It is weird to say that a team has struggled in a place that had seen it go 5-2 while averaging over 96 points per game, good for third in the country. But entering the game against Northern Kentucky, Oakland had lost two straight home games and trailed by more than 25 points in both of them before losing each by double figures.
On Sunday, the Golden Grizzlies were able to get back on track in their own building.
“It’s funny how much things change over the course of a college basketball season,” Greg Kampe said postgame. “First five games in here we averaged over 100 points a game, and today we get back on track with our defense. That’s two games in a row now that we have won because of our defense.”
With the final score coming out to 76-65, it marked the second straight game Oakland has held an opponent to 65 points total. While both were impressive, against Purdue Fort Wayne there were 69 possessions of defense played while Northern Kentucky had 76 offensive possessions. The Norse only managed .85 points per possession, good for the second lowest by an Oakland Division I opponent this season.
“We may look back at that IU Indy game and say it’s the best thing that could have happened to us,” Kampe said. “We have locked in defensively.”
Oakland’s defense got a shakeup when big man Isaac Garrett went down, with Warren Marshall IV being used as the bottom defender of Oakland’s zone.
“The biggest thing for me is just being energetic, running up and down the court, making plays,” Marshall IV said of what has changed for him in the past few games. This performance netted eight points, four boards and two blocks.
Brody Robinson put up another big stat line. His 21 points and six assists led the team. Robinson also grabbed five rebounds. He discussed his recovery process from the flu postgame.
“The last few days were just trying to get my strength and weight back, I lost about eight pounds,” Robinson said. “I’m in the right building to be able to get back to where I needed to be with Terry [strength coach].”
There was not much working for either offense in the first half and the halftime score of 30-29 reflected that. Michael Houge was able to provide offense when the Golden Grizzlies did not have much else working. Houge finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds in 30 minutes of play. It is his second straight game with a double double.
Brett White II did not have his best shooting night, going 2-of-8 from deep, but managed to score 11 needed points. He also continued his rebounding tear, pulling down eight of them.
Buru Naivalurua had seven rebounds but was limited to nine points due to some foul trouble and some good defense. Ziare Wells did a bit of everything; he had seven points, six rebounds, five assists and three blocks.
Oakland notched its 10th league win with the result, moving to 10-3 in Horizon League play. While it sits behind Wright State at 10-2, the Golden Grizzlies are a game and half clear of Purdue Fort Wayne in third and a full three games ahead of Green Bay who is in fourth. Oakland also already swept Purdue Fort Wayne to win the tiebreaker with them and has beaten Green Bay on the road.
Next up is a trip to Cleveland to face a very hot Cleveland State team. The Vikings have won four in a row to climb back into the Horizon League picture at 5-7. Two-time reigning Horizon League Player of the Week Dayan Nessah is leading the charge for Cleveland State and will be at the forefront of Oakland’s gameplan. Oakland has lost three games in a row at the Wolstein Center, trailing by 20+ points in every game.
The game is Wednesday at 7 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN+.
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Cleveland State started the week at 7-14 overall and 3-7 in the Horizon League, but an impressive showing in the Cheesehead State now has the Vikings within striking distance of a top-five seed in the conference tournament.
CSU began its trip up north with a rematch against Green Bay (12-10, 7-4 HL) in front of 2,429 fans. Looking to get revenge against the Phoenix, CSU was at full strength with Josiah Harris and Preist Ryan available. Ryan got the starting nod with the regular lineup of Jaidon Lipscomb, Tre Beard, Dayan Nessah and Holden Pierre-Louis.
The Vikings jumped out to a 5-0 lead after Nessah buried a three but GB punched right back with a 9-0 run. Beard was able to stop the bleeding with a three of his own before both offenses went silent for over three minutes.
Lipscomb shattered the silence with his first two threes of the night on back-to-back possessions. Chevalier Emery (a Wisconsin product) also got in on the fun with a jumper and a three.
Former Phoenix Foster Wonders splashed a three to extend the lead to seven and the Vikings were rolling with just under five to play in the half. Emery buried another three followed by a Harris three as part of the 10-0 run that stretched the lead to 16.
Green Bay scored the last four points of the half, but the Vikings were up big 39-27. Both teams came out of the half hitting threes, but the Phoenix began to poke away at the deficit.
With free throws, steals and threes, Green Bay quickly got to within one score with 13:15 to play in the contest. After a timeout, Wonders nailed a three but GB would again fight back with their own three.
Lipscomb delivered the next great shot with a three and it looked as though the Vikings might finally pull away. Alas, four three-pointers and four minutes later had the score closer than most of the day: two points. Harris hit a jumper and finished a three-point play followed by a Lipscomb three and it was essentially over.
Both teams fouled a bunch in the waning minutes — GB to try to win, CSU seemingly by accident — and it never got within a possession again. A GB three with eight seconds left was negated by two Harris free throws to put the game in the win column for CSU, 89-82.
Key Takeaways:
The Phoenix went 13-for-27 behind the line. That’s very good. The Vikings one-upped them by going 16-for-29. Six Vikes hit threes, including Lipscomb with five.
CSU was +6 on the glass. Nessah led the way with nine rebounds but Harris’ presence cannot be overstated — he finished with seven).
The Vikings also put up 21 points at the line as both teams shot free throws very well. Three-point shooting combined with good foul shooting is a recipe for success.
The CSU defense, specifically the zone, was much better against GB this time around. They didn’t allow a lot of cuts into the paint and didn’t allow many open looks from deep. It was a big turnaround from the last meeting.
The Vikings had 20 assists on 26 baskets. They are sharing the rock and getting open looks constantly by playing low-high and making smart passes.
Moving a bit south, the Vikings were ready to take on Milwaukee (9-14, 5-7 HL) to attempt a sweep of the state.
The same five started for the Vikings with Pierre-Louis getting the nod over Harris and they got out to a 3-0 lead.
After only a few minutes, Wonders entered for Ryan, who only played five minutes in the game. The Panthers got on the board with two free throws to cut it to 3-2, but Wonders kept his hot shooting going with a three. Lipscomb also got three points but these were at the line after he was fouled.
