• Youngstown State begins its final week of the first half of Horizon League play this Thursday when it makes the trip north to play Cleveland State. The game against the Vikings at the Wolstein Center will tip at 7 p.m., and it will be broadcast live on 570 WKBN, iHeart and ESPN+.

Gameday Info

• When: Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025 | 7 p.m.
• Where: Wolstein Center | Cleveland, Ohio
• Watch: ESPN+ | espn.com
• Listen: 570 WKBN | iHeart.com
• Stats: SIDEARM Stats
• Social: X | Instagram | Facebook

A Glimpse at the Guins

• The Penguins went 1-1 in two home games last week, beating NKU 75-66 and falling 67-61 to Robert Morris. YSU completed the regular-season sweep of the Norse as the conference schedule placed the second game against NKU before the Penguins played Cleveland State and Oakland, which is YSU's opponent on Sunday.
• Sophia Gregory is the reigning Horizon League Freshman of the Week this week, and she has been one of the league's top freshmen over the past seven weeks. Gregory averaged 12.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 2.0 assists last week, and she is averaging 8.7 points and a team-leading 7.2 rebounds for the season.
• ?Jewel Watkins scored 21 points in both games last week, and she ranks eighth in the league in scoring (14.1 ppg) and fifth in 3s per game (2.2). Watkins is one of 10 newcomers on this year's squad under first-year head coach Melissa Jackson.
• Jackson was an assistant coach at Cleveland State during the 2023-24 season as the Vikings won 29 games and captured the league's regular-season title. YSU redshirt-junior Faith Burch spent the first three seasons of her career at Cleveland State and was part of 59 victories over two active seasons.
• Fifth-year senior Malia Magestro has scored at least 15 points in three straight games, and she is averaging career highs of 11.6 points and 2.2 assists. Magestro is one of four returners from last year's squad.
• Youngstown State leads the Horizon League in 3-point field-goal percentage defense (.303), and it ranks second in blocks per game (3.5) and rebounding margin (plus-2.4). The Penguins are also among the top five in scoring defense, turnover margin and turnovers forced.
• YSU is 43-28 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.
• With three season-ending injuries and other players dealing with bumps and bruises, YSU has used seven different starting lineup combinations this season. Ten of the 14 players on the roster have started at least once this season.
• 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.

Youngstown State vs. Cleveland State

A Win Would...

• Give YSU a 9-11 overall record, a 4-6 mark in Horizon League contests and a 2-8 record in games away from Youngstown.
• Improve YSU's all-time record against Cleveland State to 46-38.
• End a four-game slide against the Vikings.
• Be YSU's first at the Wolstein Center since 2022.
• Give Head Coach Melissa Jackson her 81st career win, her ninth at Youngstown State and her first over Cleveland State.

Milestone Watch

• Faith Burch will reach 1,000 career minutes in her third minute on Thursday. She is six assists from 50 in her career.
• Malia Magestro needs 10 3-pointers to become the fifth Penguin to reach 200.
• Haley Thierry has 98 career field goals, two away from 100.
• Jewel Watkins is closing in on her 150th career 3-pointer, needing three to reach the milestone. She is also approaching 1,000 career points with 966 to her credit entering Thursday's contest. Watkins needs 13 free throws to reach 200, and her next rebound will be her 150th, and her next start will be her 50th.

Scouting the Vikings

• Cleveland State is the defending Horizon League regular-season champions and the preseason conference favorites, and the Vikings are currently third in the standings with a 7-2 record. CSU has the top overall record at 15-4, and both of its league losses have been by three points.
• The Vikings are a veteran squad with four players averaging at least 10.4 points per game. Senior guard Mickayla Perdue leads the league with 20.4 points per game, and junior post Jordana Reisma averages 15.8 points while leading the country with a .694 field-goal percentage. Perdue and Reisma rank first and second in the league in free-throw attempts. Destiny Leo averages 11.3 points and leads CSU with 53 3-pointers, and Sara Guerreiro ranks among the top three players in the conference in assists and rebounds per contest while averaging 10.4 points.
• As a team, Cleveland State ranks 11th in the country with a .480 field-goal percentage and 16.37 free throws per game, and the Vikings lead the league in those categories as well as rebounding margin, field-goal percentage and field-goal percentage defense. The Vikings are second in the league in both scoring offense (76.1 ppg) and defense (60.2 ppg).

