Youngstown, Ohio — Sophia Gregory had one of the best performances by a freshman in school history, and Youngstown State's women's basketball team ended its non-conference schedule with an 85-42 victory over Point Park on Saturday afternoon.
Gregory scored 28 points and grabbed 13 rebounds while adding four blocks and three assists. The 28 points were the fourth-most by a freshman in YSU's Division I era, and the Alliance, Ohio, native was 12-for-16 from the field.
Youngstown State heads into the holiday break with a 7-6 record overall and a 6-1 mark at Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center.
Gregory got plenty of help as three of her teammates joined her in double figures. Jewel Watkins scored 18 points and made four 3-pointers, while Erica King scored 13 points off the bench in 21 minutes and Malia Magestro added 11. Haley Thierry grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds while adding a game-best five assists.
Youngstown State had 25 assists, its most in a game in two years, while shooting 47.9% from the field. Defensively, the Penguins forced Point Park into 19 turnovers and held the Division II Pioneers to 28.3% shooting.
Gregory scored 18 seconds into the game, and YSU led the rest of the way. Youngstown State's margin hit double digits for the first time when Thierry's layup at the 2:36 mark made the score 15-5, and Gregory scored on an inbounds pass in the final seconds of the opening quarter to give the Penguins a 19-8 lead. Gregory was 4-for-4 from the field and 2-for-2 from the free-throw line in the opening stanza.
Youngstown State ended the second quarter on a 12-3 burst to take a 39-20 lead at halftime. Magestro had seven points during that stretch, and she drilled a long 3-pointer at the buzzer for YSU's third triple of the quarter.
The Penguins then scored the first 11 points of the third quarter to push their lead to 30 at 50-20, and the margin was at least 25 the rest of the afternoon. YSU held Point Park to one field goal from the 5:45 mark of the second quarter to the 4:16 mark of the third, and it outscored the Pioneers 28-6 over that span of 11:29.
Gregory had 10 points and seven rebounds in the third period, and YSU's lead was 63-30 after 30 minutes.The difference hit 40 when King made a 3-pointer with 7:07 on the fourth-quarter clock, and the final margin was the largest in the game.
Dianne Rappach scored 31 points against Malone on Jan. 4, 1989, for the highest-scoring performance by a YSU freshman since it joined the Division I level in 1981-82. Kristi Echelberry scored 30 against Lock Haven in 1992, and Nneka Obiazor had 29 versus Cleveland State in 2021. Those are the only times a Penguins freshman has scored more than Gregory's 28 points today.
Youngstown State will begin the bulk of its Horizon League schedule on Dec. 28 with a contest at IU Indianapolis.
