Youngstown State makes its annual Michigan trek for a pair of Horizon League games in Metro Detroit to conclude January, starting with a contest at Detroit Mercy on Thursday at 7 p.m. The game from Calihan Hall will be broadcast live on ESPN+, 570 WKBN and iHeartRadio.
Gameday Info
Youngstown State at Detroit Mercy
  
Game Preview
The Penguins hit the road coming off perhaps their best defensive performance of the season in a 61-38 win over Cleveland State on Sunday. Youngstown State held the Vikings, the Horizon League's top-scoring team, to their fewest points since 2019 and 34 points below their season average. Danielle Cameron made three of her five 3-pointers in the first period as YSU led 22-13 after a quarter, and the Penguins outscored the Vikings 14-2 in the second period to extend their lead to 36-15. The margin was at least 21 points throughout the second half as YSU opened the second half of Horizon League play with a quality victory.
Youngstown State heads to the Motor City with a 14-7 overall record and a 7-4 mark in Horizon League play. The Penguins are currently third in the conference standings as one of seven teams with between four and six losses in league play. If they can go 2-0 in Michigan this week, they would enter the final month of the regular season in second place.
The Penguins lead the Horizon League in scoring defense and field-goal percentage defense, allowing just 57.3 points per game while opponents are shooting 36.3%. YSU has also improved offensively from last season as it has already surpassed last season's overall win total and matched its Horizon League win total from 2024-25, its first season under Melissa Jackson.
Casey Santoro, a sixth-year transfer point guard, is YSU's top scorer this season with 12.6 points per game. She's had the same four players — Cameron, Sarah Baker, Sophia Gregory and Erica King — alongside her in the starting lineup every game this season, and those four players average between 8.6 and 11.1 points per game. Baker, YSU's second-leading scorer, has reached double figures in eight of her last 10 games, and Cameron has made a team-high 43 3-pointers. Gregory, a Preseason All-Horizon League First Team selection, ranks among the top 10 in the Horizon League in rebounds, blocks, steals and assists per game.
A Win Would...
- Give the Penguins a 15-7 record, which would be their best mark through 21 games since the 2022-23 team started 16-6. YSU would be 15-7 or better for the seventh time in the last 14 seasons.
- Give YSU an 8-4 record in Horizon League play, which would be its best start since 2022-23. The Penguins have been 8-4 or better six times since the 2012-13 campaign.
- Improve YSU's road record to 7-4 this season.
- Be YSU's second straight win overall against the Titans and its eighth straight victory at Calihan Hall.
- Give head coach Melissa Jackson her 99th career win, her 27th at Youngstown State, and her fourth career victory over Detroit Mercy.
Milestone Watch
- Sophia Gregory needs 12 rebounds to reach 400 in her career.
- Erica King is approaching 100 career assists, needing 12.
- Casey Santoro is eight rebounds away from reaching 450 in her career.
A Glimpse at the Guins
Team Notes
- YSU is in its second season under head coach Melissa Jackson. The Penguins are 14-7 overall and 7-4 in Horizon League play, and they have already surpassed last season's overall win total by two.
- The Penguins finished 7-13 in league play last season and were 4-7 through 11 games. They didn't collect their seventh league win until March 1.
- The Penguins posted an incredible 3.86 team GPA in the fall semester. YSU has had one of the top 25 team GPAs in the country in 14 of the past 15 seasons.
- YSU has used the same starting lineup of Sophia Gregory, Erica King, Sarah Baker, Danielle Cameron and Casey Santoro in every game this season. Gregory is the only player in the group who started more than eight games last season.
- While 73% of YSU's roster consists of returners, only Gregory and King played in more than 10 games and averaged at least 14 minutes per game for YSU in 2024-25.
- Seven different Penguins have scored at least 18 points in a game this season.
- YSU leads the Horizon League in scoring defense and field-goal percentage defense. It is also in the top five in scoring offense and field-goal percentage.
Player Notes
Sarah Baker is averaging 11.1 points and has reached double figures in eight of her last 10 games... Danielle Cameron is averaging 9.1 points with a team-high 43 3-pointers, the third-most in the conference... Baker missed YSU's final 22 games of 2024-25, and Cameron missed the last 29... Hayden Barrier is averaging 14.5 minutes, up from 6.3 last year... Sophia Gregory was the Horizon League Freshman of the Year in 2024-25 and was named to the Preseason All-League First Team... She ranks in the top 10 in the league in rebounds, blocks, assists and steals... Paulina Hernandez leads the HL and ranks 30th in the nation with 1.9 blocks per game... Erica King has already surpassed her freshman totals in points, assists, steals and rebounds... Bella Samz is the longest-tenured Penguin, now in her third season with the program... Casey Santoro, a sixth-year senior transfer point guard, leads the team in points, assists and minutes.
The Penguins held Cleveland State to 38 points on 29.2% shooting from the field. That was Cleveland State's fewest points since scoring 30 at Green Bay on March 6, 2019, CSU's first season under head coach Chris Kielsmeier. The Vikings had their lowest field-goal percentage since shooting 26.2% in the 2022-23 season opener at Iowa State.