Series History and Matchup Notes

Overall: Youngstown State leads 45-38
Jackson: 0-2 // Home: 28-11 // Away: 13-26 // Neutral: 4-1
Current Win Streak: 4 by Cleveland State

• Youngstown State has played Cleveland State more than any other program in its history and owns a 45-38 record against the Vikings in a series that dates back to Jan. 19, 1976. The Northeast Ohio rivals have played each other at least once in each of the first 48 seasons of YSU's intercollegiate program.
• Youngstown State has a slim 9-8 edge in the series since the 2016-17 season, and YSU is 14-12 against the Vikings going back to 2012-13. Most recently, the Penguins won the final decision of the two-game set in 2020-21 and swept the regular season in 2021-22 for a three-game winning streak. The Vikings have swept the season series the past two years.
• Youngstown State is 28-11 all-time against CSU at Zidian Family Arena and 4-1 on neutral floors, and the Vikings are 26-13 in Cleveland. YSU has won 11 of the last 15 encounters on Rosselli Court dating back to the 2011-12 season.
• Burch and Jackson Make Cleveland Return: Youngstown State redshirt junior Faith Burch spent the first three years of her collegiate career at Cleveland State before transferring to YSU. The Warren, Ohio, native redshirted in 2021-22, and she was part of 59 wins with the Vikings during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 campaigns. YSU head coach Melissa Jackson spent the 2023-24 season at Cleveland State as an assistant coach before being named the leader of the Penguins on March 14, 2024, two days after CSU played in the Horizon League Championship.

Last Time vs. Cleveland State

• The Penguins went toe-to-toe with Cleveland State when the teams last played at Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center on Feb. 27, 2024, but came one bucket short in a 56-53 loss.
• YSU trailed by as many as eight in the fourth quarter, and they went on an 8-1 run to get within one on a 3-pointer by Dena Jarrells with 2:54 remaining. The Penguins trailed by three and had possession with 11.4 seconds left, and Malia Magestro's tying attempt from well beyond the arc went off the rim.
• Shay-Lee Kirby led YSU with 14 points, and she hit a shot from beyond half court at the end of the third quarter that gave the Penguins a 39-38 lead with 10 minutes left. Jarrells finished with 13 points, and Magestro scored 10 points and set a new career high with six assists.
• Cleveland State outscored YSU 18-4 on foul shots, which helped the Vikings overcome a .293 field-goal percentage.

Recapping Robert Morris

Game Summary

• Youngstown State made a frantic comeback attempt in the fourth quarter but came up short in a 67-61 loss to Robert Morris on Saturday at Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center.
• The Colonials shot 53.1% from the field for the game, and they went 8-for-11 in the third quarter to extend a four-point halftime lead to a 15-point advantage. Youngstown State scored the first 10 points of the fourth period, and the Penguins got as close as four in the final 90 seconds but couldn't finish the climb.
• The lead changed hands three times in the first period, and YSU held five-point advantages at 11-6 and 15-10 in the quarter. Givon had a steal and layup in the final seconds to cut the margin to three, and RMU outscored the Penguins 16-9 in the second quarter.
• YSU's final lead of the game came when Watkins buried her third three of the half to make it 20-19 at the 6:19 mark of the second quarter. Jada Lee, who scored 11 points off the bench for RMU, scored on the next possession to spark a 9-0 run over the next 3:40.
• The Colonials led 28-24 at halftime, and they scored the first seven points of the third period to take a 35-24 lead. The margin was double digits for the final 7:49 of the quarter, and it was 52-37 heading into the fourth.
• Jewel Watkins had a three-point play on YSU's second possession of the fourth, and the Penguins scored on four straight possessions during their 10-0 run that got them within 52-47 with 6:44 on the clock. The margin closed to four on an Erica King 3-pointer with 1:21 remaining, but RMU's Lee drew a blocking foul at the end of the shot clock on the next possession to get points and take 30 seconds off the clock. She made both attempts to push the lead to six and YSU got no closer than five.

Notes

• YSU scored 22 points combined in the second and third quarters, and it scored 24 in the fourth.
• Jewel Watkins scored a game-high 21 points behind four 3-pointers, and Malia Magestro scored 16 while Sophia Gregory had 10. That trio combined to score YSU's first 40 points in the game.
• Faith Burch was the first outside of that group of three on a basket with 8:42 left in the fourth quarter. Burch provided a huge spark in the second half, and she registered nine points and six rebounds in the fourth quarter.
• In addition to her 10 points, Gregory filled the stat sheet with nine points, two assists and a team-high two steals.
• Magestro moved into 19th place on YSU's career scoring list with her 16-point effort. Magestro was 4-for-8 from the field, 2-for-5 from beyond the arc and 6-for-6 at the free-throw line. She also recorded her 225th career assist and her 325th career rebound.
• Watkins' 21 points came with efficiency as she was 7-for-15 from the field overall and 4-for-9 from beyond the arc. Watkins was 3-for-3 from the free-throw line, and she is 15-for-16 at the charity stripe over her last three contests. Watkins added three assists and a block.
• RMU had 28 rebounds, which was the fewest among YSU's Division I opponents this season. The Penguins had a 34-28 edge in rebounds, and they scored 14 points from their 14 offensive rebounds.
• Robert Morris had a 36-20 edge in paint scoring, and the Colonials got 29 points from their bench. RMU outscored the Penguins 32-8 over the first three quarters, and YSU held a 12-4 advantage inside in the fourth. YSU's non-starters contributed three points, and the bench points came on Erica King's 3-pointer with 1:21 left in the fourth.

Up Next

• Youngstown State's next two games will be at home, starting with a contest on Sunday against Oakland. Tip against the Golen Grizzlies is set for 2 p.m., and the game ill be broadcast live on 570 WKBN and ESPN+.