Amar Augillard finally scored Milwaukee’s first field goal to cut the lead back to three before Pierre-Louis got all alone at the basket for a slam off a Beard pass. It was early, but the Vikings were ahead 11-6 at the first media timeout.
Nessah continued to surge in conference play with a great traditional three-point play at the basket and another nice shot off the glass. The Vikings doubled Milwaukee up 16-8 but Aguillard stopped the run with a three.
The real main plot point of the first ten minutes was challenges. Milwaukee and CSU both used challenges early. Milwaukee lost theirs and CSU won two on consecutive trips up the floor. Before even a fourth of the game had gone by, each team was out of challenges.
As would continue to happen all day, a three-point play by Milwaukee cut it to a two-point game and a great look for a lay-in tied it at 16. The Vikings quickly responded with a Lipscomb three and a great shot from Emery after losing the ball.
Josh Dixon, who torched the Vikings in Cleveland a few weeks ago, hit a three to cut it back to two points, but an insane pass by Pierre-Louis to a cutting Emery put the Vikings on top 23-19 at the under-eight minute timeout.
ANOTHER three-point play for Milwaukee cut the deficit to one but ANOTHER Pierre-Louis to Emery assist stopped the Panthers in their tracks. Wonders added a three to go back up by six, but the Vikings couldn’t pull away.
Pierre-Louis fouled Dixon on a made three to cut it back to two points, but Nessah was the next Viking to stretch the score with two free throws and a great putback.
Beard and Lipscomb got in on the action with threes surrounding a Milwaukee three as neither team was showing any signs of giving up. Beard hit a subsequent three with about ten seconds left in the half and CSU clung to a 44-39 lead at halftime.
The Panthers came out roaring with a 4-0 run to cut the game to one point before the Vikings could take a breath. Lipscomb wanted to make sure the game didn’t get too close and hit back-to-back threes to go up by seven.
Emery’s three-point play extended the lead to eight but again, Milwaukee’s three cut it to five. A technical foul on Dixon gave Lipscomb two free throws, and made one before he hit his fifth three of the game.
Nessah mesmerized the crowd with a beautiful spin and lay-in off the glass to go up nine and Emery nailed a three after an offensive board, and suddenly the lead was up to 12. Milwaukee would respond for the hundredth time with a 6-0 run but a mental mistake by the Panthers gave Harris three free throws with one second left on the shot clock.
Milwaukee wasn’t done, and a three to go along with free throws cut into the deficit. Minutes later, it was 70-69 and the crowd was on their feet. Both teams traded threes and free throws, highlighted by an Emery three bouncing on the rim multiple times before falling through.
The Vikings were still up six with about two minutes to go and Milwaukee couldn’t make a free throw, but that didn’t matter as the Panthers got an offensive board and hit a three to make it a one possession game again.
After Nessah made two free throws, at the 10.2 seconds mark, Harris was given a flagrant one foul for elbowing a Panther. Milwaukee made both free throws and then hit a crazy three — courtesy of Dixon — to tie the game with basically no time left.
Somehow, the Vikings got the ball in quickly and Lipscomb was fouled from behind. It looked as though the Phoenix either thought they were still losing or just got too aggressive. He sank both foul shots and the Vikings didn’t allow the Panthers to get the ball for the last 1.3 seconds. It was wild, but the Vikings escaped 90-88.
Key Takeaways:
The Vikings didn’t shoot that great from deep (14-for-36), but the high volume and shooting 50% from the field overall allowed them to still score 90. Nessah and Emery were able to get to the basket anytime they wanted.
Nessah had a double-double (19 and 13) plus six assists. He continues to improve and grow into his own. He looks like a real number one option any time down the court.
Lipscomb went 5-for-9 from three. Any possession when the Vikings needed to respond, he came through. Having numerous three-point threats knocking them down at the same time is making the Vikings offense impossible to defend. Add in the inside threat of Nessah, and it’s all opening up.
The flagrant on Harris was certainly an interesting call. The replay wasn’t completely definitive on if his elbow connected with the Panther and a flagrant one was maybe a bit much. Added together with the teams using three total challenges in such a short period, the referees were definitely…something.
The Vikings responded every time they needed to and they now are on a four-game winning streak. With Harris back and the defense coming together, they’re a different team than a month ago.
The Vikings (9-14, 5-7 HL) will face second-place Oakland (14-10, 10-3) at the Wolstein Center before heading to IU Indy (6-18, 2-11 HL) on Saturday. They have a chance to pull into a top-five spot in the conference with a pair of wins.
In Other News:
Former Viking Tristan Enaruna signed a two-way contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers. He made his first NBA appearance on Sunday and collected two points, two boards and an assist.
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Talking about Green Bay in these power rankings has become a little bit like a sports media personality discussing their dinner, because really, how much is there to say about the same brick of ramen that they ate yesterday, last week, and last month? The Phoenix are now 13-0 in Horizon League play after a pretty comfortable 66-52 home victory over Wright State on Wednesday, behind a 20-10 double-double by conference player of the year candidate Jenna Guyer. Given that the two teams tied for second place are 9-4, and for the mathematically challenged, GB’s magic number to clinch the program’s 24th HL regular season title is now down to four. It won’t be an easy path there, however; after a pretty comfortable seven-game stretch, the Phoenix face consecutive road games against Robert Morris, Youngstown State, and Cleveland State.
Outside of Green Bay, there isn’t a team in the conference that hasn’t experienced both boom and bust during the league schedule. However, in the spirit of how power rankings are intended to function, Purdue Fort Wayne is deserving of the second spot right now, by virtue of the strongest recent boom period. The Mastodons have won four consecutive contests, including on Tuesday against Robert Morris, when a stellar fourth quarter separated a close game into a 60-46 PFW triumph. With Alana Nelson bogged down by foul trouble and Rylee Bess limited to three points, Lili Krasovec emerged with a monster effort: 24 points on 11-for-14 shooting, seven rebounds, and three blocked shots, to decisively win the matchup against the Colonials’ talented front line. Nelson and Bess returned to form in a blowout of Detroit Mercy on Sunday, combining for ten threes and 42 points.
