The Youngstown State Penguins women’s basketball team (5-2) was ready to go from the opening tip in their 90-63 blowout road over the still-winless Akron Zips (0-7) on Sunday afternoon at James A. Rhodes Arena.
YSU got off to a hot start and scored the first five points of the day with a three from redshirt freshman Danielle Cameron and a layup from sophomore Sophia Gregory before freshman Corinne Reed recorded Akron’s first bucket with a three of her own at the 8:07 point. After that, YSU went on a 15-0 run that lasted 4:10 with a three-point play from Gregory, free throws and a layup from sophomore and Akron native Erica King, a jumpshot from redshirt freshman Sarah Baker, another layup from sophomore Hayden Barrier, a pair of made free throws from Florida Gulf Coast grad transfer Casey Santoro, and a putback bucket from Gregory. As a result, YSU led 20-3 and led by double digits for the rest of the day.
Akron ended their 5:43 scoring drought by “Zipping up” the next six unanswered points with three made free throws by Reed and a three from senior Maddie Vejsicky to get within 11 at 20-9, but that’s as close as Ryan Gensler’s squad would get from that point forward. In the second quarter, Youngstown State used a 6-0 run to grow their lead to 20 for the first time at 36-16 with a bucket by Santoro, made free throws from Barrier, and another basket from King at the 3:03 mark. Just like that, the Penguins were up 38-24 at recess.
In the third quarter, YSU led by as many as 24 on two different occasions and scored 34 points in that period alone, which is their most points in a quarter against any Division I opponent since 2016. In the quarter, the Penguins shot a staggering 78.6 percent (11-of-14) from the field, with 11 points coming from Gregory and eight points each coming from Baker and Barrier.
In the fourth quarter, YSU’s lead waddled up to 30 for the first time at 84-53 when Gregory scored her last bucket at the 5:29 point. Later on, the biggest lead of the afternoon was 32 at 89-57 following a triple by Cameron at the 2:05 stance.
Gregory recorded her first double-double as a sophomore as she led all scorers with 24 points and pulled down 10 rebounds while shooting an efficient 10-for-13 from the field and a perfect 4-for-4 from the free-throw line, while Santoro posted her first double-double as a Penguin with a dozen points and 10 rebounds. 16 points for Baker; 14 points and game-highs of five assists and four steals for King; and a career-high 12 points off the bench for Barrier. Cleveland State transfer Paulina Hernandez filled up the statsheet with five points, five rebounds, and four blocked shots in 16 minutes off the bench before fouling out late in the fourth quarter.
Youngstown State only made a poor 26.7 percent of their threes (4-of-15), but they made a good 55.9 percent (33-of-59) of their shots from the field and even sank in their first 19 foul shots before finishing an impressive 20-for-21 from the line (95.2 percent). YSU also recorded 50 of their 90 points in the paint and even outrebounded Akron 42-26.
Akron shot a poor 35.6 percent (21-of-59) overall from the field and 59.1 percent (13-of-22) from the charity stripe, but made a decent 40 percent (8-of-20) from the three-point line. Vejsicky and Walsh transfer Izzy Callaway led the Zips with 11 points each, while Reed had 10 points of her own.
Penguins by the numbers
• Sunday was their biggest victory at Akron since a 71-43 blowout on February 13, 1979
• Their 27-point win was their largest margin of victory against Akron since November 29, 2000 with a 89-61 victory at home
• The Penguins had their highest scoring game on the road in a little over a decade since their 96-77 win at Oakland on November 28, 2015
• YSU had their highest single-game point total in a non-conference road game since November 13, 2011 at Purdue Fort Wayne (91)
We’re Sorry, but Mrs. Jackson is for Real: One fun fact about Penguins second-year head coach Melissa Jackson is that she was an assistant at Akron for 10 seasons under Jodi Kest, the program’s all-time winningest coach (179). Jackson took over the reins after Kest resigned and not only spent five seasons as the woman in charge of the Zips (2018-23), but also coached current Wright State guard Olivia Brown when she was a freshman in the 2022-23 season.
Up next: Youngstown State will open up Horizon League play on the road against the Milwaukee Panthers on Friday, December 5 for a 7ET/6CT tip-off at the J. Martin Klotsche Center.
James Moon (CashApp): $JRMoon91
