Youngstown State begins a week of playing two Mid-American Conference opponents from Ohio by hosting Toledo on Tuesday inside Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m., and the game will be broadcast live on 570 WKBN, iHeartRadio and ESPN+.
Gameday Info
 
Tickets, Promotions & Fan Information
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Advance tickets for Tuesday's game are available online through YSUsports.com and at the Stambaugh Stadium Athletic Ticket Office. The ticket office and gates inside Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center will open at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
Season tickets are available by calling the YSU Athletic Ticket Office at (330) 941-1978.
Promotions
- Medical Mutual/Faculty and Staff Appreciation Night |Â Ticket Voucher
- Attendees will receive a YSU Clear Bag, courtesy of Varsity Club Youngstown, Medical Mutual, and 21 WFMJ
- Toy Drive - Fans who bring a new toy or kid's book to benefit Toys for Tots will receive a voucher for a free ticket for any future home game
Game Preview
The Penguins are 4-1 heading into the final week of November, following a 64-50 win at Mercyhurst on Thursday. YSU is 3-0 against non-Power Four conference opponents, with two of those victories coming on the road. That's an encouraging sign after the Penguins finished 3-13 away from Youngstown last season, and YSU's three nonconference wins over Division I teams is already more than its total from 2024-25.
In their most recent victory, guards Casey Santoro and Erica King set or matched career highs in scoring during YSU's 64-50 win at Mercyhurst on Thursday. Santoro scored 21 points, matching the career high she set in 2022 while playing for Kent State, and was named the Horizon League Player of the Week. King surpassed her previous best of 16 points from last season by scoring 19. Santoro is the team's top scorer with 12.6 points per game, while King's average has jumped to 9.4 points after posting 33 points in her last two games.
Balanced scoring has been a trend so far this season, as six Penguins are averaging between 12.6 and 6.0 points per game, and five different players have at least tied for the team lead in scoring. Of those six players, King is the only one who played in more than 10 games for the Penguins last season. Santoro and Paulina Hernandez are Division I transfers, Sarah Baker and Danielle Cameron are coming off medical redshirts, and Hayden Barrier played in 10 contests.
Toledo is making its first trip to Youngstown since 2007, and the teams are playing for the first time since the 2013 Women's NIT. The Rockets are 1-3 following a 70-61 loss at Northern Kentucky on Wednesday.
Tuesday will be YSU's last home game until it hosts Wright State on Dec. 16. That will be the Penguins' third straight Horizon League game to begin December.
A Win Would...
- Give the Penguins a 5-1 record to start the season, which would be their best record through six games since the 2021-22 team started 8-0.
- Improve YSU's home record to 3-0.
- Give YSU its first victory over Toledo since it beat the Rockets in Youngstown on Nov. 29, 2007.
- Give Head Coach Melissa Jackson her 89th career win, her 17th at Youngstown State, and her second overall victory over Toledo.
Milestone Watch
- Faith Burch is approaching 400 career rebounds, needing 13.
- Casey Santoro is approaching 1,000 career points with 968. She's also four 3-pointers away from 150 in her career.
A Glimpse at the Guins
- YSU is in its second season under head coach Melissa Jackson in 2025-26. The Penguins started 4-0 last season and are 4-1 to start her second campaign. Jackson is very familiar with Toledo after spending 15 years on the coaching staff at Akron. She was the Zips' head coach from 2018-23.
- The Penguins are 7-3 in their last 10 games going back to last season.
- Youngstown State's 2025-26 roster features 12 student-athletes, including nine returners and three newcomers. Bella Samz is the longest-tenured Penguin as she enters her third season with the program. YSU has two seniors — sixth-year guard Casey Santoro and fifth-year post Faith Burch — two juniors, four sophomores, three redshirt freshmen and one true freshman.
- Among YSU's top six scorers, Erica King is the only one who played in more than 10 games for the Penguins last season.
- Sophia Gregory returns after being named the Horizon League Freshman of the Year in 2024-25. She is the lone returner who averaged at least 22 minutes per game last season and was named to the Preseason All-Horizon League First Team. Gregory is the team's top rebounder at 8.2 per game.
- Among the nine returners, only Burch, Gregory and King played in more than 10 games and averaged at least 14 minutes per game for YSU in 2024-25.
- Santoro and Paulina Hernandez join the program as transfers, and Brooke Adkins is the lone true freshman. Santoro is the team's leader in points, assists and 3-point shooting through five games.
- Redshirt freshman Sarah Baker is averaging 9.4 points and was named the Horizon League Freshman of the Week to start the season. Danielle Cameron, who missed the final 29 games of 2024-25, is averaging 8.0 points and has made 11 3-pointers.
- YSU is averaging two more 3-pointers per game and shooting 6.5% better from beyond the arc compared with last season. Santoro and Cameron both have 28 attempts from 3-point range and are shooting a combined 42.9% from long distance.
- YSU was picked to finish third and received one of the 11 first-place votes in the Horizon League preseason poll.