After a pair of moderately-concerning losses a couple weeks ago, Youngstown State has bounced back nicely with a trio of consecutive victories, most recently including a sweep of the Detroit-area trip. Sniper Danielle Cameron established a new career high with 19 points on Thursday to fuel a 69-53 result against Detroit Mercy, including a 5-for-11 effort from three-point range. Two days later, the Penguins were pushed quite a bit by resurgent Oakland, and actually trailed by seven points at halftime, but dominated the later stages of what became a solid 72-60 road victory. YSU and Purdue Fort Wayne, it should be noted, have separated juuust a bit from the rest of the top-half pack, with matching 9-4 HL records. Robert Morris sits one game behind at 8-5, while Cleveland State and Northern Kentucky are each 7-6.
Cleveland State has been waiting all season for a big conference road win, and the Vikings finally grabbed one on Saturday with a 69-61 conquest at Northern Kentucky. Izabella Zingaro was nearly unstoppable, matching her career high with 25 points (including a one-woman 9-0 run in the fourth quarter), and establishing a new one with 15 rebounds. Just as encouraging as Zingaro’s play, however, was Colbi Maples, who has returned to her MVP-caliber form over the last week. She matched Zingaro’s total with 25 points against NKU, and offered 20 points and a season-high six assists to a mid-week home win over Milwaukee. The idea that Cleveland State got 50 of its 69 points on Saturday from two players, and scored exactly six bench points over the week’s two games, is a bit of a concern, but all in all, the CSU roller coaster is headed up once again.
It could probably be said that Robert Morris has just as strong of a resume as anyone in the conference, outside of Green Bay. Though the Colonials are a game behind Youngstown State and Purdue Fort Wayne in the standings, their season series with the Mastodons ended in a split after Tuesday’s loss in the Gates Sports Center, and RMU won in its only shot at the Penguins so far. So, pretty objectively, Chandler McCabe’s group is as deserving of being called the HL’s second-best team as anyone else. That status is thanks, in no small part, to Bailey Kuhns and Ava Leroux, both of whom were absolutely dominant in a clutch victory over IU Indianapolis on Sunday, the Colonials’ first ever in The Jungle. Leroux scored a career-high 21 points on 7-for-7 shooting (including three and-one plays), while Kuhns added 20 tallies.
Rather abruptly, following a seven-game winning streak that announced Northern Kentucky as a force within the top half of the standings, the Norse have now lost three straight, a skid that places that status in some jeopardy. Saturday’s home defeat against Cleveland State was particularly damaging, as NKU will now lose a head-to-head tiebreaker against the Vikings, a situation that could very realistically force Northern Kentucky on the road for the first round of the Horizon League tournament. Regardless, Mya Meredith was outstanding for the hosts, including 17 points (on 7-for-11 shooting) and three steals, offering the spark behind a third-quarter rally that nearly shifted the outcome. Given that the Norse’s Wisconsin trip is looming, Tuesday’s home game against Oakland feels like close to a must-win.
Oakland missed out on a major statement victory when it let a second-half lead against Youngstown State on Saturday slip away, but the Golden Grizzlies still had plenty to say three days earlier. That evening, OU logged a 64-61 home win over IU Indianapolis in a battle of rising teams that still have a realistic chance of a home game in the Horizon League tournament. With the result, Oakland took over seventh place in the standings and, conditional on a hot finish, is more than capable of finishing in the top five. Impressively, the Grizzlies have surged without Cali Denson, who hasn’t played since December 15th, though Makenzie Luehring has done plenty to pick up the slack. The freshman has scored 20 points in four of her last five games, including 24 to pace the effort against the Jaguars. She’s been efficient too, with an effective field goal rate of 50 percent or greater in each of those contests.
IU Indianapolis was a tough-luck loser over the last week, dropping a pair of wildly-entertaining games to quality Oakland and Robert Morris teams. Those results, despite proving that the Jaguars are, themselves, a quality team as well (albeit a very fast, very chaotic one), still had the effect of burying Kate Bruce’s squad a bit. The Jags are firmly in the back half of the standings, as close to last place as they are to fifth. Hailey Smith was electric on Sunday against the Colonials before fouling out late, including a team-high 17 points, while Sydney Bolden – a 17 percent three-point shooter entering the day – went 3-for-3 from deep, including a bomb that gave IU Indy its final lead of the afternoon. Similarly, a balanced effort produced a fourth-quarter edge against OU on Wednesday, before things slipped away.
Though Milwaukee was unable to follow up its early-January home upset of Cleveland State with a sequel in the Wolstein Center on Wednesday, the Panthers did manage to hold off Wright State on Saturday, after returning home. That result placed two full games of separation between UWM and the Raiders, an important gap, given that the Horizon League’s bottom two teams need to play an extra tournament game. Alternatively, a more optimistic outlook is that Jorey Buwalda’s 17 points and eight rebounds helped Milwaukee gain a bit of ground on IU Indianapolis, while keeping pace with Oakland, retaining the idea that the Panthers could still conceivably move up during the last month of the season. It won’t be easy though; four of UWM’s next five games are on the road, including against contenders Youngstown State, Robert Morris, and Green Bay.
Wright State had the unenviable task of the Wisconsin road trip over the past weekend, resulting in a pair of defeats – the Raiders’ 11th and 12th in their last 13 tries or, if backing things out a bit further, their 14th and 15th in their last 17 outings. Yikes. Saturday’s loss at Milwaukee was excruciating both as a missed opportunity for the Raiders to crawl over the Panthers, and into ninth place, and also for the fact that a Breezie Williams three gave WSU a 67-64 lead midway through the fourth quarter. From there, however, UWM scored the game’s next seven points to regain control into the final minute of play. Williams only ended up with nine points that day, but the Raiders shot 12-for-32 from deep behind Rylee Sagester, Ellie Magestro-Kennedy, and Makenzie Drout. Of course, offense has never really been Wright State’s issue, a defense that ranks among the nation’s bottom 30 teams in several metrics is the primary culprit for the Raiders’ record.
