Rochester, Mich. — Youngstown State outscored Oakland by 19 points in the second half to rally for a 72-60 victory over the Golden Grizzlies on Saturday afternoon at OU Credit Union O'rena. The victory gave Youngstown State head coach Melissa Jackson her 100th career win.
Youngstown State improved to 16-7 overall and 9-4 in Horizon League play, and it will enter February in second place in the conference standings. Oakland, which had won four of its last five games, dropped to 8-14 overall and 5-7 in league play.
In a season where "grit" has been the team's defining theme, the Penguins certainly lived up to the characteristic on Saturday. YSU didn't take its first lead of the game until the final minute of the third quarter, and it went 10-for-12 from the field in the fourth quarter to pull away for its eighth road win of the campaign.
Sophia Gregory led the Penguins in the scoring column with 15 points, and Casey Santoro posted 14 points, eight rebounds and six assists in a well-rounded effort. Erica King scored 12 points, Sarah Baker finished with 11, and Paulina Hernandez and Hayden Barrier scored seven points apiece off the bench.
Makenzie Luehring led all scorers with 20 points, and Layla Gold scored 18 for Oakland. They helped the Golden Grizzlies start 6-for-12 from 3-point range as they built a 10-point lead in the first half, but YSU limited Oakland to 1-for-12 from long distance over the final 26 minutes.
Youngstown State also surrendered just one offensive rebound and committed just two turnovers in the second half.
The game was tied 2-2 after a Baker jumper at the 8:18 mark before Gold hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Golden Grizzlies an 8-2 lead. They held the upper hand for 28 minutes, and their advantage grew to 17-8 on Gold's three-point play with 2:51 left in the opening quarter.
YSU had five turnovers in the first quarter as Oakland led 19-12 through 10 minutes, and the teams played even in the second quarter. The Golden Grizzlies led by 10 twice before halftime, at 32-22 and 34-24, and a layup by Santoro with 43 seconds remaining brought YSU within 34-29. Angie Smith scored for Oakland to give it a seven-point lead, and Luehring was a few tenths of a second too late in burying a half-court heave that would have put the Golden Grizzlies up 10 at the break.
Youngstown State chipped away at the deficit throughout the third quarter, starting by holding Oakland without a field goal from Lianna Baxter's jumper at the 8:44 mark to Smith's bucket nearly four minutes later. Barrier made a free throw with 6:12 left that brought the Penguins within a possession at 40-37, and her 3-pointer at the 4:45 mark cut Oakland's lead to 42-40. Santoro made it a one-point game on a free throw with 4:11 left, and YSU took its first lead of the afternoon on King's 3-pointer with 20 seconds left.
Jasmine Dupree-Hebert hit a 3, Oakland's only triple of the second half, at the third-quarter buzzer to put the Golden Grizzlies up 47-46. Luehring then scored on the first possession of the fourth quarter, but YSU scored on five straight possessions during an 11-0 run to take control of the game.
Gregory started the run with back-to-back buckets in the paint, and King's three-point play put the Penguins up 53-49 with 7:55 on the clock. Gregory followed with another bucket, and Baker's jumper with 6:49 remaining extended the lead to 57-49. YSU was ahead by at least five the rest of the contest.
Youngstown State's lead reached double digits for the first time at 67-57 on a Santoro layup, and the Penguins held the Golden Grizzlies to three points over the final 3:40 to preserve the lead. The largest advantage was 72-58 on a Baker bucket that brought her to double digits with 25 seconds left, and Dupree-Hebert scored for Oakland on its last possession for the final tally.
YSU shot 53.2% from the field for the game, and it was 7-for-18 from 3-point range. Youngstown State finished with just nine turnovers, and it outrebounded the Golden Grizzlies 18-10 in the second half. Oakland shot 37.3% overall, making three fewer field goals and six fewer free throws than the Penguins.
Youngstown State will begin February with a three-game homestand on Thursday against Milwaukee. The Penguins will wear special jerseys as part of Autism Awareness Night inside Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center, and the game will tip off at 6:30 p.m.
