Youngstown State's women's basketball team will try to win its third straight game to open the 2024-25 season as it continues its homestand against Clarion on Friday. Tipoff against the Golden Eagles at Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center is set for 6:30 p.m., and the contest will be broadcast live on 570 WKBN, iHeart.com and ESPN+.

Gameday Info

• When: Friday, Nov. 15, 2024 | 6:30 p.m.
• Where: Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center | Youngstown, Ohio
• Watch: ESPN+ | espn.com
• Listen: 570 WKBN | iHeart.com
• Stats: ysusports.com
• Social: X | Instagram | Facebook

Tickets, Promotions & Fan Information

Tickets | Gameday & Parking Information | Visitors Guide | Promotional Schedule | YSU Mobile App - iOS - Android

• Advance tickets for Friday's game are available online through YSUsports.com or by calling (330) 941-1978. The ticket office and gates at Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center will open at 5:30 p.m. on Friday.
• For more information on exchanging tickets from the canceled game on Nov. 4, visit HERE.

A Glimpse at the Guins

• Youngstown State is 2-0 this season after beating St. Bonaventure 60-52 on Tuesday evening. The Penguins scored the first nine points and raced out to a 14-4 lead, and they held advantages between four and 10 the rest of the game.
• The Penguins showed they could win with defense after showing their offensive prowess in the season opener. Against Lake Erie last Friday, the Penguins scored 50 points in the first half and won 95-39. On Tuesday against the Bonnies, YSU held the visitors to 28.1% shooting and to 5-of-23 from beyond the arc.
• Malia Magestro scored 15 points, and her ninth in the game gave her 1,000 in her career. She became the 24th Penguin in program history to reach the milestone. Magestro was one of three guards scoring in double figures against the Bonnies, joining Jewel Watkins (14) and Bella Samz (10). Magestro, in her fifth season as a Penguin, is averaging 13.5 points. Watkins, a first-year Penguin as a transfer from Charlotte, leads the team with 16.5 points per contest.
• Magestro is one of five returners on the squad, and Watkins is one of 10 newcomers. Sarah Baker is the reigning Horizon League Player of the Week after scoring 10 points against Lake Erie in the opener, and she grabbed eight rebounds against St. Bonaventure.
• Returners Abby Liber and Bella Samz are displaying their improvement in first-year head coach Melissa Jackson's system. Liber is averaging 11.5 rebounds in 29.1 minutes per game, up from 2.7 rebounds in 14.5 minutes, and Samz is averaging 7.0 points and 5.0 assists in 21.4 minutes, up from 0.4 points, 0.3 assists, and 4.9 minutes.
• Youngstown State has enjoyed tremendous success at Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center. The Penguins have had a winning record at home in 11 of the last 12 seasons, and they are 69-27 on Rosselli Court since the start of the 2018-19 campaign.
• This is YSU's 50th season of NCAA basketball. The Penguins made their NCAA debut in the 1975-76 season, and 2024-25 presents plenty of newness in the program's storied history. Along with Jackson, four new assistant coaches on the bench and 10 newcomers, there are plenty of changes inside Beeghly Center. The arena is now named Zidian Family Arena, and new chairback seats and upgrades to the sound system and videoboard present an improved gameday experience for student-athletes and fans.

Youngstown State vs. Clarion

A Win Would...

• Improve YSU's record to 3-0 this season.
• Give the Penguins their seventh straight win over the Golden Eagles.
• Be YSU's 30th straight victory over non-Division I teams.
• Give Head Coach Melissa Jackson her 75th career victory and her third at Youngstown State.

Upcoming Milestones

• Malia Magestro needs two assists to reach 200, and she is three rebounds away from 300.
• Jewel Watkins is two rebounds shy of 400 in her career

Scouting the Golden Eagles

• Clarion is 2-1 this season following back-to-back road victories at Livingstone on Sunday and Roberts Wesleyan on Wednesday. The Golden Eagles' loss was by one at Bluefield State as they appear to be an improved squad from last year's team that posted a 1-27 record.
• Danielle Fleming is in her second season as Clarion's head coach, and the roster is nearly a 50-50 split between returners and newcomers. Guard Autumn Taylor is averaging 20.7 points and leads the team with eight 3-pointers, and Arianna Seitz and Hannah Wilkerson are both averaging 11 points. Wilkerson hit a shot at the buzzer in the team's one-point win over Livingstone
• Clarion is averaging 7.7 3-pointers per game while yielding just two per contest on defense. The Golden Eagles are forcing 29 turnovers per game, and they have 50 steals through three games.

Series Notes

Overall: Youngstown State leads 6-1
Jackson vs. Clarion: 0-0
Current Win Streak: 6 by Youngstown State

• Youngstown State and Clarion played in six straight years from 1977 through 1982, with the first of those coming when YSU was a Division II program. The Penguins and Golden Eagles did not play from Feb. 18, 1982, until Dec. 21, 2006.
• The Penguins had a 55-point, 104-49 victory over the Golden Eagles when they met for the first with YSU competing at the Division I level in 1982. The most recent meeting was much closer, a 58-47 victory for the Penguins.