It’s getting tough to see an outcome to the regular season where Detroit Mercy doesn’t end up in the HL tournament’s 10 vs. 11 first-round game at this stage, with the winner’s “prize” involving a trip to Green Bay. That unenviable position only became more likely over the last week, as the Titans ate decisive losses against Youngstown State and Purdue Fort Wayne to extend their losing streak to 11, and drop to 2-11 in conference play. If there is one bit of good news out of Calihan Hall these days, it’s that Northern Kentucky transfer Kailee Davis is starting to find her form. After missing all of 2024-25 and the first six weeks of this season, the Detroit native and former all-conference pick saw drastically-expanded minutes and production over the past week. The result was 27 combined points against two of the Horizon League’s best teams, offering at least some hope of a late turnaround.
Player of the Week
Colbi Maples (Cleveland State)
This week’s award could probably be called a three-way race between Maples, Purdue Fort Wayne’s Lili Krasovec, and Oakland’s Makenzie Luehring, but the CSU guard’s team results (two wins against a slightly tougher schedule than what Krasovec faced) are a suitable-enough tiebreaker.
Also considered: The two players I just mentioned
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In addition to the weekly NET Rankings (Source: NCAA), we’re including all the other metrics used by the NCAA to determine selections and seeding for the NCAA Tournament, including:
The Oakland Golden Grizzlies women’s basketball team saw a strong start slip away to the Youngstown State Penguins on Saturday, January 30, at the OU Credit Union O’Rena.
The loss shifts Oakland’s record to 8-14 on the season, and 5-7 in Horizon League play. As far as placement in the conference standings, Oakland remains in seventh place, just ahead of IU Indianapolis.
Oakland was led by Makenzie Luehring, who finished with a team-leading 20 points and four assists. Layla Gold also had a solid showing, putting up 18 points and five rebounds, playing all but one minute in this matchup.
Sophia Gregory led the Penguins in scoring, contributing 15 points to go along with six rebounds. Additionally, Casey Santoro stuffed the stat sheet, finishing with 14 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
Angie Smith got the offense started for the Golden Grizzlies, following a Luehring steal, which left Smith a wide-open lane for a fastbreak layup. Sarah Baker responded moments later for the Penguins, taking advantage of her height for a layup in the paint.
From that point on, Oakland took advantage of some rather lax Youngstown State defense, quickly building a lead as Gold and Luehring made it rain from three, with each Golden Grizzly converting multiple three-pointers.
Throughout the rest of the first quarter, the Oakland offense continued to run smoothly, with Gold and Smith contributing late into the quarter. Heading into the second quarter, the Golden Grizzlies maintained a 19-12 lead.
At the start of the second, the Luehring and Gold continued to light it up from deep to keep the Golden Grizzlies ahead of the Penguins. Hayden Barrier wouldn’t let Youngstown State go down quietly, however, knocking down a three-pointer of her own and keeping the game competitive.
The rest of the second quarter, Oakland took advantage of a stretched-out Youngstown State defense that wanted to prevent the three, attacking the paint for easy baskets. By halftime, the Golden Grizzlies still led, 36-29.
Heading into the break, the Golden Grizzlies shot at a 38.2% (13-for-34) rate from the field while the Penguins shot at a 48% (12-for-25) clip. From beyond the arc, Oakland really shined in the box score, making 46.2% (6-for-13) of their attempts while Youngstown State converted 33.3% (3-for-9) of their looks.
At the start of the third quarter, the Penguins began to cut into the Oakland lead, attacking the paint and drawing multiple foul calls. Defensively, Youngstown State dialed in as well, holding Oakland to just four points through the first five minutes of the quarter.
On Youngstown State’s final possession of the quarter, Erica King knocked down a long three-pointer to give the Penguins their first lead of the night. However, Jasmine Dupree-Hebert responded on Oakland’s next possession with a three of her own as time expired, putting the Golden Grizzlies ahead 47-46.
Following a make from Luehring to start the fourth quarter, Sophia Gregory kick-started an 11-0 Youngstown State run with a layup. Lianna Baxter put an end to the run with a tough make inside the paint, but Danielle Cameron hit a three-pointer on the next possession, keeping the Penguins ahead.
From that point on, the Youngstown State lead continued to grow behind impressive guard play from Santoro. The Penguins ultimately came away victorious in this matchup, defeating the Golden Grizzlies 72-60.
Up next, the Golden Grizzlies will take a one-game road trip to take on the Northern Kentucky Norse on Tuesday, February 3. Tip-off is slated for 6 p.m. EST, and this game marks the second meeting between the two teams this season.
Takeaways
This was a rather deflating loss for the Golden Grizzlies, who undoubtedly looked like the better team through the first half.
However, there are multiple reasons as to why Oakland gave way to the Penguins in the second half.
For starters, Smith and Barrier collided midway through the third quarter. Thankfully, each athlete was able to walk back to their respective side of the court, but Oakland losing Smith for the rest of the game was devastating.
Smith has started all but one game this season for the Golden Grizzlies and ranks in the top three amongst the team in points per game, field goal percentage, steals and blocks.
Her impact goes beyond the stat sheet, however. Smith is a major part of Oakland’s playstyle. Without her on the floor, it’s difficult for the Golden Grizzlies to run their fast-paced style built on turning defense into transition offense, without losing either size or the speed needed to make things work consistently.
Minutes after Smith left the court, Youngstown State took control of the game, forcing the Golden Grizzlies to not only play out of style, but to play at the Penguins’ preferred pace. With a healthy Smith, the outcome of this game could have gone differently.
On the bright side, the Golden Grizzlies trailed for just under nine minutes in this game, a reminder that the game was within reach before momentum swung away.
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The Youngstown State Penguins women’s basketball team (14-6, 9-4 Horizon) completed the Michigan road sweep with a 72-60 win on Saturday afternoon at OU Credit Union O’rena in Rochester, MI over an Oakland Golden Grizzlies team (8-14, 5-7 Horizon) that came in winning four of their last five games.
