Youngstown State will try to earn an in-state road victory on Sunday as it travels to Wright State for a Horizon League contest. Tipoff at the Nutter Center against the Raiders is set for 2 p.m., and the game will be broadcast live on 570 WKBN, iHeart and ESPN+.
Gameday Info
A Glimpse at the Guins
- The Penguins started Horizon League with two consecutive wins in early December, and they're looking to stop a four-game skid against conference opponents. YSU was competitive in its most recent contest, a 58-50 decision against defending league tournament champion Green Bay on Thursday.
- A pair of freshmen led the Penguins in scoring against the Phoenix as Sophia Gregory scored 13 and Erica King scored 12. They are two of 10 newcomers on this year's team that looks substantially different than the Penguins squad that won 72-52 at the Nutter Center on Valentine's Day in 2024. Gregory ranks among the top six players in the conference in blocks and rebounds per game, and King has scored in double figures in four straight games.
- Another newcomer, transfer Jewel Watkins, leads the Penguins in scoring with 13.3 points per game and 34 3-pointers. She has made 14 of those triples in the last five games.
- With three season-ending injuries and other players dealing with bumps and bruises, YSU has used seven different starting lineup combinations in the first 16 games. Ten of the 14 players on the roster have started at least once this season.
- Youngstown State leads the Horizon League in scoring defense allowing 58.6 points per game. YSU also tops the circuit in 3-point field-goal percentage defense (.278) and blocks per game (3.8), and it ranks among the top five in steals (fifth), rebounding margin (second), turnover margin (fifth) and turnovers forced per game (fourth).
- Melissa Jackson is in her first season as YSU's head coach. The ninth coach in program history, she has spent the last 16 years in Northeast Ohio, and she has the highest winning percentage of any head coach in Akron history from her five seasons leading the Zips.
- YSU is 42-26 in Horizon League play since the start of the 2021-22 season, and it has won at least 13 conference games in three of the past seven campaigns.
Youngstown State vs. Wright State
A Win Would...
- Give YSU an 8-9 overall record, a 3-4 mark in Horizon League contests and a 1-6 ledger in true road games.
- Improve YSU's all-time record to 32-40 against Wright State.
- Be the Penguins' second straight over the Raiders and their sixth in the last seven meetings.
- Give YSU three straight wins at the Nutter Center (not including the 2022 forfeit).
- Give Head Coach Melissa Jackson her 80th career win, her eighth at Youngstown State and her first over Wright State
Milestone Watch
- Faith Burch needs 10 rebounds to reach 300 in her career.
- Malia Magestro needs 18 3-pointers to become the fifth Penguin to reach 200. She is 41 points away from moving into 19th place on YSU's career scoring list.
- Haley Thierry needs three rebounds to grab 200 in her career.
- Jewel Watkins is closing in on her 150th career 3-pointer, needing 11 to reach the milestone.
Scouting the Raiders
- Wright State is 3-14 overall and 1-6 in Horizon League play following a 67-64 victory over Detroit Mercy on Wednesday in Dayton. That victory over the Titans snapped a 10-game losing streak for the Raiders that began on Nov. 26. Wright State also has wins over Tennessee State and Ohio this season, both of which were at home where the Raiders are 3-4.
- Junior Claire Henson is averaging a team-high 10.3 points in her first season as a starter, and she has attempted the second-most free throws in the Horizon League with 76. Transfer Amaya Staton leads the Horizon League with 1.5 blocks per game while averaging 10.1 points and a team-high 7.4 rebounds. Rylee Sagester has made 29 3-pointers.
- Wright State is averaging 63.5 points offensively while allowing 73.6 points on defense. The Raiders make 7.2 3-pointers per game, which is the second-best average in the conference.
Series History and Matchup Notes
Overall: Wright State leads 40-31
Jackson: 0-0 // Home: 18-16 // Away: 13-22 // Neutral: 0-2
Current Win Streak: 1 by Youngstown State
- Wright State owns a 40-31 lead in the all-time series that dates back to 1979. Cleveland State is the only opponent YSU has played more in its history.
- The programs were members of the Mid-Continent Conference in the 1992-93 and 1993-94 seasons, and they've been in the Horizon League together since 2001-02. The Penguins won 19 of the first 25 meetings in the series, and Wright State had won 11 out of 12 games from 2016-2021.
- YSU swept the regular-season series in 2021-22 and 2022-23, and the teams split two meetings in 2023-24. The Penguins have scored at least 68 points in each of the last five encounters.
