Youngstown State's women's basketball team will go for its third straight road victory and continue to fight for seeding in the upcoming league tournament as it heads to Robert Morris on Wednesday evening. Tipoff against the Colonials is set for 7 p.m. at the UPMC Events Center, and the game will be broadcast live on 570 WKBN and ESPN+.

Gameday Info

• When: Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025 | 7 p.m.
• Where: UPMC Events Center | Moon Township, Pa.
• Watch: ESPN+ | espn.com
• Listen: 570 WKBN | iHeart.com
• Stats: SIDEARM Stats
• Social: Instagram | X | Facebook

A Glimpse at the Guins

• After sweeping the Michigan road trip for the seventh straight time last week, the Penguins have fought their way back into contention for a first-round home game in next week's 2025 Barbasol Horizon League Women's Basketball Championship. YSU is in a three-way tie for eighth place with a 6-12 record against conference opponents, and the Penguins are just two games behind fourth place Robert Morris with two games left in the regular season.
• YSU had its best shooting percentage of the season in its 67-59 win at Detroit Mercy last Thursday, and it showed grit by winning without having its best day offensively on Saturday in a 52-51 victory at Oakland. Jewel Watkins scored 22 points and Sophia Gregory posted 16, and the Penguins got a defensive stop at the buzzer to preserve the win.
• YSU may be peaking at the right time as 2024-25 approaches March and postseason play. In addition to winning its second and third road games of the season last week, YSU was competitive at Green Bay to start the month and has a five-point loss and two overtime setbacks in February.
• Watkins leads the Penguins and ranks among the top five players in the Horizon League with 14.7 points and 2.2 3-pointers per game. The senior transfer is one of 10 newcomers on the team this season under first-year head coach Melissa Jackson.
• Gregory, one of seven freshmen on the roster, is the reigning Horizon League Freshman of the Week and a serious contender to be named the conference's Freshman of the Year. She has had three consecutive double-doubles, and she leads all conference freshmen in points, rebounds, blocks and steals per game.
• Malia Magestro and Haley Thierry headline YSU's returners, and they join Watkins as the program's three seniors in 2024-25. Magestro ranks 12th in the conference in scoring (12.0 ppg) and leads the Penguins in assists (2.4 apg), and she ranks among the program's top five all-time in career games, starts and minutes. Thierry had 18 points at Detroit Mercy and 11 rebounds at Oakland last week in her second and third starts of the season.
• 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 46-34 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 vs. Robert Morris

A Win Would...

• Give YSU a 12-17 overall record, a 7-12 mark in Horizon League contests and a 4-9 record on the road this season.
• Allow the Penguins to split the regular-season series with Robert Morris.
• Be YSU's fourth victory in the last five trips to the UPMC Events Center.
• Give Head Coach Melissa Jackson her 84th career win, her 12th at Youngstown State and her third overall victory against Robert Morris.

Milestone Watch

• Sophia Gregory is one block away from breaking YSU's freshman record. She is currently tied with Jen Perugini (Pair-uh-JEE-nee), who had 30 in 2001-02. Gregory needs one steal to become the 10th Penguin to have 30 blocks and 30 steals in a season.
• Malia Magestro needs 10 steals to reach 100. She is 31 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 five steals shy of 100. She's also approaching 500 career rebounds, needing 14 to reach the milestone.

Scouting the Colonials

• Robert Morris is celebrating Senior Day on Wednesday, and there are nine players on its roster listed as seniors or graduate students. Starting with its 67-61 win at Youngstown State on Jan. 18, the Colonials have won seven of their last 10 games and are in sole possession of fourth place in the Horizon League standings. RMU's only losses during the most-recent 10-game stretch have been to the top three teams in the standings - Green Bay, Purdue Fort Wayne and Cleveland State. RMU is 12-15 overall, 8-10 in league play and 7-7 at home under first-year head coach Chandler McCabe.
• The Colonials allow 62.1 points per game, which ranks fifth in the conference, while scoring 59.2 points offensively. RMU holds opponents to 39.2% shooting, which is the fourth-best mark in the circuit, and it ranks second in the league behind YSU with 3.4 blocks per game.
• Noa Givon leads RMU offensively with 9.8 points per game and 30 3-pointers, and she is one of four Colonials with at least 45 assists. Mya Murray is the team's top rebounder with 5.8 per contest, and she and Naomi Barnwell both have 22 blocks.

Series History and Matchup Notes

Overall: Youngstown State leads 24-9
Home: 14-3 // Away: 10-6 // Neutral: 0-0 // Jackson (career): 2-1
Current Win Streak: 1 by Robert Morris

• Youngstown State and Robert Morris have played 33 times, and YSU has won seven of the last nine meetings between the schools located approximately 60 miles apart. The Penguins have won seven of the 10 encounters since the Colonials joined the Horizon League in 2020-21. The teams split the two meetings last season with each squad winning on its home floor, and YSU is hoping for another split after dropping a 67-61 decision at Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center on Jan. 18.
• The teams played 14 times between 1983 and 1996, and they played just four times between 1996 and 2014. Two of YSU's wins since the series was rekindled have come in overtime, and the victory at the UPMC Events Center on Jan. 22, 2022, came in the final second when former Colonial Megan Callahan hit a go-ahead 3-pointer for the Penguins.