It was Oakland’s day to honor both National Girls and Women in Sports Day and Camper Day, but it was the Penguins’ third straight victory that gave head coach Melissa Jackson her 100th career win. She recorded 72 wins in her five seasons at Akron (2018-23) and her 28th with Youngstown State on Saturday in just her second season with the program after taking over in 2024.
“We’re a really gritty bunch,” Jackson said about her Penguin squad after the game. “Didn’t play our best basketball that first half, but made some adjustments at halftime. But really, we just started to play harder and smarter. I thought Hayden [Barrier] came in and gave us a spark, and we needed to finish the game the right way. Got all those 50-50 balls, all those rebounds in the second half, and it was because of her spark that really fueled us to this win.”
Sophia Gregory led YSU in scoring with 15 points on 7-of-13 shooting. Casey Santoro played all 40 minutes for the fourth time this season, scoring 14 points while also recording eight rebounds and six assists. 12 points for Erica King and 11 points for Sarah Baker.
The Penguins won both the rebounding and points in the paint battles by the exact same margin of 32-30. They shot 83.3 percent (10-of-12) in the final 10 minutes and 53.1 percent (25-of-47) for the whole game while also making 38.9 percent (7-of-18) of their threes and 71.4 percent (15-of-21) at the foul line.
Keisha Newell’s Oakland team made 37.3 percent (22-of-59) of their overall shots, 29.2 percent (7-of-24) of their three-balls, and 64.3 percent (9-of-14) of their free throws. Super freshman Mackenzie Luehring led the Golden Grizzlies with a game-high 20 points, while Valparaiso transfer Layla Gold had 18 points of her own.
Oakland’s Angie Smith scored the first bucket of the day within 46 seconds before Baker answered with a jumper of her own 56 seconds after that. Gold then drilled back-to-back three-pointers to give the Golden Grizzlies an 8-2 lead, and their advantage ended up increasing to nine at 17-8 after Gold’s old-fashioned three-point play at the 2:51 mark of the opening quarter. YSU turned the ball over five times and trailed 19-12 through the first 10 minutes.
In the second quarter, the Golden Grizzlies led by 10 twice after a 7-2 run within a 2:13 span. It started with five unanswered points courtesy of three made free throws, one from Filippa Goula and two from Lianna Baxter, followed by a layup from Luehring with 2:46 remaining to make it 32-22. Then Santoro and Gold traded layups to maintain Oakland’s double-digit advantage at 34-24 at the 2:11 mark.
YSU then scored five unanswered points of their own with a Gregory bucket and three straight points from Santoro to cut the deficit down to five with 43 seconds left, but Smith answered back with a bucket of her own and Luehring was a couple tenths of a second late in nailing a half-court prayer that would have put the home team up by 10 at intermission. Ironically, both teams ended up scoring 17 points each in the second quarter.
With Youngstown State down 36-29 after the first 20 minutes, Santoro started the second half with a pair of free throws before Baxter’s jumper at the 8:44 mark made it 38-31. The Penguins then went on a 6-2 run and shot 4-of-6 at the line in that span to make it a one-possession deficit at 40-37 with 6:13 to go.
Oakland was held without a field goal for 3:50 until Smith’s layup ended the drought, but a three-pointer from Hayden Barrier at the 4:45 mark and one made free throw from Santoro with 4:11 to go cut the Golden Grizzlies’ lead down to just one at 42-41.
Gold would finish the fastbreak with a layup exactly three minutes later, but King scored the next five unanswered points with a pair of foul shots and a go-ahead three to give YSU its first lead of the day at 46-44 with 20 seconds left.
However, Jasmine Dupree-Hebert hit a three – Oakland’s lone triple of the second half – at the buzzer to put Oakland back on top 47-46 after three quarters of play.
Luehring started the fourth quarter by scoring on Oakland’s first possession just 21 seconds in, but YSU got hot and scored on five straight possessions during an 11-0 run courtesy of back-to-back layups from Gregory, a three-point play by King, and consecutive baskets from Gregory and Baker at the 6:49 mark to go up 57-49.
Baxter then cut Oakland’s deficit to two possessions with a layup, but Danielle Cameron answered with a three to increase the Penguins’ lead to nine at 60-51 with 6:09 to go. Oakland countered with four straight points with a three-point play from Luehring and a free throw from Gold before King hit a three at the 4:45 mark to make it 63-55.
Luehring then made a layup on a fastbreak to cut the deficit to two possessions, but the Penguins waddled back with a 5-0 run and increased their lead to 11 at 68-57 with four straight points from Santoro and a foul shot from Gregory at the 1:56 mark. After Gold split a pair of free throws, YSU recorded their largest advantage of the day at 14 on back-to-back buckets from Santoro and Baker to make it 72-58. Then Dupree-Hebert made a layup for Oakland to close out the scoring.
Note: Oakland had the lead for 28 out of the 40 minutes.
Up next: Youngstown State will kick off the month of February with a three-game homestand on Thursday evening against Milwaukee at 6:30 p.m. inside Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center. The team will wear specially designed jerseys as part of Autism Awareness Night.
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Greg returns to fill in one more time, and he and Jim talk about the week that was in the Horizon League, which included Wright State and Cleveland State pulling out sweeps in the ever-tough Wisconsin road trip, with the Vikings, courtesy of those wins, now on a four-game streak.
In a battle between the Horizon League’s bottom two teams, the Youngstown State men’s basketball team (11-12, 4-8 in Horizon) were down by as many as 10 in the first half, but the Penguins used a pair of big runs in the second half to pull off an 85-76 win over the last-place IU Indy Jaguars (6-18, 2-11 Horizon) on Friday night inside of Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center.
Bryson Dawkins finished with a near triple-double, consisting of 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field to go along with nine rebounds, seven assists and a pair of steals.
“It feels amazing,” Dawkins said after the game. “We played very great team ball, we kind of gelled together. I think we went on like a 15 or 14-1 run, something like that, and that was all teams just playing together. We found our joy during that stretch, and that’s what kind of led over to the second half, where we found our joy just all playing together.”
