Penguins looking to meet lofty expectations
YSU picked 1st in Horizon League preseason poll
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YOUNGSTOWN -- A year ago, Mady Aulbach says, Youngstown State women's basketball was out to prove others wrong for selecting the Penguins seventh in the Horizon League preseason poll.
Now, she notes, the Penguins are out to prove people right.
After another busy offseason in the transfer portal, YSU enters the 2022-23 season with sky-high expectations, as the Penguins were selected first in the Horizon League preseason poll for the first time in program history.
"I think the mindset lately has been proving people right and just focusing on us, doing what we know how to do," Aulbach said. "There's going to be a target on our back, and we have to bring our best every single day in practice, game in and game out every time we step on the court."
The Penguins welcomed a bevy of transfers. At guard, YSU added Shay-Lee Kirby (Austin Peay) and Dena Jarrells (Chattanooga), and at forward, the Penguins picked up Emily Saunders (Tennessee).
Those three and returning guard Paige Shy all played AAU basketball together in West Virginia.
Now reunited, they'll be joining a team that returns All-Horizon League forward Lily Ritz and other forwards Lindsey Linard and Jen Wendler, as well as guards Aulbach, Malia Magestro, Megan Callahan and Lindsey Mack. Forward Tenleigh Phelps could factor in this year after sitting a season ago with an injury, and guard Haley Thierry is back, too. The Penguins also added one freshman recruit, guard Mackenzie Hurd.
Thus far, head coach John Barnes says things are still a work in progress, due in part to minor injuries that have nagged the team during preseason practices.
"We've had a lot of little injuries here and there and haven't ... (been able) to go five-on-five as much as we would like, so my evaluation of where we're at isn't quite where it should be," Barnes said.
But, he added, the roster is getting each of those players back, and now has had two scrimmages to begin sorting out a lineup.
In the first scrimmage, Barnes said, the Penguins threw a bunch of different lineup combinations into the mix, while in the second, he expected to be more specific and judicious in determining playing time.
As the season opener approaches, Barnes says the emphasis is on the finer details.
"We want to be really detail-oriented," he said. "We didn't do a lot of the detailed things that we like to do defensively, and it cost us in our (first) scrimmage. So just doing the little things and executing all those little details. That's going to be the difference between us being good this year and now.
"Right now, we're average at those details, and we have to get really good at them."
And, of course, the largest question remains finding a replacement to Chelsea Olson, something Barnes says will be a group effort both offensively and defensively.
"It's more of a lot of people stepping up and trying to be a leader, and everyone talking and having good energy and feeding off each other and not there just being one person we're always trying to look to, because this team is full of a bunch of all-stars that could all be a really good leader and player," Aulbach said. "I think this year, it's more of a committee thing, everyone joining together and feeding off each other."
The season begins Nov. 7 at home against Wofford, which begins a challenging month of November that also includes games at Penn State (Nov. 15), Akron (Nov. 18) and Western Michigan (Nov. 22) along with a home contest against St. Francis Brooklyn (Nov. 26).
Then, the Penguins get their first taste of Horizon League action with a road trip to Northern Kentucky and Wright State to begin the month of December.
"I think we're trying to develop a really high sense of urgency," Aulbach said. "I think we know what needs to be there, and I think we can definitely improve upon it. We really need to remember that last year, it was a lot of hard work to get to where we got, so just remembering that and keeping that chip on our shoulder will help us further develop that sense of urgency."
jwhetzel@tribtoday.com