Women's Basketball Travels to Oakland Eying Michigan Sweep

Fresh off a victory over Detroit Mercy, Youngstown State's women's basketball team will try to win back-to-back road games for the first time this season as it travels north to Oakland for a Saturday contest. The game against the Golden Grizzlies at OU Credit Union O'rena is set for 2 p.m., and the game will be broadcast live on 570 WKBN and ESPN+.

Gameday Info

Youngstown State logo Oakland Golden Grizzlies

When: Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025 | 2 p.m.
Where: OU Credit Union O'rena Hall | Rochester, Mich.
Watch: ESPN+ | espn.com
Listen: 570 WKBN | iHeart.com
Stats: SIDEARM Stats
Social: Instagram | X | Facebook

A Glimpse at the Guins

YSU had its best shooting game of the season on Thursday night in its 67-59 victory at Calihan Hall. The Penguins shot 53.1% overall and at least 46% in all four quarters, and they led for the final 31:25. The win snapped a seven-game streak in road contests.
YSU is playing perhaps some of its best basketball of the season as it heads to Rochester. The win over Detroit Mercy followed a stretch of three games where the Penguins lost two games in overtime and another contest by five. The Penguins are 10-17 overall and 5-12 in conference play, and they are one game behind Oakland in the league standings and within two games of five teams with three games remaining in the regular season.
Making her first start since Dec. 28, Haley Thierry took advantage of her opportunity on Thursday by scoring a career-high 18 points in the win over the Titans. She added six rebounds and three steals to set the tone for an aggressive approach that saw the Penguins hold a 39-28 rebounding advantage and outscore the Titans 44-30 in the paint.
Thierry is one of four returners on the team, and she and Malia Magestro have nine combined years of experience in a YSU uniform. Magestro scored 10 points against the Titans and moved into second place on YSU's all-time 3-pointers list with 210 in her career.
Sophia Gregory continued to boost her resume to be the conference's top freshman by by posting 19 points and 12 rebounds for her second consecutive double-double. She has the only four double-doubles by a freshman in the league this season, and she leads all conference freshmen in points, rebounds, blocks and steals per game.
Gregory is one of 10 newcomers on the team, and transfer Jewel Watkins is the Penguins' top scorer at 14.4 points per game. She had scored at least 13 points in nine straight games before being slowed to seven in Thursday's win. Watkins ranks seventh in the conference in scoring, and she and Magestro are both in the top five in 3s per game.
Melissa Jackson, the ninth coach in program history, is 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 45-34 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. Oakland

A Win Would...

Give YSU an 11-17 overall record, a 6-12 mark in Horizon League contests and a 3-9 record on the road this season.
Allow the Penguins to sweep the regular-season series with Oakland.
Be YSU's sixth straight over the Golden Grizzlies and its seventh straight win at OU Credit Union O'rena.
Give Head Coach Melissa Jackson her 83rd career win, her 11th at Youngstown State and her third overall victory against Oakland.

Milestone Watch

Sophia Gregory is three blocks away from breaking YSU's freshman record for blocks in a season. She is currently second with 28. Jen Perugini holds the record with 30 in 2001-02. Gregory needs two steals and two blocks to become the 10th Penguin to have 30 blocks and 30 steals in a season.
Malia Magestro is two assists shy of 250 for her career, and she needs 10 steals to reach 100. She is 34 points away from 1,300, which would move her up to 13th on YSU's career scoring list.
Jewel Watkins needs four more assists to reach 100 in her career, and she is nine steals shy of 100. She's also approaching 500 career rebounds, needing 17 to reach the milestone, and she is 11 points away from 1,100. Watkins is 10 points from 400 this season.

Scouting the Golden Grizzlies

Oakland is 8-18 overall, 6-11 in Horizon League games and 4-6 on its blacktop court. The Golden Grizzlies were last in action on Wednesday, and they fell 60-53 at Wright State for their fifth consecutive loss. Oakland had a big 71-68 win over Cleveland State to start January, but it is 2-11 since.
Oakland ranks second in the Horizon League in steals with 9.8 per game, and the Golden Grizzlies are fourth in blocks per game and turnover margin. Oakland ranks 10th in the conference in both scoring offense and defense, averaging 59.7 points offensively while surrendering 72 on defense.
The Golden Grizzlies have a high-scoring tandem in the backcourt as Maddy Skorupski averages 15.9 points and Macy Smith averages 12.8. They both rank among the top nine players in the league in scoring, and they have combined for nearly 47% of Oakland's field goal attempts this season. Smith leads the team with 54 3-pointers and ranks sixth in the conference in 3s per game, and Skorupski leads the league and ranks 12th in the country with 3.04 steals per game.

Series History and Matchup Notes

Overall: Youngstown State leads 20-15
Home: 10-9 // Away: 9-6 // Neutral: 0-0 // Jackson (career): 2-1
Current Win Streak: 5 by Youngstown State

Youngstown State holds a 20-15 edge in the 35-game history of the series that dates back to the 1998-99 season. Oddly, each team has a better record on the road in the series than on their respective home floors. YSU is 10-9 against the Golden Grizzlies at Zidian Family Arena Beeghly Center, but it is 9-6 on the road in the series. The Penguins have won six straight meetings at the OU Credit Union O'rena dating back to Feb. 1, 2018.
YSU has won five straight meetings overall in the series since Oakland eliminated the Penguins from the Horizon League Tournament in 2022, and the Penguins are 11-4 since 2018.
The programs were both members of the Mid-Continent Conference for three seasons from 1998-99 through 2000-01, and they have been members of the Horizon League together since 2013-14. YSU has a 17-9 record in the series since Oakland joined the league.