Cris Carroll scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half and pulled down seven rebounds while also blocking a pair of shots, while Tae Blackshear scored all 14 of his points off the bench in the second half for YSU. Ethan Faulkner’s squad shot 60 percent (12-of-20) from the field in the second half and 51 percent (25-of-49) for the whole game while making 38.5 percent (10-of-26) of their threes and 86.2 percent (25-of-29) of their free throws. They also outrebounded the Jaguars 33-26.
“I give IU Indy a lot of credit — really, really hard team to play against,” Faulkner said after the game. “Their pressure is real and relentless over 40 minutes. You have to be incredibly focused throughout the course of the game to not turn the basketball over, have urgency to get to your spots, and press attack. Those things are so important. I thought we did that much better in the second half. That’s what we really talked about at halftime, was our pace, our press attack and in the half-court. To our guys’ credit, I thought the second half, we played one of our better halves of the year.”
Ben Howlett’s IU Indy squad was led by Jaxon Edwards’ second double-double of the season, courtesy of 15 points and 11 rebounds, plus a pair of blocks. Matt Compas also scored 15 points off the bench, while Finley Woodward finished with eight points and tied his career-high with 10 assists.
The Jaguars did not attempt a single free throw in the first half, but they made nine foul shots in 10 attempts (90 percent) in the second half. As a unit, they also made 45.3 percent (29-of-64) of their overall shots and 39.1 percent (9-of-23) of their three-pointers.
IU Indy’s Micah Davis drilled a three for the first points of the night before Dawkins and Reece Hagy traded layups to make it 5-2 Jaguars, but YSU then scored six of the next eight points on threes from Carroll and Rich Rolf to take the 8-7 lead at the 17-minute mark. The Jaguars would score back-to-back buckets with a Woodward layup and an Edwards dunk to go back up at 11-8 at the 15:45 mark.
Dawkins hit a pair of free throws to make it a one-point deficit before the Jags scored five straight points on a Kameron Tinsley three and a layup from Compas to make it 16-10 at the 13:57 point. After a Cam Polak triple, back-to-back buckets from Woodward and Davis increased the lead to seven at 20-13. Dawkins then made a layup before Maguire Mitchell nailed a three to make it 23-15.
Vlad Salaridze answered back with a three-point play before Aiden Miller responded with a three-pointer to make it 26-18 in the Jaguars’ favor at the 8:13 mark. Dawkins responded with a layup to make it a two-possession deficit before IU Indy countered with back-to-back buckets from Compas and Edwards to give the Jaguars their first double-digit lead of the game at 30-20 with 5:59 left.
However, the Penguins waddled back into it with an 8-0 run and were down 30-28 thanks to back-to-back three-balls from Salaridze and Polak, followed by a fastbreak dunk from Dawkins at the 4:17 mark.
But IU Indy was ready to pounce and took the lead with a 7-0 run of their own to go up 37-28, thanks to back-to-back buckets from Compas and another Mitchell three-pointer at the 3:02 mark. YSU then ended the first half on a 6-2 run and trimmed the deficit to 39-34 before halftime, with consecutive shots from Salaridze and Rich Rolf ending the stretch.
YSU carried those points over into the second half and turned it into another 8-0 run with a Carroll jumper, followed by an alley-oop from Polak to Dawkins to make it a one-point deficit at 39-38 through the first 1:27 of the final stanza.
Following a three from Hagy, Carroll scored four straight points by himself with two free throws and a jumper to knot it up at 42-all. However, the Jaguars responded with an 8-0 run of their own to go up 50-42 with back-to-back three-bombs from Compas and Tinsley and a Woodward layup at the 14:20 mark.
Blackshear answered with a three before a three-point play from Edwards at the 13:23 point maintained IU Indy’s eight-point cushion at 53-45, but the Penguins dug deep and scored 18 unanswered points over a 4:13 span. It started with back-to-back treys from Carroll and Blackshear, followed by two free throws by Imanuel Zorgvol – which knotted up the score at 53 all, an alley-oop dunk from Zorgvol off an assist from Rolf, a poster jam from Dawkins, a layup and a technical free throw from Rolf, and three made free throws from Blackshear to make it a 10-point advantage for YSU at 63-53 with 9:43 to go.
YSU led 65-55 with 8:40 remaining when Davis hit two free throws before a Blackshear layup maintained the double-digit advantage, but the Penguins were held without a field goal for the next 4:09 as IU Indy took advantage of that drought by scoring 11 of the next 12 points — including seven unanswered points — to tie the game at 66 with 6:13 remaining, with Compas scoring six points in that stretch.
Dawkins made a pair of foul shots before an Edwards dunk tied it up again at 68 all, but the Penguins went on their third 8-0 run of the night with two made free throws from Nelson and back-to-back threes from Carroll and Blackshear. As a result, the Penguins’ lead was 76-68 with 3:57 to go. YSU’s lead was at nine for most of the remainder of the contest.
Up next, Youngstown State will go back on the road to visit Purdue Fort Wayne, the Horizon League’s third-place team, on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. tip-off inside Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, IN.
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Inside Northern Kentucky’s Truist Arena on Saturday, Cleveland State used strong second and fourth quarters to squeeze out a 69-61 victory over the Norse, and improve to 17-7 (7-6 Horizon League).
Here are five things that stood out from an encouraging afternoon for the green and white:
1. All things considered, was it CSU’s biggest win of the season?
“No doubt, no doubt,” Chris Kielsmeier answered, before the question was even finished.
The outcome accomplished a number of things. For one, it served as a correction of Cleveland State’s often-brutal road performances this year. The Vikings carried a 2-6 away mark entering the game, including upset defeats to Detroit Mercy and Milwaukee teams that live near the bottom of the Horizon League.
More importantly though, it completely reset the team’s ability to compete for a finish in the conference standings’ top five, the positions that earn a first-round home game in the HL tournament.
