Youngstown State's run in the Postseason WNIT continues on Friday as it hosts Marshall in the Super 16. Tipoff against the Thundering Herd inside Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center is set for 6:30 p.m., with live coverage on ESPN+, 570 WKBN and iHeartRadio.com.
Gameday Info
Youngstown State vs. Marshall
 
Tickets, Promotions & Fan Information
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Advance tickets for Friday's game are available online through YSUsports.com or at the YSU Athletic Ticket Office in Stambaugh Stadium. The ticket office and gates inside Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center will open at 5:30 p.m. on Friday. All seats are $15 apiece, and Penguin Club Courtside Coaches Club members, courtside seat holders, and season ticket holders will have until 9 a.m. on Friday to purchase their seats. Any unclaimed tickets will be released to the general public at that time.
Tickets for Youngstown State students will be provided free, courtesy of sponsorships with Medical Mutual and Combine Brothers.
Promotions
- Script Penguins baseball hat giveaway for the first 150 YSU students, courtesy of Capriotti's Sandwich Shop and Penguin City Beer
- Free pizza for the first 300 YSU students, courtesy of Fox's Pizza Den
- $4Â White Claw for all fans 21 and over while supplies last
Game Preview
After receiving a first-round bye in the tournament, the Penguins beat Maryland Eastern Shore 61-42 in a second-round game on Rosselli Court on Tuesday. It was Youngstown State's first victory in the WNIT since 2013 and its first win in any postseason tournament in 10 years. Four Penguins scored in double figures against the Hawks, and Danielle Cameron made four 3-pointers in the third quarter as YSU turned a 24-17 halftime lead into a 47-29 advantage heading into the fourth. Youngstown State, which hadn't played in two weeks, shot 51.2% from the field over the final 38:20 after shaking off the initial rust.
The Penguins are now 25-9 overall and have secured their second 25-win season in program history. Youngstown State has 13 more wins than it did in 2024-25, its first under head coach Melissa Jackson, and only three teams in the country have a better win improvement from last season. The Penguins are playing their best basketball of the season, having won 12 of their last 14 games dating back to Jan. 25, and they reached the championship game of the Horizon League tournament for the first time in their 25 years in the conference. Friday's contest will be the latest in the calendar that YSU has played in its 51-year history, and it will be a program-record 35th game this season.
YSU's improvement has been driven by defense and balanced scoring. The Penguins rank in the top 25 nationally in scoring defense, field-goal percentage defense, 3-point field-goal percentage defense and blocks per game. Offensively, six players average between 7.5 and 11.9 points per game. Casey Santoro, a sixth-year point guard who was named to the All-Horizon League Second Team, leads YSU in points and assists and paces the conference in minutes. Four underclassmen have joined Santoro in the starting lineup in every game — Sophia Gregory, the league's Defensive Player of the Year, All-Freshman Team selection Sarah Baker, Erica King and Cameron.
A Win Would…
- Advance YSU to the Great 8 of the WNIT.
- Give the Penguins two wins in a single postseason tournament for the first time since the 2016 WBI.
- Be the Penguins' third WNIT victory in program history.
- Be YSU's sixth postseason tournament victory at the Division I level.
- Be YSU's seventh straight win over Marshall.
- Give the Penguins a 26-9 record and just their second season ever with at least 26 wins. The school record for wins is 28, set in 1997-98.
- Improve YSU's record at home to 13-4 this season.
- Give head coach Melissa Jackson her 110th career win, her 38th at Youngstown State and her first career victory over Marshall.
Milestone Watch
- Sarah Baker is two rebounds shy of 200 for her career and 10 points away from 400 this season.
- Sophia Gregory is eight steals away from 100 in her career.
- Paulina Hernandez is nine blocks away from 100 in her career.
- Casey Santoro is one point away from scoring 400 this season.
YSU's WNIT History
YSU is playing in the Postseason WNIT for the fifth time, all of which have come in the last 14 years. The Penguins are the Horizon League's automatic qualifier for the third time, joining the 2012-13 and 2021-22 teams. YSU was an at-large selection in 2014-15 and 2018-19.
The Penguins won their opening-round game in 2013, beating Indiana State 63-51 inside Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center. They snapped a four-game losing streak in the tournament with their 61-42 win over Maryland Eastern Shore on Tuesday.
Extended Season: Friday's game will be the latest in the calendar in program history, surpassing YSU's postseason games on March 23 in 2013 (at Toledo in the WNIT) and 2016 (at Louisiana in the WBI). The Penguins will also set a program record for games played in a season with 35.
Scouting Marshall
- Marshall is 24-9 overall and 8-5 on the road this season, and the Herd went 13-5 in Sun Belt Conference games. Marshall was the fifth seed in the Sun Belt tournament and was upset by WNIT participant South Alabama in its first game. MU's 66-53 win over UMBC on Monday was its first game in 17 days.
- The Herd ranks 13th in the country with 8.9 made 3-pointers per game while shooting 32.4% from beyond the arc. Marshall averages 72.5 points per game offensively, which would lead the Horizon League. MU also ranks 12th in the country with 12.1 steals per game, and it is 31st nationally in turnover margin at plus-4.4.
- VCU transfer Timaya Lewis-Eutsey earned Sun Belt Conference First Team, Sun Belt Conference Newcomer of the Year, and Sun Belt Conference All-Defensive Team honors, and she leads Marshall with 19.4 points per game. She ranks fourth in the country with 122 steals, and she ranks 14th nationally in free-throw attempts (219) and 27th in points (640). Meredith Maier and Peyton Ilderton have combined for 156 3-pointers, and Maier's 81 triples rank third on Marshall's single-season list behind two efforts from current YSU assistant coach Shayna Gore.
Series History and Matchup Notes
Overall: Youngstown State leads 13-4
Home: 6-1 // Away: 6-3 // Neutral: 1-0 // Jackson (career): 0-0
Current Win Streak: Six by YSU // Last 10 Meetings: YSU leads 7-3
Youngstown State is 13-4 all-time against Marshall in a series dating back to Feb. 3, 1978. The Penguins went 4-0 during the 1977-78 through 1980-81 seasons, and they were 9-4 when the teams played once over 13 consecutive seasons from 1988-89 through 2000-01. Friday will be Marshall's first trip to Youngstown since Nov. 23, 1999.
YSU vs. the Sun Belt: The Penguins are 19-12 all-time against current members of the Sun Belt Conference. YSU is 13-4 against Marshall, with all 17 meetings coming when the Thundering Herd were independent or members of the Southern Conference or the Mid-American Conference. YSU's last game against a current Sun Belt member was a 69-49 loss at Louisiana in the semifinals of the 2016 WBI.
Football History vs. Marshall: The two universities located less than 300 miles apart will always be linked in football. The teams played in three straight Division I-AA National Championship games from 1991 through 1993 in Huntington, and the Penguins won in 1991 and 1993 under head coach Jim Tressel.
Gore an All-Time Herd Great: YSU assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Shayna Gore is one of Marshall's best players in program history, playing from 2015-16 through 2018-19. Gore, a West Virginia native, ranks third in Herd history with 2,081 career points and is the school record holder with 303 career 3-pointers. Gore was a First-Team All-Conference USA selection as a senior in 2018-19.
Up Next
If Youngstown State beats Marshall, it will advance to the Great 8 of the WNIT to play Army West Point. The date and location of that game have not been announced.