Last Time vs. Robert Morris

• Youngstown State made a frantic comeback bid in the fourth quarter but came up short in a 67-61 loss to Robert Morris on Jan. 18 on Rosselli Court.
• RMU shot 53.1% from the field for the game, and it went 8-for-11 in the third quarter to extend its four-point halftime lead to a 15-point advantage. The Penguins scored the first 10 points of the fourth quarter and were as close as four in the final 90 seconds.
• The Colonials had a 9-0 run in the second quarter, and they scored the first seven points of the third to go up 35-24. YSU had 22 points combined over the second and third quarters.
• Jewel Watkins scored a game-high 21 points, while Malia Magestro scored 16 and Sophia Gregory had 10. That trio combined for YSU's first 40 points of the game.

Recapping Oakland

Game Summary

Jewel Watkins scored 11 of her 22 points in the fourth quarter, and Youngstown State stopped Oakland on its final possession to hold on for a 52-51 win on Saturday at OU Credit Union O'rena.

Watkins scored YSU's final 11 points of the game, and she hit a big 3-pointer with 2:40 left on the clock to put the Penguins up 52-48. Macy Smith brought the Golden Grizzlies to within one on a 3-pointer with 56.9 seconds remaining, and Oakland had the ball last with a chance to tie the game.

Maddy Skorupski, who scored 15 second-half points for the Golden Grizzlies, drove left and was double-teamed at the left block by Sophia Gregory and Haley Thierry. The Oakland guard was forced to pass back toward the middle of the paint, and the ball was loose as the final buzzer sounded.

Watkins finished 7-for-18 from the field, but she was clutch when it mattered most and went 3-for-5 from the field and 4-for-5 at the free-throw line in the fourth quarter. Gregory provided 16 pionts and 11 rebounds, and Haley Thierry added 11 rebounds and four assists.

YSU led for more than 30 minutes in the contest, and it did not trail from the 4:17 mark of the first quarter until Skorupski's three-point play with 3.7 seconds left in the third quarter. The Penguins led 17-10 after a quarter and 29-22 at halftime before the Golden Grizzlies held a 14-6 scoring edge in the third to take a 36-35 lead.

Gregory made two free throws 24 seconds into the fourth quarter to put YSU up 37-36, and the margin was within two points until Watkins' 3-pointer gave the Penguins their 52-48 lead with 2:40 left. In between, Watkins had a big steal that led to a transition layup that put YSU up 47-45, and she went 2-for-2 at the free-throw line with 3:12 on the clock to make the score 49-48.

Notes

• All 52 of Youngstown State's points came from its starters, and all five starters played at least 32 minutes.
• For the second consecutive game, YSU attempted just 11 3-pointers, which is a season low. Jewel Watkins and Malia Magestro were the only two players to have an attempt from beyond the arc.
• Oakland attempted just six free throws, which was the fewest by an opponent this season.
• There were 12 lead changes and eight ties, which were the most in a victory this season.
• Previously, YSU's narrowest margin of victory was eight points. The Penguins were 0-6 in games that were decided by seven points or fewer.

• YSU was 1-15 when entering the fourth quarter with a deficit, 1-12 when scoring fewer than 60 points and 1-13 when being outscored off turnovers. The lone exception to all of those before Saturday as the Penguins' 56-47 victory at Northern Kentucky on Dec. 7.
• The Penguins improved to 10-2 when having a better field-goal percentage than their opponents.
• Youngstown State went unbeaten on the Detroit Mercy and Oakland trip for the seventh consecutive time dating back to the 2017-18 season.
• Abby Liber recorded two assists to tie for her high against a Division I opponent this season.
• Magestro distributed her 250th career assist as she continues to average a career-high in assists (2.4 per game). She made a 3-pointer for the 12th straight game.
• Xoe Rosalez tied her career high by making three field goals. She was 3-for-5 from the field and added a free throw for seven points. That was her most in a game since having seven against the Golden Grizzlies in Youngstown on Jan. 26.
• Bella Samz had two steals for the second consecutive game.
• Thierry's 11 rebounds were her most against a Division I opponent this season. She has had at least six rebounds in eight of her last nine games, and she has grabbed at least eight in five of those nine contests.
• Watkins tied her career high with four steals, and that matches the most by a Penguin this season. Her 22 points were her most in a road game this season. Watkins surpassed 1,100 career points and 400 points for the season. She also extended her streak of games with a 3-pointer to 17.

Up Next

• Youngstown State will host Cleveland State on Saturday in its regular-season finale. It will be Senior Day for the Penguins, and Malia Magestro, Haley Thierry and Jewel Watkins will be recognized before the game. The game will start at 2 p.m., and it will be broadcast live on 1390 WNIO and ESPN+.