“When you lose some of the games that we have throughout the course of the year, and put ourselves in a position in the standings where we were at, you’re running out of time to move up,” Kielsmeier said. “When you’re behind these teams, it’s not like you can just magically move up.”
However, after Saturday’s result, Cleveland State and Northern Kentucky are now tied for fifth place with matching 7-6 conference marks. The Vikings, though, own the tiebreaker over NKU, thanks to sweeping the season series.
Fourth-place Robert Morris (7-5) and third-place Purdue Fort Wayne (8-4) are the next two teams up the table, and CSU has a contest against each over the next two weeks.
“We’re fortunately in a position where it’s still a good spot for us, where we don’t have to scoreboard watch or worry about what anybody else does,” Kielsmeier added. “We’ve got to go play clean good basketball and win games, and everything we want will take care of itself.”
2. It might be fair to call Izabella Zingaro’s effort her best, not only at Cleveland State, but over the course of her entire five-season collegiate run.
The center’s (or “centre’s,” in her native Canadian) 25 points equaled her previous career high, first established last season at Montana. Zingaro’s 15 rebounds set a new personal best.
Eleven of those 25 tallies came during the fourth quarter, when the Vikings had to fight off the malaise of coughing up a 15-point halftime lead over less than seven minutes of the third quarter. Rather abruptly, the visitors went from a state of comfort to facing a three-point deficit early in that final frame, thanks to a bucket by Mya Meredith. Meredith led the Norse with 17 points on 7-for-11 shooting, and keyed NKU’s rally.
“Mya got a couple steals and a couple and-ones in that third quarter that really led to us scoring 26 points,” Norse coach Jeff Hans said. “We were forcing them to do some things that they weren’t comfortable doing.”
Zingaro, though, tied the game at 55-55 shortly after Meredith’s score with a three-pointer, the initial third of an eventual nine consecutive points from the one-time Iowa State Cyclone. Before Meredith got Northern Kentucky back on the board, CSU led 61-55, and was able to dictate the last four minutes of regulation.
“They just kept making plays in the fourth quarter,” Hans added.
That triple that launched the one-woman run was Zingaro’s third bomb of the season. The first clinched a victory over College of Charleston in Puerto Rico last month, the Vikings’ consensus “biggest win” before beating NKU, and the other gave CSU a chance late in a close game at league-leading Green Bay.
It’s safe to say that if Zingaro hits a three-ball, Cleveland State is probably in pretty good shape.
Regardless, as impressive as all of that was, her defense might have been even better.
“They kept going inside at her, so she didn’t get to rest,” Kielsmeier confirmed. “It wasn’t just what she was doing offensively, she had to defend and she had to rebound.”
The Norse offer a bevy of notable frontcourt threats, led by star freshman Maddie Moody and veteran Abby Wolterman. Off the bench, Jamaya Thomas and Mia Jordan offer more-than-credible support.
That quartet combined for 14 points on 4-for-15 shooting. Moody and Jordan ended the game with four fouls, while Thomas was tagged for three.
“I don’t think people probably understand, for Izzi to play 35 minutes with the physicality that she’s got to play with offensively, to be able to get positioned and get those shots is a lot in itself,” Kielsmeier explained.
“But then to get up and down the floor and then to have…for her, she’s on a defensive island. When that ball gets thrown into that block or that high post, everybody knows we’re going to match to it, and we’ve got to guard it one-on-one, and she’s a heck of a defender. And she showed that tonight.”
3. For the second consecutive outing, Colbi Maples was electric. The MBA student equaled Zingaro’s game-high 25 points, and got there with an unpredictable toolbox that included drives to the basket, three-pointers (she was 3-for-6 from deep), and free throws (4-for-4).
The 2023-24 Horizon League Player of the Year seems to be fully back on her game, after injuries and slumps limited her for a lot of the season.
— Cleveland State Women's Basketball (@CSU_WBasketball) January 31, 2026
“The game’s up and down,” Kielsmeier said. “We all know what she’s capable of, and you’ve got to work through things to get yourself where you want to be, and that’s not a basketball thing. Give her credit. She worked through it.”
Maples’ sudden eruption almost feels like a trade deadline acquisition for Cleveland State. She can certainly help the Vikings’ offense perform at its three-dimensional best, instead of being overly-reliant on Zingaro, and (to an extent) the three-point shooting of Sarah Hurley and Ella Van Weelden.
4. The Vikings opened the game by out-thinking themselves a bit, using a man-to-man defense instead of their usual zone, an attempt to throw Northern Kentucky off balance.
Superficially, it was a decent idea. After all, the last time Cleveland State played at Truist Arena, late in the 2024-25 season, the Norse went 16-for-31 from three-point range, eventually rallying in the fourth quarter to upset the Vikings.
However, facing that man defense on Saturday, NKU’s Taysha Rushton hit three early three-pointers, on the way to an eventual 16 points, leading Kielsmeier to sarcastically call his gambit “great coaching.”
Once in their more familiar scheme, though, Cleveland State locked down the perimeter.
NKU finished the game just 5-for-27 (18.5 percent) from three-point range, with Rushton ending up 4-for-12 after her hot start. Meanwhile, Karina Bystry – who set a school freshman record with 35 points a week ago against Purdue Fort Wayne – was limited to just 1-for-10 from deep and 5-for-22 overall.
“Karina struggles today, Taysha struggled from the three a little bit…they’re getting good looks, we’ve gotta get downhill and finish,” Hans said.
“We’ve gotta do a better job in our own arena of playing better.”
The closest thing the game had to a closeout play involved that perimeter defense. With the Vikings ahead 65-59 in the last 30 seconds of the fourth quarter, Jada Leonard got her hand on a Rushton pass for a steal. Rushton was forced to foul the Bryant transfer, and Leonard’s free throws gave the Vikings an eight-point lead.
“We defended them, and our rotation getting down that three-point line was better. I’m sure they would say they missed some open shots that they normally hit, but that’s the game,” Kielsmeier said, agreeing with his counterpart. “We missed a bunch of wide-open shots ourselves, and if we can start to hit some of those with some level of consistency, then we will be a lot better too.”