YSU vs. non-Division I teams: YSU's last loss to a non-Division I team came to current PSAC member Edinboro on Jan. 13, 1990. Since that time, the Penguins have won 29 consecutive games against non-Division I opponents. The Penguins are 83-10 all-time against teams that are currently not in Division I. YSU has played at least one non-Division I opponent in every season since 2013-14 except 2020-21. Last Friday, the Penguins beat Division II member Lake Erie 95-39 to open the season.

YSU vs. PSAC teams: Youngstown State is 19-2 all-time against teams currently competing in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. The Penguins' last loss to a non-Division I team came to Edinboro in 1990, and YSU's other loss to a team in the conference was to Clarion in 1977. Last season, Youngstown State beat Slippery Rock 78-32 at Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center.

Last Time vs. Clarion: Youngstown State made 25 free throws to help offset a cold shooting night in a 58-47 victory over Clarion on Dec. 21, 2006, at Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center. The Penguins shot 29.2% for the game, including 23.5% in the second half, and Clarion was within five points with 1:26 left in the second half. Heather Karner made four 3-pointers and scored a team-high 15 points, and Nikita LaFleur had 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Recapping St. Bonaventure

Game Summary

Malia Magestro scored her 1,000th career point, and Youngstown State used an early burst to beat St. Bonaventure 60-52 on Tuesday evening at Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center.

The Penguins scored the first nine points of the game, and they held leads ranging from four to 10 points for the rest of the night. St. Bonaventure kept clawing behind 24 points from Dani Haskell, and the Bonnies got as close as five with four minutes left.

Magestro finished with a team-high 15 points, and her milestone points came on a drive to the basket at the 3:10 mark of the second quarter. Jewel Watkins scored 14 points and blocked three shots, Bella Samz scored a career-best 10 points, and Abby Liber grabbed 11 rebounds.

Youngstown State did not allow any points until the 4:46 mark of the opening quarter, and Samz's 3-pointer with 3:34 on the clock gave the Penguins their first double-digit lead at 14-4. YSU matched that 10-point lead eight other times throughout the night.

Haskell had 17 points in the first half to help the Bonnies close to within 30-25 at halftime, and she had seven more in the third quarter as YSU added three points to its advantage. The Penguins kept her scoreless in the fourth, and they didn't allow a field goal for the final 3:30 of the game after the Bonnies got within five again. Watkins split two free throws, and Samz hit a pullup jumper and had a steal in the final minutes to help the Penguins close out the win.

Notes

• Youngstown State avenged a 55-47 loss to the Bonnies in New York last season in the first meeting between the two programs. The was the first contest between the Penguins and Bonnies in Youngstown.
• YSU beat a team in the Atlantic 10 at the time of the contest for the first time since Jan. 4, 2013, at VCU. Since then, the Penguins beat Loyola Chicago in 2017 and 2018 when the Ramblers were in the Missouri Valley Conference.
• Defense was the key for the Penguins in the victory. The Bonnies shot 58.5% from the field and made 13 3-pointers in their season-opening win against Binghamton. YSU held St. Bonaventure to 28.1% shooting for the night, and the Bonnies were 5-for-23 from beyond the arc.
• While Haskell had a game-high 24 points and Isabellah Middleton scored 14, the other eight Bonnies who played combined for 13 points.
• YSU blocked seven shots, following a six-block night in its season opener.
• Offensively, Youngstown State shot 38.3% overall, and it was 17-for-29 inside the three-point arc. The Penguins didn't have their best night from beyond the 3-point arc, going 6-for-31. Point guards Bella Samz (2-for-5) and Xoe Rosalez (1-for-2) combined to go 3-for-8. Samz's two triples were a career high, and Rosalez made a 3 for the second straight game.
• The Penguins had three guards score in double figures - Malia Magestro (15), Jewel Watkins (14) and Bella Samz (10).
• While 13 different Penguins appeared in the season opener against Lake Erie, YSU utilized 10 players against the Bonnies. Samz played 27 minutes off the bench, and Sarah Baker played 19 minutes.
• Abby Liber grabbed her 100th career rebound as part of an 11-rebound night. The junior is averaging 11.5 rebounds through two games this season, which is a big jump from the 2.7 she averaged in 2023-24.
• In addition to Liber's 11 rebounds, Sarah Baker and Faith Burch each had eight rebounds. That helped the Penguins hold a 42-36 edge on the glass, and YSU is outrebounding its opponents by an average of 19 through two games.
• Malia Magestro scored her 1,000th career point, becoming the 24th Penguin to reach the achievement. Her 1,000th point came on a layup with 3:10 left in the second quarter on a pass from senior Haley Thierry.
• Samz had the best game of her career, finishing with 10 points on two 3-pointers, a layup and a pull-up jumper. the effort came in a career-high 27 minutes. After just two games, she has already doubled her scoring output from the entire 2023-24 season, and she has matched her assists total from last season.

Up Next

Youngstown State will conclude its season-opening four-game homestand against Mercyhurst on Tuesday at 11 a.m. The contest against the Lakers will be the Annual School Day Kids Game presented by Chick-Fil-A Tiffany Square Plaza.