.