The coach is right, as the Vikings weren’t much better than Northern Kentucky from deep, with a 6-for-26 (23.1 percent) line, which turns into 2-for-17 (11.8 percent) effort beyond Maples and Zingaro. They still managed to win the day by being much more efficient while inside the arc.
5. Kielsmeier has spoken frequently about his belief that Cleveland State’s ceiling is much higher than what the Vikings have generally shown so far this year.
It would be hard to top Saturday’s second quarter in that regard. CSU outscored the Norse 21-7 in the frame to head into halftime with their ill-fated 40-25 lead. Maples and Zingaro were each at their dynamic best, while Paula Pique chipped in a three-pointer, helping the Vikings to shoot 7-for-11 (63.6 percent) during the period. On the other end of the floor, NKU was held to just 3-for-16 (18.8 percent).
That production included a 12-0 run spanning the tail-end of the first quarter, and the opening three-plus minutes of the subsequent period.
Was that the team’s ceiling, or at least something approaching it?
Kielsmeier thought the team’s high points expanded beyond that frame, while also remaining frustrated with the Vikings’ inconsistency.
“Well, I think first, second, and fourth [quarters], really,” he said. “I mean if you look at those three quarters, the first quarter they hit some shots. [Rushton] came out and hit those three threes. So we played really well for three quarters, and unfortunately, the third quarter didn’t go the way we wanted it to. And that’s been a story of a lot of what we’ve done this year, and we’ve just got to get that fixed.”
The chase for perfection continues on Wednesday night in Indianapolis, against a resurgent IU Indy squad.
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In the city of Motown, the Youngstown State Penguins women’s basketball team (15-7, 8-4 Horizon) were singing some pretty good tunes in their 69-53 road win over the Detroit Mercy Titans (4-17, 2-10 Horizon) on Dick Vitale Court at Calihan Hall.
It’s the second straight win for YSU, who are still tied in second place in the Horizon League with Purdue Fort Wayne. As for the last-place Titans, they have now dropped 10 in a row.
If you ever heard a Motown classic song called “I Wish It Would Rain” by The Temptations, this song would fit perfectly for what happened in this game. In the first half, YSU shot 64 percent (16-of-25) from the field and 61.5 percent (8-of-13) from three-point territory. Overall for the game, they shot 50 percent (23-of-46) on field goals and 42.9 percent (9-of-21) on three-pointers, as well as an outstanding 87.5 percent (14-of-16) at the free throw line.
It was definitely a “wham, bam, thank you Cam” type of evening for the Penguins as Danielle Cameron scored 17 of her career-high 19 points in the first half, with 11 of them coming in the second quarter. She also made five threes in 11 attempts.
“Dani [Cameron] is an unbelievable shooter, really good player,” Penguins head coach Melissa Jackson said about Cameron after the game. “Crazy that she’s only a redshirt freshman, right? But kudos to our offense. I thought our post players gave her some great kickouts. She was shot ready. Our ball movement in the first half was really, really good, and I think she was the beneficiary of a lot of that.”
Erica King scored 14 points of her own and hit a career-high four triples in as many attempts. Sophia Gregory scored 11 of her 13 points in the third quarter while pulling down eight rebounds and dishing out four assists. Sarah Baker scored 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting, while Paulina Hernandez recorded eight points off the bench.
Kiefer Haffey’s UDM squad shot a solid 71.4 percent from the foul line (10-of-14), but they also made just 30.3 percent (20-of-66) of their shots from the field and 13.6 percent (3-of-22) of their threes. Detroit Mercy won the battles in rebounding (41-32), bench points (32-10), and points in the paint (28-26).
Kailee Davis was the lone Titan that scored in double figures with 15 points off the bench, while Makayla Jackson finished with eight points and a game-high four steals. Davis and Jackson each played 32 minutes.
Detroit Mercy’s Naima Diawara scored the first bucket on a nine-foot jump shot just 20 seconds into the contest for UDM’s only lead of the night, but Youngstown State scored the next 13 unanswered points on back-to-back layups from Gregory and Baker, a Cameron three, a Casey Santoro layup, a pair of free throws from Baker, and a 13-foot jumper from King at the 4:39 mark.
Following a layup from UDM’s Jasmine Edwards that cut the deficit back to single digits at 13-4, YSU closed out the period on a 10-4 run that was keyed by a pair of triples by King before Hayden Barrier scored the last bucket of the first stanza to make it 23-8 with 41 seconds remaining.
In the 2nd quarter, YSU was up by as many as 21 following back-to-back triples from Cameron which made it 45-24 at the 1:20 mark. Addisen Mastriano then made a layup with 52 seconds to go to make it a 45-26 deficit at the half.
The Titans scored five of the first seven points in the third quarter with a Maya Anderson three and a two-point bucket from Davis to decrease the deficit to 16 at 47-31 at the 7:32 mark, but Gregory scored nine of the next 11 points by herself to increase Youngstown State’s lead to 23 at 56-33 with 3:25 to go. During that stretch, Gregory went on her own personal 7-0 run that lasted 2:55.
Hernandez then converted an old-fashioned three-point play to give YSU their largest lead of the night at 59-33 before Detroit Mercy scored the next six unanswered points within a 2:30 span, courtesy of a Nisea Burrell free throw and the next five points coming from Davis. Then Gregory made a layup with a dozen seconds to go before the period ended to make it a 22-point cushion at 61-39.
The Titans scored seven of the first 10 points of the fourth quarter to make it a 64-46 deficit and held YSU without a field goal halfway through the final stanza, with Anna Lassan scoring a pair of buckets in that stretch, but King ended that drought with a corner three to push the Penguins’ lead back up to 21 at 67-46 at the 4:36 mark. After Davis and Hernandez exchanged layups, UDM scored five straight points all on free throws – two from Burrell, one from Amaya Burch, and the final pair coming from Mastriano – to close out the scoring.
Up next: The Penguins will go for the Michigan road sweep as they visit Oakland on Saturday afternoon for a 2 p.m. tip-off at the OU Credit Union O’rena in Rochester, MI.
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