Scouting Detroit Mercy
- Detroit Mercy is 4-16 overall, 2-9 in Horizon League play and 3-7 at Calihan Hall entering Thursday's game. The Titans are looking to snap a nine-game skid that began on Dec. 29, and they have dropped nine straight league games after starting the conference slate with impressive home wins over Cleveland State and IU Indy in December.
- Junior guard Makayla Jackson leads the Titans in scoring with 11.5 points and 2.0 steals per game, and graduate student Jasmine Edwards is averaging 11.0 points and ranks second in the conference with 8.1 rebounds per game from the post position. Aaliyah McQueen was a Preseason Horizon League First Team selection, but she has missed eight games this season and has not played since Jan. 8.
- The Titans attempt 20.2 free throws per game, which is the 51st-best average in the country this season. Edwards and Nisea Burrell have both been to the free-throw line at least 80 times. Detroit Mercy averages 62.2 points on offense while allowing 72.1 on defense.
Series History and Matchup Notes
Overall: Youngstown State leads 30-25
Home: 18-10 // Away: 12-15 // Neutral: 0-0 // Jackson (career): 3-1
Current Win Streak: 1 by Youngstown State
- Youngstown State holds a 30-25 lead in the all-time series with Detroit Mercy, and the Penguins have won 12 of the last 14 meetings dating back to the 2017-18 season. YSU won 10 straight encounters from the 2017-18 through 2022-23 seasons, and the teams have split the regular season in each of the last two seasons. The all-time series dates back to the 1982-83 campaign.
- YSU has won seven straight meetings and nine of the last 10 contests at Calihan Hall dating back to the 2014-15 season. Before 2014-15, YSU was 3-14 all-time in road games against the Titans. Detroit Mercy's wins in the last two seasons have been inside Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center.
Penguin Ties: Youngstown State assistant coach Kayla DeCriscio began her coaching career as a graduate assistant at Detroit Mercy in 2016-17, and she spent three seasons total with the Titans on Bernard Scott's staffs in 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2019-20. Scott was YSU's recruiting coordinator from 2008-10 before he went on to become Detroit Mercy's head coach in 2015. Tara Fricke (Fleming) played for the Penguins from 2001-05, coached the Titans alongside Scott and DeCriscio in 2016-17 and 2017-18 and 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
Haley Thierry scored a career-high 18 points, and Sophia Gregory recorded a double-double to lead Youngstown State to a 67-59 victory over Detroit Mercy on Feb. 20, 2025, at Calihan Hall. Thierry was 8-for-9 from the field, while Gregory finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds. The Penguins held the lead for the final 31 minutes, fueled by a 53.1% shooting performance. Youngstown State outscored the Titans 44-30 in the paint and used an efficient zone defense to hold Detroit Mercy to 5-for-23 from 3-point range. The Penguins closed the first quarter on a 9-0 run to take a 21-15 lead and stayed ahead for the remainder of the game.
Recapping Cleveland State
Game Summary
Despite an empty arena due to Winter Storm Fern, Youngstown State generated its own momentum to defeat Cleveland State 61-38 on Sunday inside Zidian Fmily Arena at Beeghly Center. The victory secured a regular-season sweep of the Vikings for the first time since the 2021-22 season.
Danielle Cameron led the Penguins with 17 points, sparked by three first-quarter triples as YSU took a 22-13 lead. Sarah Baker added 12 points, while Sophia Gregory flirted with a triple-double, recording 10 rebounds, nine points, and six assists.
YSU's defense was the story, forcing 23 turnovers and recording 15 steals. The Penguins held Cleveland State to just two points in the second quarter and limited them to 15 total points in the first half.
Notes
- The Penguins held Cleveland State to 38 points on 29.2% shooting from the field, the Vikings' lower point total since scoring 30 at Green Bay on March 6, 2019, their first season under Chris Kielsmeier. CSU also recorded its lowest field-goal percentage since shooting 26.2% in the 2022-23 season opener at Iowa State.
- The Penguins had 15 steals, their most against a Horizon League opponent since they had 15 against the Vikings in the conference tournament on March 5, 2012.
- The 38 points tied for the second-fewest YSU has ever allowed in a Horizon League game and the fewest since UIC scored 29 on Jan. 3, 2019. Cleveland State's two points in the second quarter were the fewest any opponent has scored against the Penguins in a second quarter and tied for the fewest an opponent has scored in any quarter. No Horizon League opponent had ever scored fewer than three points against the Penguins in one period.
- YSU blocked nine shots, marking just the eighth time it has blocked at least nine shots in a Horizon League game. The nine blocks were also the most in a Horizon League game this season.
- Sarah Baker recorded her 300th career point and 150th career rebound.
- Danielle Cameron tied her career high five 3-pointers and scored 17 points. It was the second straight home game in which Cameron made five triples. The redshirt freshman also surpassed 200 career points in the game.
- According to HerHoopStats.com, Sophia Gregory delivered the fourth stat line by a Division I player this season featuring at least 10 rebounds, six assists, three blocks and three steals. While tying her career high in assists, Gregory added nine points on 4-for-5 shooting from the field.
- Casey Santoro set a new career high with four steals, and she went over 100 career steals in the game.
Up Next
Youngstown State will play at Oakland on Saturday at 2 p.m. The game from OU Credit Union O'rena will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and 570 WKBN.Â