Last Time vs. Oakland

Jewel Watkins scored her 1,000th career point to highlight an impressive offensive performance by the Penguins in a 73-56 victory in Youngstown on Jan. 26.
Watkins scored a game-high 22 points, her 19th giving her 1,000 in her career, and the Penguins went 10-for-18 from 3-point range. Watkins was 4-for-8 from long distance, and Magestro made four of her five 3-pointers in the second half.
YSU led 21-20 with 5:09 left in the second, and the Penguins scored the final 13 points of the half. Watkins scored seven points in a three-possession stretch during that run as YSU built a 34-20 halftime edge. The Penguins led by double digits for all but 52 seconds in the second half.
Youngstown State outrebounded Oakland 37-22 and made eight more 3-pointers than the Golden Grizzlies. Madison Royal-Davis had eight steals, which helped Oakland score 19 points off turnovers.

Last Time at Oakland

Youngstown State led for more than 39 minutes and had all five starters scored in double figures in an 85-79 victory at Oakland on Feb. 8, 2024. YSU shot 55.2% from the field while going 9-for-22 from 3-point range.
YSU scored the first six points of the game and held the upper hand the rest of teh half. The Penguins led 41-31 with 2:10 left on the second-quarter clock and 42-36 at halftime.
Oakland's only lead was 57-56 with a minute left in the third following a 16-4 run, but YSU regrouped to take a 60-57 lead heading into the fourth. The Penguins scored 10 straight points in the fourth to increase their cushion.
Malia Magestro scored 18 points in the game, while Haley Thierry finished with 10 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals.

Recapping Det??roit Mercy

Game Summary

Haley Thierry scored a career-high 18 points, and Sophia Gregory recorded her fourth double-double to lead Youngstown State to a 67-59 win over Detroit Mercy on Thursday night.

In her second start of the season, Thierry scored seven points in the first quarter to set the tone and help Youngstown State end the quarter on a 9-0 run. The Penguins went on to lead for the final 31:25 of the night.

Thierry finished 8-for-9 from the field while making her only attempt from 3-point range, and she added six rebounds and three steals. Gregory finished with 19 points, her most in a conference game this season, and 12 rebounds while going 9-for-13 from the field.

The Penguins shot a season-high 53.1% from the field, and they did most of their scoring inside with 44 points in the paint and 11 free throws. YSU was an efficient 4-for-11 from 3-point range, and its zone defense limited the Titans to five makes in 23 attempts from beyond the arc.

An 11-3 run gave Detroit Mercy its largest lead of the game at 11-5 with 6:23 left in the first. Youngstown State answered with a 7-0 burst as part of a larger 16-4 run over the final 4:16 of the period. YSU did not trail after Thierry's three-point play with 1:25 left in the first made the score 17-15.

A 9-0 run in the second quarter gave the Penguins their first double-digit lead at 32-21 with 3:47 on the clock, and YSU held a 35-29 advantage at halftime. The Titans got as close as 39-37 three minutes into the third quarter, but that was the last time the score was within one possession. Gregory scored for the Penguins 26 seconds later, and YSU got its lead back to nine at 52-43 on a Jewel Watkins 3-pointer with a minute left. Youngstown State's lead was 52-45 heading into the fourth, and the Penguins extended their lead to as many as a dozen in the fourth.

Notes

Youngstown State at least 50% from the field in a game for the first time since its win on Feb. 14, 2024, at Wright State. YSU shot 56.3% and made nine field goals in the first quarter, and it followed that by shooting 46.2%, 60% and 50% in the next three periods.
YSU's top three scorers, Sophia Gregory, Malia Magestro and Haley Thierry, combined to go 20-for-27 from the field.
The Penguins had just 11 attempts from 3-point range, which was a season low. YSU made a triple in each quarter, and Watkins led the team with two makes.
Eight of the nine Penguins who appeared scored, and eight different players had an assist.
Every YSU starter played more than 28.5 minutes, and three played more than 34.
Youngstown State scored 44 points in the paint, which its highest total against a Division I opponent this season. The previous high was 42 against Wright State on Feb. 13.
YSU won for the first time this season while being outscored off turnovers. The Penguins were ?0-13 previously. YSU was minus-10 in turnover margin, and the Titans held a 26-17 edge in points off turnovers.
The Penguins were plus-11 in rebounding margin, which was their third-best result in a Horizon League game this season.
Youngstown State won on the road for the first time since beating Northern Kentucky 56-47 on Dec. 7. It was the Penguins' seventh straight victory on Dick Vitale Court at Calihan Hall.
Starting forward Faith Burch did not play for the first time this season, missing the contest with a lower-body injury.
Gregory made seven of her first nine attempts from the field while finishing 9-for-13. Her 19 points were her most against a Horizon League opponent this season, following the 17 she scored against IU Indy. Gregory has averaged 18 points and 11 rebounds over her last two contests.
Magestro scored in double figures for the fifth straight game, and she made a 3-pointer for the 11th straight contest.
Xoe Rosalez scored five points, her most in a game since Feb. 6. She added three assists for her sixth straight game with at least two helpers.
Bella Samz tied her career high with two steals. It was her first game with multiple steals against a Division I opponent.
Thierry set a new career high with 18 points, surpassing the 16 she had at Robert Morris on Dec. 3, 2023. She also made eight field goals in a game for the first time in her career. Thierry's .889 field-goal percentage was the best performance by a Penguin this season.
Jewel Watkins was held below 13 points for the first time since Jan. 9. She finished with seven points on two 3-pointers and a free throw. It was her 16th consecutive game with a 3-pointer.

Up Next

Youngstown State will begin the final week of the regular season at Robert Morris on Wednesday. The contest from the UPMC Events Center in Moon Township will start at 7 p.m., and it will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and 570 WKBN.