- YSU has fared better at home against the Raiders with an 18-16 record versus a 13-24 mark away from Beeghly Center. Including a forfeit in Jan. 2022, the Penguins have won three straight decisions at the Nutter Center.
Last Time at Wright State
- Youngstown State scored the first eight points of the game and never looked back in a 72-52 victory at Wright State last year on Valentine's Day.
- Malia Magestro led the Penguins with 14 points, and five of her teammates scored at least nine. Youngstown State shot 50% from the field, and it was 19-for-30 in the first half to build a 45-23 halftime advantage.
- YSU was great defensively, holding Wright State to 28.8% shooting and limiting Alexis Hutchison, the Horizon League's top scorer, to six points on 1-for-12 shooting.
Recapping Green Bay
Game Summary
Youngstown State had two freshmen reach double figures and played well enough defensively to win, but the Penguins couldn't overcome an early burst by Green Bay in a 58-50 loss to the Phoenix on Thursday evening.
YSU had a cold stretch where it scored two points over 10 minutes in the first half, and Green Bay had a 14-point lead with 3:53 left in the second period. Youngstown State outscored the Phoenix by six points the rest of the way but could not get closer than six.
Sophia Gregory scored 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field, and Erica King scored 12 to lead the Penguins. YSU shot 42.6% overall, just under Green Bay's 44.2%, and it limited its turnovers over the final 30 minutes after having nine in the first period.
The Phoenix came into the game averaging 66.7 points per game and 75.4 points against league opponents.
The Phoenix scored the first five points of the game to force a quick Penguins timeout, and YSU got within 9-7 on a Haley Thierry triple at the 5:47 mark of the opening quarter. But the Penguins had just two points over the next 10 minutes as Green Bay increased its lead to 19-9 at the end of the period.
The Phoenix's lead was between six and 14 points the rest of the game.
Green Bay got a big putback at the end of the shot clock with 1:22 remaining in the fourth to take a 53-42 lead, but the Penguins scored six of the next seven points and got within 54-48 with 29.1 seconds left. Gregory's first career 3-pointer started the run, and King made a driving layup to start a three-point play. That's as close as YSU would get as Green Bay got back-to-back stops and went 3-for-4 from the free-throw line over the next nine seconds to increase its lead to nine.
Notes
- Prolonged stretches without points hurt the Penguins, who played well enough defensively to beat the Phoenix. YSU went scoreless for more than four minutes in the first quarter, four minutes to start the second quarter and nearly six minutes at the beginning of the fourth.
- YSU forced Green Bay into a season-high 19 turnovers. The Phoenix came into the game ranking among the top 10 teams in the country in fewest turnovers per game at 11.8 per contest.
- The Penguins had nine turnovers in the first quarter as Green Bay built its 19-9 lead. YSU then had one turnover in the second, seven in the third and four in the fourth quarter.
- YSU shot 42.6% from the field, which was its highest mark in a loss this season.
- With both teams shooting better than 42% and playing at a slower pace, neither squad reached 30 rebounds. YSU's 23 rebounds were its second-fewest in a game this season behind only the Ohio State contest.
- There were seven offensive fouls called in the first quarter, and it took until the 18th foul for the first free throws to be awarded. Green Bay's first free throw attempts were at 7:39 in the fourth/
- Sophia Gregory made her first career 3-pointer with 37 seconds left in the fourth quarter as YSU tried to make a late push. Gregory finished with 13 points while ading three assists, two steals and two rebounds. She was a very efficient 6-for-7 from the field. She has at least three assists in four of her last five games.
- Erica King scored 12 points for her fourth straight game reaching double figures. She tied her career high with six field goals.
- Dacia Lewandowski played a career high 22 minutes as YSU liked the matchup with her length. The Penguins were plus-7 on the scoreboard with her on the floor.
- Xoe Rosalez went 1-for-2 from beyond the arc to make her first 3-pointer since Dec. 7.
- Haley Thierry scored her 250th career point in a seven-point effort. She was 2-for-4 from the field, 1-for-1 from beyond the arc and 2-for-2 from the free throw line. She added team highs of five rebounds, two steals and two blocks.
- Jewel Watkins made her 300th career field goal. She went 3-for-10 from beyond the arc to finish with nine points. It was the 14th time in 16 games this season she scored at least nine points.
- YSU played on Thursday for the first time this season.
Up Next
- Youngstown State will play two home games next week, starting with a contest on Wednesday against Northern Kentucky. Tip against the Norse is set for 6:30 p.m. at Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center.
