Youngstown State begins a stretch of three games over a seven-day road trip on Tuesday with a contest at Xavier. Tipoff at the Cintas Center is set for 7 p.m., and the game will be broadcast live on 570 WKBN, iHeart.com and FloCollege.
Gameday Info
A Glimpse at the Guins
- The Penguins are playing their first game at the Cintas Center since New Year's Eve in 2004 as they finish up a home-and-home with the Musketeers. YSU beat Xavier 55-41 in Youngstown in the 2023-24 season opener on Nov. 8, 2023. The Penguins will then fly from Cincinnati to San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Wednesday morning for a Thanksgiving tournament.
- Youngstown State went 4-0 in its season-opening homestand but couldn't find its shooting touch during the first look at road rims in a 51-36 loss at Bucknell on Saturday. The Penguins shot 15% from the field, and they fell behind by 22 late in the third quarter before scoring 22 points over the final 12 minutes. YSU averaged 72 points during its four games at home.
- YSU has five returners and 10 newcomers on this year's squad under first-year head coach Melissa Jackson. Jackson is in her 17th consecutive season coaching in Northeast Ohio, having spent 15 at Akron and one at Cleveland State.
- Fifth-year senior guard Malia Magestro is one of those returners, and she ranks second on the team in scoring at 14.2 points per game. She went over 1,000 career points on Nov. 12, and she has scored at least eight points in the first five games. Fellow returner Abby Liber leads the Horizon League in rebounding at 9.6 caroms per contest.
- Guard Jewel Watkins is YSU's top scorer at 15 points per contest. A senior transfer from Charlotte, Watkins is among a large group of talented newcomers that includes four transfers and six freshmen. Sarah Baker has been named the Horizon League Freshman of the Week in each of the first two weeks of the season, and she is averaging 5.4 points and 5.8 rebounds.
- YSU's defense has limited its first three opponents to an average of 50.0 points per game, and no team has scored more than 56 points. The Penguins are outscoring opponents by 14.8 points per game, and they are outrebounding teams by an average of 9.8 per contest.
Youngstown State at Xavier
A Win Would...
- Give YSU a 5-1 record for the season and an even 1-1 mark in road contests.
- Be YSU's first away from Zidian Family Arena this season.
- Give YSU two straight victories over Xavier.
- Be YSU's first-ever on the road against the Musketeers.
- Give Head Coach Melissa Jackson her 77th career victory, her first over Bucknell, and her fifth at Youngstown State.
Milestone Watch
- Faith Burch is 11 points away from 250 in her career.
- Malia Magestro is 10 points away from tying Alison Smolinski's total of 1,061 career points for 22nd in program history.
- Haley Thierry needs 10 assists to reach 100 for her career. She is 19 points from 250 in her career.
- Jewel Watkins is 26 points away from 800 in her career.
Scouting the Musketeers
- Xavier already has more wins in 2024-25 than it did all of last season with its 3-2 start to the campaign. After losing its opener, the Musketeers won three straight home games against Miami (Ohio), Mercyhurst and Arkansas State. Tuesday will be Xavier's sixth game inside the Buckeye State this season.
- Xavier has six players back from last year's team that played at Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center. Sophomore Aizhanique Mayo was named to the All-BIG EAST Freshman Team after averaging 9.8 points in conference play, and Tae'lor Purvis is back after leading the Musketeers in assists and steals last season.
- Second-year head coach Billi Chambers brought in eight newcomers this season, and the Musketeers are certainly a melting pot of backgrounds with 12 international players on its roster. Loren Christi, who missed last season with an injury, leads Xavier with 11.0 points and 6.4 rebounds per game.
Series History and Matchup Notes
Overall: Youngstown State leads 4-3
Jackson: 0-0 // Home: 3-1 // Away: 0-2 // Neutral: 1-0
Current Win Streak: 1 by Youngstown State
- This is the seventh meeting between Youngstown State and Xavier despite them being in-state opponents. The Penguins hosted Xavier at Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center last season for the first time since Feb. 4, 1993, and this is just the third meeting between the programs since 1997.
YSU vs. Big East Teams: Youngstown State is 9-22 all-time against teams that are currently members of the Big East, which includes a 4-3 record against Xavier and a 5-19 mark against Butler. YSU's win over the Musketeers last season was its first over a current Big East program since it beat Butler on Feb. 2, 2006, when the Bulldogs were in the Horizon League.
Last Meeting: In her first opportunity as YSU's starting center, Emily Saunders went 10-for-15 from the field to score 20 points as the Penguins beat Xavier 55-41 to open the 2023-24 campaign. She added 14 rebounds, two steals and two blocks in her first career double-double. Malia Magestro scored 14 points and made four 3s, and she was part of a perimeter defense that held the Musketeers to 1-for-19 shooting from long distance. After Xaver scored six of the first eight points of the game, YSU scored 12 straight points over a four-minute span in the first period and led by at least four the rest of the night. The Penguins led 36-26 heading into the fourth quarter, and Magestro hit a 3 during an 8-0 run that gave YSU a 48-31 lead with 4:27 left.
Up Next
Youngstown State will fly to Puerto Rico for two games at the Puerto Rico Clasico over Thanksgiving break. The Penguins will play a pair of quality mid-major opponents at the tournament, starting with a game at 11 a.m. Eastern on Friday against Southern Indiana. YSU will then play Towson on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. Eastern. Both games will be broadcast live on 570 WKBN and iHeart.com.
