Youngstown, Ohio — Sophia Gregory scored at the buzzer to force overtime, and Youngstown State's women's basketball team pulled away in overtime for a memorable 69-62 victory over Robert Morris on Wednesday night.
The Penguins trailed 53-51 with 0.4 seconds left and had possession for a sideline out-of-bounds play by their bench. Danielle Cameron made the perfect pass to Gregory, a 6-foot-2 forward who ran toward the basket from across the floor, caught the ball in mid-air and released it on the right side of the rim over two RMU defenders. The ball hit the rim three times before falling through the rim to tie the game and send Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center into a frenzy.
Youngstown State scored eight of the first nine points of overtime to go up 61-54 with 2:30 remaining, and the Penguins led by at least five the rest of the way.
YSU's Sarah Baker led all players with 21 points on 8-for-14 shooting from the field, and Gregory finished with 15 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. The sophomore forward from Alliance, Ohio, added three blocks, and 10 of her points came in the fourth quarter and overtime.
Myriam Traore led RMU with 20 points, and Bailey Kuhns scored two of her 13 points to give RMU a 53-51 lead with 0.4 seconds left to set up Gregory's heroics.
In a battle of two of the Horizon League's top defenses, the score was deadlocked at 11 at the end of the first quarter. Neither team led by more than three points until Aislin Malcolm gave RMU an 18-14 lead midway through the second quarter. That came in the middle of a 13-3 run for the Colonials that put them ahead 24-16 with 1:21 left before halftime, and RMU led 24-18 at the break.
Baker had 10 of YSU's 18 points at the intermission, while Gregory had five as the posts combined for 15 of the 18 points. The Penguins were 2-for-11 from the field in the second quarter as they were limited to 18 points in 20 minutes, but they scored 51 over the next 25.
RMU led by six three times in the third quarter, the last time coming at 34-28 on a bucket by Traore with 3:06 left. Dacia Lewandowski scored on a cut to the basket with the shot clock winding down to stop a field goal drought of more than three minutes, and Youngstown State took its first lead of the second half at 36-34 on a 3-pointer by Cameron with 37 seconds remaining.
Malcolm scored for RMU on the final possession of the quarter, and the Colonials started the fourth by making their first five field-goal attempts. Noa Givon's layup at the end of that stretch put the Colonials ahead 49-42 with 6:08 remaining. That ended up being RMU's last field goal until Kuhns gave the Colonials the lead with under a second remaining.
With the Penguins down seven with less than three minutes left, YSU started to chip away at the deficit. King scored on a step-through with 2:37 on the clock, and Baker made a free throw with 1:45 remaining to bring the Penguins within 51-47. Casey Santoro then grabbed an offensive rebound and scored with 43.8 seconds left to get YSU within a possession, and the Penguins got a stop defensively.
On the next possession, Gregory rebounded Santoro's miss and was fouled on a putback attempt with 13.2 seconds left. She calmly made both free throws to tie the game, and Kuhns scored to give RMU a 53-51 lead. Two-tenths of a second were added to give YSU 0.4 seconds on the clock, setting up the pass from Cameron to Gregory.
Kuhns split two free throws on RMU's first possession of overtime, but the Penguins answered with eight straight points to go up 61-54. Gregory started the run by tipping in her own miss, and she found Baker in transition for a layup with 3:31 on the clock to push the lead to 57-54.
King made two free throws with 3:09 left, and Baker followed with a turnaround jumper with 2:30 remaining as YSU extended the lead to 61-54. The margin was at least five the rest of the way, and Santoro helped preserve the lead by going 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in the final minute. Gregory added two free throws for the final tally.
Youngstown State begins a three-game road stretch on Sunday at IU Indy. Tipoff at The Jungle is set for 1 p.m., and the contest will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and 1390 WNIO.
