By Marissa Masano / The Jambar
For the first time in program history, the Youngstown State University women’s basketball team made the Horizon League Championship presented by Barbasol on March 10.
Prior to the championship matchup against the No. 1 seed University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, the Penguins closed out the regular season with senior day success against the University of Detroit Mercy on Feb. 25 inside Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center.
The team stayed home March 4 to open the 2026 Barbasol Horizon League Women’s Basketball Championship against Wright State University. In the quarterfinal matchup, YSU defeated the Raiders by a score of 76-70.
Against Detroit Mercy, sophomore Sophia Gregory posted a game-high 20 points and 12 rebounds in the 72-60 victory. Redshirt freshman Sarah Baker added her name to the record books with 18 points, pushing her season point total to 354 points and surpassing the previous freshman single-season scoring record by eight points.
YSU battled back from a 34-32 halftime deficit and opened the third quarter with free throws from Gregory to tie the game at 34-34.
In the fourth quarter, Detroit Mercy started a 10-2 run at the 8:25 mark. The Titans benefitted from three missed 3-point attempts by the Penguins to cut the deficit to 11 points.
Junior Paulina Hernandez then grabbed an offensive rebound and converted a second-chance tip-in inside the paint to stop the run. This allowed the Penguins to control the remainder of the game.
Prior to the postseason, four Penguins earned Horizon League honors. Gregory was named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year and was also selected to the Second Team All-League and All-Defensive Team.
Hernandez became the HL Sixth Player of the Year for her contributions off the bench. After leading the league in minutes played, sixth-year Casey Santoro was named a Second Team All-League selection, while Baker was named to the Horizon League All-Freshman Team.
In the quarterfinal win over Wright State, the Penguins scored 23 points in both the third and fourth quarters to secure their first victory over the Raiders in eight Horizon League tournament meetings. Sophomore Erica King led the way with a game-high 19 points.
With a one-point lead, King opened the third quarter with a steal and back-to-back 3-pointers to push the Penguins’ lead to seven.
At the 6:07 mark, the Raiders responded with a 3-pointer, forced a turnover and finished a layup on the other end to pull within one possession.
Wright State closed the gap to two points with 3:22 remaining, but the Penguins answered with a 3-pointer from Hernandez. Both teams then went scoreless for nearly two minutes.
The Raiders’ final push came with 7:42 left when they went on an 8-0 scoring run to cut the score to 59-53.
The Penguins persevered through a third-quarter scoring drought to take the lead and punch their ticket to the Horizon League Championship with a semifinal win over in-state rival Cleveland State University.
Youngstown State defeated the Vikings by 60-55 on March 9, as Cameron led the Penguins with 16 points.
YSU lost its first-half lead after going 0-for-12 from the field to start the third quarter, which allowed CSU to go on an 8-0 run and take its first lead since the 5:54 mark of the first quarter.
With the scoreline at 31-24 in favor of the Vikings, the Penguins called a timeout to stop the momentum. Out of the break, King hit a 3-pointer for YSU’s first points in more than eight minutes. Cameron followed with a 3-pointer of her own to cut the deficit to one, 31-30.
Coming off the bench, Hernandez fought through a foul to convert a layup in the paint and completed the 3-point play at the line.
With 5:27 left in the fourth quarter, Cameron outran the Viking defense and set her feet in the corner to knock down her third 3-pointer of the second half.
On a fastbreak, King found Santoro and set a screen for the sixth-year senior to hit her first 3-pointer of the second half, which gave the Penguins a 50-46 lead. King was fouled during the screen and after review, Santoro’s basket counted while YSU regained possession.
With under two minutes remaining, CSU scored eight straight points off Penguin mistakes. A forced turnover led to a fast break, and a late foul allowed the Vikings to complete a 3-point play and take a 55-54 lead.
With 22 seconds left, Cameron drained a 3-pointer to regain the lead. On the next possession, King forced the ball out of bounds, giving CSU another chance. The Penguins challenged the call, and after review, it was overturned as the Viking player dribbled the ball off her own foot.
CSU’s final jumper missed, and Baker secured the rebound to seal the Penguins’ win and a chance at an automatic NCAA Tournament bid.
In the championship, the Penguins fell to the Phoenix 57-49. The Penguins held a 28-25 lead at halftime, but were outscored in the third and fourth quarters. With the victory, the Phoenix clinched its third straight HL title and NCAA Tournament ticket.
Santoro and Gregory were named to the All-Tournament Team, becoming the first Penguins to earn the honor since 2019.
As the historic HL season comes to a close, the Penguins finished with an overall record of 24-9, putting them in position to potentially be selected for another postseason tournament in the coming weeks.