Youngstown State is back on the road
Penguins to visit Detroit Mercy and Oakland, play away games for first time in a month
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YOUNGSTOWN -- The magic number is pretty clear for Youngstown State.
Through 13 games this season, the Penguins (9-4, 3-1 Horizon League) are 7-0 when holding teams to under 60 points and just 2-4 when opponents score 60 or more.
That perhaps bodes well as the Penguins hit the road for the first time in a month this week, as YSU visits Detroit Mercy on Thursday (7 p.m., ESPN+, 1390 AM WNIO) and Oakland on Saturday (2 p.m., ESPN+, 1390 AM WNIO), teams that have had trouble scoring as of late.
"When we play good defense, we win," YSU coach John Barnes pointed out. "It comes from the scouting report, the energy, the effort and the focus on getting things done and executing what we want to get done on that end. So hopefully, we can do that this week in both games."
In the Titans (2-11, 0-4 Horizon League), the Penguins are getting a team and program that's seen more than its fair share of upheaval. Detroit Mercy is on its third coach in as many years, as the program turned to Kate Achter after posting a 1-29 mark in the 2021-22 campaign under interim coach Latonya Collins, who took over the program after the university fired previous coach AnnMarie Gilbert in the wake of investigations into the mistreatment of players.
Achter came to UDM following a six-year stint at Loyola Chicago in which she finished 67-110 overall and 36-72 in the Missouri Valley Conference, but largely was responsible for a turnaround that saw the Ramblers go 18-12 in her final season at the helm. In fact, Loyola Chicago made its first postseason appearance under Achter, a WBI berth in her fourth season.
Ultimately, however, the Ramblers parted ways with Achter, who replaced Sheryl Swoopes after Swoopes was accused of mistreating players.
Similar to her start at Loyola Chicago, things have been rocky in Year 1 at Detroit Mercy for Achter. The Titans topped Canisius, 70-65, in Game 3 and topped Miami Hamilton on Dec. 8, but since have lost five straight. Things have been especially tough since Horizon League play resumed, as Detroit Mercy lost to Milwaukee 63-29 and Green Bay 80-33.
Still, Barnes is wary of what the Titans can attack with.
"They play a lot of people," Barnes said. "I think they've started eight or nine different players in seven or eight games, so a lot of players have experience."
He added, "They do a great job of attacking the basket. They score a majority of their points in the paint, which means they pound it inside for their post player or penetrate to the paint, which gets them to the free throw line and gets us in foul trouble. So we have to do a great job of containing them and making them shoot from the outside, and then rebounding."
To that end, forward Irene Murua paces Detroit Mercy with 10.3 points and 9.0 rebounds per game, and Imani McNeal adds 8.8 points per game. Talented freshman Amaya Burch is third at 8.4 points per game.
Still, Detroit Mercy is shooting just 33 percent from the field and an abysmal 19.8 percent from 3-point range as a team.
As for Saturday, Barnes and Co. haven't quite gotten into the full game plan for Oakland (6-7, 1-3 Horizon) yet, but Barnes has a good idea of what to expect from a Golden Grizzlies team that upset YSU in the quarterfinals of the Horizon League Tournament last season.
"They always like transition. They do a great job of attacking the basket, and they'll pressure us in the halfcourt and also in the full court," Barnes said. "So we have to be ready for that."
Alexis Johnson leads the way with 10.5 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, and Breanne Beatty adds 9.5 points. Linda van Schalk is scoring 9 points per game.
The Golden Grizzlies started the year with an impressive win over Akron, 74-67, but have stumbled lately. Oakland dropped its final nonconference game to Toledo, 74-44, and then lost to Green Bay 64-42 and Milwaukee 65-49 last week.
YSU, meanwhile, dropped one to Cleveland State last week before rebounding with a stifling of Purdue Fort Wayne. In the Penguins' first conference road trip, they were able to knock off Northern Kentucky and Wright State -- experiences Barnes hopes will pay off now.
"It's harder to win on the road no matter where you're going and who you're playing," Barnes acknowledged. "Fortunately, we got a lot of experience on the road early against some tough teams. I thought we adjusted and played really well in our last conference road trip, so we're going to try to use those experiences going into this road trip."
jwhetzel@tribtoday.com