Scouting Toledo
Toledo is 1-3 this season as it heads to Youngstown to conclude a stretch of three straight contests against Horizon League opponents. The Rockets beat Detroit Mercy at home on Nov. 16, and they fell 70-61 at Northern Kentucky on Nov. 19. Toledo's other two losses came to Mid-Major Top 25 opponents Troy and Gonzaga.
Faith Fedd-Robinson leads Toledo in scoring with 13.5 points per game, and she also has a team-best nine assists. Kendall Carruthers averages 12.5 points with a team-high four 3-pointers, and she has 10 steals in four games. She helps the Rockets average 9.3 steals per game while forcing 19.3 turnovers per contest.
Toledo was picked to finish second in the Mid-American Conference Preseason Poll. Carruthers, who the Penguins faced when she was at Saint Francis (Pa.) two seasons ago, was a Preseason First-Team All-MAC Selection.
Series History and Matchup Notes
Overall: Toledo leads 10-9
Home: 5-4 // Away: 4-6 // Neutral: 0-0 // Jackson (career): 1-8
Current Win Streak: 2 by Toledo
Toledo holds a 10-9 lead in the all-time series with Youngstown State, which dates back to Feb. 10, 1979. The teams have played periodically throughout their histories, and Tuesday will be the first regular-season meeting since the 2008-09 season. YSU was 3-1 against the Rockets from 1979-1982, and the teams split four meetings between 1988-92. Youngstown State and Toledo then played eight straight seasons from 1997-2004 with the Rockets winning five of those matchups, and each team won on its home floor in a home-and-home series during the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons. The Penguins and Rockets last played at Savage Arena on March 23, 2013, in the second round of the Women's NIT.
Last Time vs. Toledo
The season that started Youngstown State's recent success ended with a 61-43 loss at Toledo in the second round of the Women's NIT on March 23, 2013. The Penguins finished the 2012-13 season with a 23-10 record, their best at the time since 1997-98 and a 13-win improvement from the previous campaign.
Toledo, which went 29-4 that season, used one of the nation's top defenses to limit YSU's scoring opportunities and built an early 18-point lead. The Penguins cut the margin to 10 early in the second half, but the Rockets responded with key second-chance points to regain control. Brandi Brown led YSU with 10 points in her final game, capping a standout career with 2,079 points and a school-record 1,239 rebounds. Inma Zanoguera scored 24 points for Toledo. It was Bob Boldon's last game as Youngstown State's head coach.
Jackson's MAC Familiarity
YSU head coach Melissa Jackson is certainly familiar with Toledo's historic success in the Mid-American Conference and nationally at the mid-major level. Jackson spent 15 seasons at Akron from 2008-23, with the final five years as the Zips' head coach. She was on Akron's bench for 15 of the 16 seasons that Tricia Cullop was Toledo's head coach.
Recapping Mercyhurst
Game Summary
Casey Santoro matched her career high with 21 points and Erica King added a career-best 19 to lead Youngstown State to a 64-50 win at Mercyhurst on Thursday night. The Penguins led for nearly 38 minutes and closed the game on a decisive 15-2 run. Santoro went 6-for-11 with four 3-pointers and played all but 32 seconds, while King scored 13 of her points in the second half and finished 7-for-8 at the line. Sophia Gregory added nine points, and Danielle Cameron hit two 3s as part of an eight-point effort. YSU held Mercyhurst to 33.3% shooting and just two field goals in the fourth quarter. Lena Walz paced the Lakers with 16 points.
Notes
- Santoro and King had the two highest individual point totals by a Penguin this season, finishing with 21 and 19 points, respectively. Entering the contest, Sarah Baker's 16 points at North Dakota was the team high.
- Santoro's 21 points tied her previous career high of 21 at Akron on Jan. 5, 2022, when she was a sophomore at Kent State. Now a sixth-year senior, Santoro also notched her 250th career assist in Thursday's game.
- King surpassed 200 career points while scoring a career-high 19 points against the Lakers. King was 5-for-10 from the field and 7-for-8 from the free-throw line as she drew nine fouls. King also made her first two 3-pointers of the season.
- Sarah Baker registered five assists, a season high and one shy of her career high set last season.
- Paulina Hernandez recorded four blocks, the highest total by a Penguin since Sophia Gregory blocked four shots against Point Park on Dec. 21, 2024.
- YSU's starting five accounted for 63 of its 64 points, and subs combined for one point and five field-goal attempts.
- The Penguins trailed for just 50 seconds after Jenna Van Schaik's 3-pointer put Mercyhurst up 6-4 with 3:48 left in the first period. Santoro made her first of four 3s at the 2:58 mark, and YSU went on to take a 16-11 lead at the end of the quarter.
- YSU had its best free-throw shooting percentage in a game this season, making 14-of-18 from the line for 77.8%.
- It was a physical game in Erie as YSU was whistled for 21 fouls and Mercyhurst was charged with 26.
- YSU led for more than 37 minutes for the second straight game.
- The Penguins were 1-for-8 from the field to start, and they were 20-for-38 (52.6%) the rest of the game.
Up Next
Youngstown State's final game before the start of Horizon League play will be at Akron on Sunday at noon.
