Dayton, Ohio — Sarah Baker recorded career highs of 25 points and 11 rebounds, and Youngstown State's women's basketball team overcame a 15-point deficit to beat Wright State 78-67 in overtime on Wednesday at the Nutter Center.
The Penguins trailed 43-28 with seven minutes left in the third quarter before closing the period on a 15-6 run. YSU outscored the Raiders 17-11 in the fourth to force overtime, then went 5-for-7 from the field and 8-for-8 from the free-throw line in the extra session to outscore Wright State 18-7.
Youngstown State improved to 13-5 overall, surpassing its win total from last season, and 6-2 in Horizon League play. Wright State, which was 5-2 at home entering the night, dropped to 6-13 overall and 2-6 in league play.
The victory marked the first time the Penguins overcame a double-digit halftime deficit since Jan. 30, 2021, at Robert Morris, and it was their first overtime victory since Jan. 7, 2023, at Oakland.
Five Penguins scored in double figures, but it was Baker's night. The redshirt-freshman forward was 11-for-16 from the field and 3-for-3 from the free-throw line in her first career 20-point game, and she recorded her first career double-double with 11 rebounds. Baker also tied for the team lead with three assists. She scored 10 of YSU's 13 points in the second quarter as the Penguins didn't have their best on either end of the floor in the first half.
Baker got plenty of help in the second half as Youngstown State scored 54 points in the final 25 minutes, and her fellow posts were big components. Paulina Hernandez joined Baker in recording her first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, and Sophia Gregory finished with 13 points and six rebounds. Casey Santoro scored 18 points while going 9-for-9 at the free-throw line, and Danielle Cameron added 10 points.
Ellie Magestro-Kennedy scored 17 points to lead Wright State, which started five guards.
Gregory gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead on a free throw on their opening possession, and Baker's first two points gave YSU a 3-2 advantage with 7:47 left in the first quarter. Wright State went on a 10-2 run to take a 12-5 lead at the 5:03 mark, and it held the lead until Hernandez tied the score at 54-54 with 5:00 left in the fourth.
The Raiders led 14-11 at the end of the first period, and they limited the Penguins to one field goal over the final five minutes of the second period to extend their advantage to 35-24 at halftime.
Wright State led by 15 twice early in the third quarter at 41-26 and 43-28, and the margin was 45-31 before Santoro hit a 3-pointer at the end of the shot clock at the 4:59 mark. That was the Penguins' first triple of the night, and Cameron hit another on the next possession to cut the margin to eight. Those served as YSU's only two 3-pointers of the contest.
The Raiders pushed the margin back to 10 twice before Gregory and Baker scored the final four points of the quarter to bring the Penguins to within 49-43 heading into the fourth.
YSU held the Raiders scoreless for the first two minutes of the fourth, and a Cameron free throw cut the deficit to one possession at 49-46 with 7:59 left. Claire Henson's three-point play on Wright State's next possession gave the Raiders a 52-46 lead, but Baker answered with a three-point play less than 40 seconds later to make it a three-point game again. That was the last time the Penguins trailed by more than one possession in the contest.
Hernandez's three-point play tied the score at 54 with five minutes left, and she made two free throws with 3:51 remaining to give the Penguins a 56-54 advantage — their first lead since 3-2. Magestro-Kennedy and Baker traded buckets on the next two possessions to make the score 58-56 with 3:08 left, and a free throw by Wright State's Grace Okih accounted for the only points for nearly three minutes.
Gregory scored on the low block with 22.3 seconds left to put YSU up 60-57, and Magestro-Kennedy hit a corner 3-pointer with 18.1 seconds left to tie the game. Gregory's shot at the end of regulation was short, sending the Penguins to their first overtime contest of the season.
Erica King scored five seconds into the extra session to give YSU a 62-60 lead, and the Penguins never trailed again. The only time the score was tied came when Okih and Santoro both made free throws following a YSU common foul and a Wright State flagrant foul with 4:33 on the clock, and Gregory followed Santoro's makes with a layup to put the Penguins ahead 66-62.
Wright State got within a possession twice at 66-64 and 70-67, but Gregory scored inside on a pass from Baker with 49 seconds left in overtime to give the Penguins a 72-67 cushion. YSU forced a turnover on the next possession, and Santoro and Baker went a combined 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in the final 40 seconds to seal the win.
Youngstown State returns home to host IU Indy on Saturday at 2 p.m. inside Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center.
