Youngstown State's women's basketball team will begin its longest stretch of road games since November this week with a pair of contests in Michigan. The streak of three consecutive road tilts will start on Thursday against Detroit Mercy at 7 p.m., and the game from Calihan Hall will be broadcast live on 570 WKBN and ESPN+.

Gameday Info

• When: Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025 | 7 p.m.
• Where: Calihan Hall | Detroit, Mich.
• Watch: ESPN+ | espn.com
• Listen: 570 WKBN | iHeart.com
• Stats: SIDEARM Stats
• Social: Instagram | X | Facebook

A Glimpse at the Guins

• The Penguins came up short in a pair of overtime contests at Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center last week in what was their only two home games in February. After Thursday's game at Detroit Mercy, YSU will play at Oakland on Saturday and at Robert Morris on Feb. 26.
• Youngstown State has lost its last three games by five points or fewer, the latest being a 73-68 overtime setback against IU Indy. The Penguins held a six-point lead with less than 30 seconds remaining, but IU Indy made three of its six 3-pointers in regulation in those 30 seconds to force the extra session. The Jaguars outscored YSU 13-8 in overtime.
• YSU enters this week 9-17 overall and 4-12 in conference play. The series of close losses hurt the Penguins' chances of a first-round bye in the Barbasol Horizon League Women's Basketball Championship, but they remain just a game-and-a-half behind the group that is in line to host a first-round game.
• Malia Magestro set a new school record and had the best free-throw shooting day by any Division I player in the country against IU Indy. Magestro, one of four returners on the team, made all 14 of her attempts while scoring 22 points. She also moved into a tie for second place on YSU's career 3-pointers list by upping her total to 209.
• Sophia Gregory continued to boost her resume as the conference's top freshman by posting 17 points and 10 rebounds against the Jaguars. She has the only three double-doubles by a freshman in the league this season, and she leads all conference freshmen in points, rebounds, blocks and steals per game.
• Jewel Watkins scored 14 points and made three 3-pointers against IU Indy, and she continues to rank among the league leaders with 14.7 points per game. The senior transfer, who is one of 10 newcomers on the squad, has scored at least 13 points in nine straight contests.
• Watkins ranks third in the conference with 2.2 3s per game while Magestro is fifth with 2.1, making YSU the only school in the conference to have two shooters ranking in the top five.
• Melissa Jackson, the ninth coach in program history, is in spending her 17th consecutive season in Northeast Ohio. The first-year Penguin has the highest winning percentage of any head coach in Akron history from her five seasons leading the Zips from 2018-19 through 2022-23.
• 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.
• YSU is 44-34 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 has enjoyed tremendous success at Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center. The Penguins have had a winning record at home in 11 of the last 12 seasons, and they are 75-33 on Rosselli Court since the start of the 2018-19 campaign. YSU is 8-6 on its home floor in 2024-25.

Youngstown State vs. Detroit Mercy

A Win Would...

• Give YSU a 10-17 overall record, a 5-12 mark in Horizon League contests and a 2-9 record on the road this season.
• Allow the Penguins to split two regular-season meetings with Detroit Mercy.
• Snap a seven-game skid on the road and a five-game losing streak overall.
• Be YSU's seventh straight at Calihan Hall.
• Give Head Coach Melissa Jackson her 82nd career win, her 10th at Youngstown State and her third in her career over Detroit Mercy.

Milestone Watch

• Sophia Gregory is four blocks away from breaking YSU's freshman record for blocks in a season. She is currently second with 27. Jen Perugini holds the record with 30 in 2001-02. Gregory needs three steals and three blocks to become the 10th Penguin to have 30 blocks and 30 steals in a season.
• Malia Magestro is three assists shy of 250 for her career, and she needs 10 steals to reach 100. Magestro will move into sole possession of second place on YSU's all-time list 3-pointers list with one more make.
• Jewel Watkins needs five more assists to reach 100 in her career, and she is 11 steals shy of 100. She's also approaching 500 career rebounds, needing 22 to reach the milestone, and she is 18 points away from 1,100. Watkins is 17 points from 400 this season.

Scouting the Titans

• Detroit Mercy is 13-11 overall, 7-9 in Horizon League play and 9-4 at home entering Thursday's game against the Penguins. The Titans were 10-2 for the season and 4-0 in league play following a win over IU Indy on Jan. 1, but they are 3-9 since. Detroit Mercy split two home games last week, beating Milwaukee 50-46 and losing 76-60 to Green Bay.
• The Titans rank second in the conference with 18.6 turnovers forced per game, and they are third in turnover margin and steals per game. Offensively, Detroit Mercy gets to the free-throw line 17.1 times per game, which ranks third in the conference. The Titans average 63 points per game while surrendering 68.3 points.
• Fifth-year senior guards Aaliyah McQueen and Emaia O'Brien both average 15 points per game to give the Titans one of the top-scoring duos in the conference. McQueen also leads the team with 7.2 rebounds per game, and she has team highs of 15 blocks and 45 steals. O'Brien is the team's top outside threat with 53 3-pointers, and she has a team-best 44 assists. McQueen, O'Brien and Makayla Jackson each have between 43 and 45 steals this season.

