In a game that was full of runs, the Youngstown State Penguins women’s basketball team (19-8, 12-5 Horizon) ended up on top with a tough 69-65 win at IU Indy (11-14, 7-9 Horizon) on Sunday afternoon. It’s YSU’s first win at The Jungle since Feb. 8, 2018 after losing eight straight in that vicinity.
With the Jaguars already winning the previous matchup in Youngstown, YSU got its revenge and still remains in second place in the Horizon League standings with just three games left in the regular season.
Casey Santoro led the Penguins with 17 points, nine of which came in the first quarter. Erica King scored 15 points, 10 of which were in the opening quarter as well. Paulina Hernandez scored seven of her 12 points in the fourth quarter while also pulling down seven rebounds and blocking a career-high five shots off the bench. Sophia Gregory and Sarah Baker scored nine points apiece, with Gregory also recording six rebounds and five assists.
The Penguins finished shooting 48.1 percent (26-of-54) from the field overall, 42.9 percent (6-for-14) from three-point range, and 91.7 percent (11-for-12) at the foul line. IU Indy shot 41.5 percent (22-of-53) on field goals, 35.3 percent (6-of-17) on threes, and 71.4 percent (15-of-21) on free throws.
Nevaeh Foster led the Jaguars with a game-high 20 points, while Destini Craig finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds, plus two blocks. The Smith twins, Olivia and Hailey, finished with 11 points each.
Youngstown State led 12-6 on Danielle Cameron’s layup at the 6:19 mark before King scored YSU’s next five points to cap off a 7-2 run that gave the road team a 17-8 advantage at the 5:21 mark. YSU’s lead reached 10 for the first time at 23-13 with 3:08 to go following back-to-back triples from Santoro and King, and the Penguins would end up holding a 26-18 advantage at the end of the quarter. As a unit, Youngstown State made 11 shots in 13 attempts from the field in that period.
IU Indy made its first five field-goal tries and opened the second stanza on a 16-3 run to go up 34-29 at the 5:57 mark, with Foster scoring eight points in that span. But Gregory scored the next five points to ignite a 10-1 run for YSU that put them ahead 39-35 after King’s third three-pointer of the day with 3:29 remaining.
IU Indy scored the next seven points of the last 2:55 of the second quarter to take a 42-39 lead into the locker room, courtesy of a free throw from Foster, two foul shots from E’Zaria Adams, a game-tying free throw from Sydney Bolden, and a go-ahead three from Foster before halftime. The Jaguars extended that run to a dozen unanswered points by scoring the first five points of the third with Foster’s three-point play and Craig’s turnaround shot to make it 47-39.
However, YSU went on an 11-0 run to go up 50-47 at the 5:22 mark. Cameron started it off with a three and finished it with a fastbreak layup, along with a pair of Santoro free throws and back-to-back layups from Gregory and King.
Kate Bruce’s Jaguars then went on to score 11 of the next 13 points over a 6:37 span that stretched into the early stages of the fourth quarter, with Hailey Smith scoring the first five points of the final stanza for the 58-52 advantage.
After a three-point play by Baker cut the margin to one with 8:12 left, Hailey Smith answered back with a bucket on IU Indy’s next offensive possession to make it 60-55.
After another Baker layup, IU Indy led 63-57 with 6:11 to go on a three-point play from Foster, and that ended up being the Jaguars’ final field goal of the day.
Santoro’s three-point play started an 8-0 run for YSU, which cut the deficit down to one possession at 63-60 at the 5:27 mark. Then, Hernandez went on a two-way rampage by scoring the next five points to give the Penguins the 65-63 lead. She started it with a putback off a Santoro miss to make it a one-point game and then denied Olivia Smith at the other end for her fifth block of the day. Hernandez then dove to the floor off her own miss and tipped the ball back to Cameron, who passed it back to Hernandez for a three-point play.
Neither team scored until Craig made two free throws to tie the game at 65-all with 1:12 left. Hernandez was then fouled by Craig with 35.5 seconds to go and went perfect at the stripe to put the Penguins ahead 67-65.
Hernandez was whistled for her fifth foul while trying to block Craig’s shot at the other end and fouled out with 27.4 seconds remaining, but Craig missed both of her free throw attempts before Olivia Smith then grabbed an offensive rebound and called a timeout. Baker’s defense in the paint forced an Olivia Smith miss. Cameron then grabbed the rebound and called a timeout with 6.4 seconds left to advance the ball to the frontcourt. Cameron inbounded the ball to Gregory, who was fouled by Olivia Smith with 4.8 seconds remaining and nailed both free throw attempts to put the cream cheese on the bagel.
Up next: Melissa Jackson and her Penguin women will start a big two-game road swing on Thursday at Northern Kentucky for a 6 p.m. tip-off at Truist Arena.
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