Santoro Reaches 1,000 Career Points as YSU Women’s Basketball Wins Conference Opener

The Youngstown State Penguins women’s basketball team (6-2, 1-0 Horizon) never trailed in their Horizon League opener, and pulled away with a 68-56 win over the Milwaukee Panthers (2-8, 0-1 Horizon) at the J. Martin Klotsche Center under the Friday night lights.

In the first quarter, Melissa Jackson’s Penguins didn’t waste time making their presence felt. It started early when sophomore Sophia Gregory, the reigning Horizon League Player of the Week, blocked a layup off redshirt junior Jada Williams and dished a pass to fellow sophomore Erica King for the first bucket of the night 53 seconds in. Redshirt freshman Danielle Cameron was responsible for the Penguins’ next five points as she hit a three, then recorded an assist off a bucket from Cleveland State transfer Paulina Hernandez to make it 7-1 at the 4:48 mark. Later on, Florida Gulf Coast grad transfer Casey Santoro hit a three and assisted on a bucket from senior Faith Burch to give YSU a 12-3 lead with 2:26 to go. Then, Gregory dished out another assist on a fastbreak to redshirt freshman Sarah Baker to make it 14-4 with 17 seconds to go, before the quarter came to an end.

All four Milwaukee points in the opening period came from free throws: one from junior Jorey Buwalda, a pair from freshman Tierney Madigan, and another one from junior Izzy Pugh. Each team pulled down 10 rebounds and committed three turnovers, but YSU made 46 percent (6-of-13) of their shots as opposed to Milwaukee going 0-for-13 with an 0-for-7 three-point mark.

The Panthers missed 14 shot attempts through the first 11 minutes before they made their first field goal of the game at the 8:52 mark of the second quarter, a three from freshman Madison Fitzgibbon, which cut the lead in half at 14-7. At the end of the quarter, YSU’s King and Baker made back-to-back buckets before Milwaukee’s Rita Gomes – an Arizona Western transfer – hit a three to end the half and made it 28-18 at recess.

That triple from Gomes started an 8-0 run for Milwaukee as they opened up the third quarter ready to pounce with a layup from Buwalda and a three-point play from redshirt sophomore Payton Rechlicz, the coach’s daughter, to make it a 28-23 deficit at the 8:48 mark. After a bucket from Gregory, Gomes hit another trey to make it a two-possession deficit at 30-26 with 8:14 remaining in the third. Near the end of the period, Santoro converted a three-point play to make it a double-digit game at 50-40, after a foul from redshirt freshman Kendall Barnes, and reached 1,000 points for her NCAA career. Santoro, who began her collegiate career at Kent State, now has 1,009 points.

Milwaukee got within six at 54-48 in the fourth quarter, courtesy of back-to-back shots from Barnes and Madigan with 5:53 remaining, but that was as close as they would get.

Youngstown State outrebounded Milwaukee 35-32 and had a plus-two turnover margin (12-10). They shot a solid 51 percent (26-of-51) from the field, but they made only 26.7 percent of their threes (4-of-15) and 60 percent of their free throws (12-of-20). Santoro and King led YSU with 14 points each, with 11 points each coming from Gregory and Baker. Hernandez scored eight points and blocked three shots in just 13 minutes off the bench, while also hitting a pair of threes in the third quarter.

Gregory pulled down five rebounds and dished out five assists, and accounted for YSU’s first 11 points of the second half, though that was all of her scoring output. In addition, Baker pulled down seven rebounds of her own.

Kyle Rechlicz’s Milwaukee squad has now lost five straight games. The Panthers had an all-around terrible shooting performance, making just 37.5 percent (21-of-56) of their overall shots, 17.6 percent (3-of-17) of their triples, and 57.9 percent (11-of-19) of their freebies. Madigan led all scorers with a career-high 17 points – nine in the fourth quarter – and shot an efficient 7-of-8 from the field on her way to recording her third straight double-digit scoring game off the bench. Buwalda scored eight of her 11 points in the third quarter, while Gomes scored 10 of her own.

Both teams scored the same amount of points in back-to-back quarters: 14 in the second and 22 in the third.

Up next: Youngstown State will continue their Wisconsin road trip with a one-hour, 50-minute bus drive up north to face the Green Bay Phoenix – the defending undisputed Horizon League Champions – on Sunday, December 7 for a 12:30 PM ET/11:30 AM CT tip-off at the Kress Events Center.

James Moon (CashApp): $JRMoon1991