Series History and Matchup Notes

Overall: Youngstown State leads 29-25
Jackson: 2-1 // Home: 18-10 // Away: 11-15 // Neutral: 0-0
Current Win Streak: 1 by Detroit Mercy

• Youngstown State holds a 29-25 lead in the all-time series with Detroit Mercy, and the Penguins had won 10 straight meetings before the Titans won 59-50 at Zidian Family Arena in November 2023. Overall, YSU has won 11 of the last 13 encounters dating back to the 2017-18 season. The all-time series dates back to the 1982-83 campaign.
• YSU has won six straight meetings and eight of the last nine contests at Caliahan Hall dating back to the 2014-15 season. The Penguins won 54-49 on Feb. 10, 2024, on Dick Vitale Court.
• There was a stretch where the Penguins' and Titans' benches had close ties. Former Detroit Mercy head coach Bernard Scott was YSU's recruiting coordinator from 2008- 10, and former Titans assistant Tara Fleming played for the Penguins from 2001-05. Fleming (Fricke) is currently the color analyst on Detroit Mercy's ESPN+ broadcasts. Former Titan player and head coach Autumn Rademacher was an assistant coach at YSU during the 2019-20 campaign.

Last Time vs. Detroit Mercy

• Detroit Mercy shot 51.5% from the field and made 19 free throws over the final three quarters to rally for a 65-58 over YUS on Dec. 18 in Youngstown.
• The Penguins led 23-8 after the first quarter, and they were ahead for nearly 33 minutes in the game. YSU's advantage grew to 29-13 with 5:44 remaining in the second quarter on a Malia Magestro 3-pointer, but the Penguins made just two field goals the rest of the half and eight the rest of the game.
• Detroit Mercy's first lead came at 50-49 with 7:09 left in the fourth quarter on a driving layup by Aaliyah McQueen. The Penguins tied the score at 54 on another Magestro 3-pointer, but they were never able to reclaim the lead.
• McQueen finished with 24 points and nine rebounds, while Emaia O'Brien scored 20. O'Brien had nine of those points at the free-throw line, and Detroit Mercy was 21-for-28 as a team at the charity stripe.

Recapping IU Indy

Game Summary

IU Indianapolis made three 3-pointers in the final 30 seconds of regulation to force overtime, the Jaguars won 73-68 over Youngstown State on Saturday at Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center.

Malia Magestro scored 22 points for Youngstown State, and she delivered the best single-game performance at the free throw line in school history by going 14-for-14. She broke the previous record of 12-for-12, and she was the first Division I player in the country this season to go at least 14-for-14 from the free-throw line.

Youngstown State led 55-51 with 1:30 left after Gregory scored from on an offensive rebound, and Magestro went 2-for-2 from the free-throw line with 32.6 seconds left to push the advantage to 57-51. IU Indy was 3-for-20 from 3-point range at that point, and the Jaguars made three of their final four attempts in regulation and their only try from long distance in overtime.

Navaeh Foster hit the first one off an inbounds pass with 27.8 seconds remaining, and Davidson followed two Magestro free throws with a 3 with 18.8 seconds left to get the Jaguars within two at 59-57. YSU's Jewel Watkins split two free throws at 16.4 seconds remaining to get the margin to 60-57, and Foster hit the game-tying 3-pointer from about 26 feet away with 1.6 seconds left.

Magestro's 13th and 14th free throws put the Penguins up 65-62 with 3:37 left in overtime, but they went scoreless for almost three minutes as IU Indy went ahead 69-65 and never relinquished the lead.

IU Indy finished the game 22-for-23 from the free-throw line, while YSU was 19-for-28.

Notes

• Youngstown State played back-to-back overtime games for the first time in program history. YSU lost 78-76 to Wright State last Thursday.
• IU Indy's 22 free throws tied for the most by an opponent this season, and the Jaguars were an impressive 22-for-23 at the free-throw line. They were 8-for-8 in overtime.
• Youngstown State's 28 free-throw attempts were its most in Horizon League play and it second to only its 30 tries at Bucknell on Nov. 23.
• IU Indy's Katie Davidson scored 29 points, which matched the most by an opponent this season. Foster's five 3s were the most by an opposing player this season.
• There were 11 ties and 13 lead changes, which were both new highs for a YSU game this season.
• Sophia Gregory recorded her third double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds. She averaged 12.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in YSU's two games last week.
• Dacia Lewandowski returned to the lineup after missing three games recovering from a lower-body injury.
• Magestro's 14-for-14 performance from the free throw line broke the school record for most makes while shooting 100%. The previous record of 12 had been done three times, most-recently by Brandi Brown in 2011. Magestro also set YSU's record for most consecutive made free throws in a game, and she tied for the third-most makes in a game. Six Division I players have gone 13-for-13 in a game this season, but Magestro is the first to go at least 14-for-14. Only five other players regardless of division have gone at least 14-for-14 in a game this season.
• Magestro was the first Penguin to make at least 10 free throws in a game since Lilly Ritz made 11 against Wofford on Nov. 7, 2022, in the 2022-23 season opener.
• Magestro added two 3-pointers for her sixth straight game making two or more.
• Xoe Rosalez had two assists, giving her five straight games with at least two.
• Bella Samz registered three assists for the second straight game while grabbing two rebounds in 15 minutes. She played all but 13 seconds in overtime.
• Haley Thierry had a season-high four steals, and she scored five points in a 20-second stretch early in the fourth quarter to put the Penguins up 46-42 and force a Jaguars timeout. Thierry finished with six points, eight rebounds, four steals and three assists.
• Jewel Watkins scored 14 points to extend her streak of scoring at least 13 points to 10 games. She made three 3s, giving her multiple 3-pointers in 10 of her last 12 contests. She played at least 37 minutes for the fourth straight game and for the sixth time in the last seven games.

Up Next

• Youngstown State will stay in the same hotel and shift its focus to the northern suburb of Rochester for a Saturday contest at Oakland. Tipoff against the Golden Grizzlies at OU Credit Union O'rena is set for 2 p.m., anc the game will be broadcast live on 570 WKBN and ESPN+.