The Youngstown State Penguins women’s basketball team (25-10, 15-5 Horizon) saw its historic season come to an end with a 72-46 loss against the Marshall Thundering Herd (24-9, 13-5 Sun Belt) in the Super 16 round of the 2026 WNIT under the Friday night lights at Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center.
Marshall made a solid 44.8 percent (30-of-67) of their overall shots and 75 percent (6-of-8) of their free throws, but they shot 24 percent (6-of-25) from downtown. Juli Fulks’ club held a 48-20 edge in points in the paint. They were led by VCU transfer Timaya Lewis-Eutsey’s game-highs of 20 points, four assists, and six steals. Meredith Maier scored 14 points and made four threes in nine attempts. Leyocha Marigney stuffed the stat sheet with 14 points, seven rebounds, and five blocks. Timberlynn Yeast scored a dozen points of her own and also pulled down seven boards.
Marshall outrebounded Youngstown State 43-35, but both squads each pulled down 16 offensive boards and committed 12 personal fouls apiece.
“Give Marshall a ton of credit,” Penguins head coach Melissa Jackson said regarding Marshall. “Obviously, watching them on film, you focus on their ability to shoot the three, and we knew we had to take that away. But then, they can really beat you off the bounce with Yeast and [Lewis-Eutsey]. [Lewis-Eutsey] is a hell of a guard. I thought Erica [King] did her best against her. They spread you out, and then they started slipping us on ball screens, and it was a tough guard for us. Then, you talk about their physicality and their rebounding. I don’t know if we’ve seen a complete team like that all year. Give them a ton of credit. They’re a really great team. Juli [Fulks] does a great job. This was another great opportunity, great experience for our group.”
YSU made just 29 percent (18-of-62) of its overall shots, 13 percent (3-of-23) of its threes, and a solid 70 percent (7-of-10) of its foul shots. Sophia Gregory finished with seven points, a game-high nine rebounds, four blocks, and two steals. Danielle Cameron scored nine points, including a pair of made threes, while Paulina Hernandez contributed five points, eight rebounds, and two blocks off the bench. Casey Santoro, in her final NCAA game, had seven points, and as many rebounds, and played the first 38:47 of the contest before checking out to a standing ovation with 1:13 left in the fourth quarter, ending her six-year collegiate career.
Sarah Baker was the lone Penguin in double-figure scoring with a dozen points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field. “I think it’s definitely a bittersweet feeling, because I think we definitely made history at Youngstown this year with our season and everything,” she said regarding YSU’s campaign. “I think that’s definitely something that we can definitely keep our heads up high and not dwell on this game because this game doesn’t represent what we did all year. It’s really sad losing Casey [Santoro]. She definitely was a big part of this program, changed a lot of stuff for us. It’s sad that it came to an end because it’s always really fun coming in with this group every day.”
Youngstown State finished the 2025-26 season with a 25-10 record, along with its second-highest single-season win total in school history. Marshall, who improved to 25-9, advanced to the Great 8 of the WNIT and will host Army on Monday.
Cameron’s first triple of the game gave the Penguins an early 5-2 lead at the 7:05 mark of the first quarter, and the two teams exchanged buckets, with three ties coming in that span, before Leyocha Marigney’s bucket put Marshall ahead by one at 12-11 exactly six minutes later. Gregory then made a SportsCenter highlight-like pass from beyond half-court to Baker for a bucket in transition to give YSU its final lead of the night at 13-12. Yeast then put up back-to-back buckets in the last 21 seconds of the opening period to put Marshall up 16-13.
Youngstown State stayed within two possessions for the first six-and-a-half minutes of the second quarter, and the margin was one possession on three different occasions. Santoro hit a deep triple, near the logo, at the 5:36 mark to make it a 23-20 deficit before Lewis-Eutsey scored five of the next seven points to make it 28-22 Thundering Herd. After an Erica King bucket with 3:45 to go, YSU was held scoreless the rest of the half. That allowed Marshall to go on an 8-0 run and take a 36-24 lead into the locker room, courtesy of two buckets from Marigney, another one from Yeast, and a pair of made free throws from Lewis-Eutsey. After that, Marshall led by double-digits for the rest of the way.
The Thundering Herd scored six unanswered points, on a bucket from Yeast and four straight tallies from Lewis-Eutsey, to end the third quarter with a 53-33 lead. They made three triples in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter, two from Maier and another one from Payton Ilderton, to extend the advantage to 27 and basically put the cream cheese on the bagel.
Notes:
– This contest also marked the first time since November 21, 2000, that the Penguins and Herd have ever faced off against each other, as well as Marshall’s first trip to Youngstown since November 23, 1999. YSU won 13 of its first 17 meetings with Marshall, including six straight.
– Youngstown State won 13 more games than in 2024-25, with only three other teams in the country recording better win improvements.
– The day before the game, it was announced that Jackson signed a contract extension to remain Penguins head coach through the 2030-31 season.
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