Story Links
Youngstown State resumes its long-time series with Akron and gets its final tune-up for Horizon League play with a Sunday road contest against the Zips. Tipoff at James A. Rhodes Arena is set for noon, and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+, 570 WKBN and iHeartRadio.
Gameday Info
Game Preview
Youngstown State resumes its long-time series with Akron and gets its final tune-up for Horizon League play with a Sunday road contest against the Zips. Tipoff at James A. Rhodes Arena is set for noon, and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+, 570 WKBN and iHeartRadio.
The Penguins are 4-2 this season with identical 2-1 records at home and on the road. YSU is 3-1 against non–Power Four opponents following a 69-65 loss to Toledo inside Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center on Tuesday. The Penguins trailed by 10 in the first quarter and led by six in the third before the Rockets controlled the fourth. YSU went nearly four minutes without a field goal as Toledo built a 63-56 lead with 3:06 remaining. Even with the setback, YSU’s three nonconference Division I wins already exceed last season’s total, and the Penguins are 2-1 on the road after finishing 3-13 away from Youngstown in 2024-25. That was YSU’s first season under head coach Melissa Jackson, who spent 15 seasons on Akron’s bench, including five as head coach from 2018-19 through 2022-23.
Four Penguins scored in double figures Tuesday, led by Sophia Gregory’s season-high 16 points. The preseason All-Horizon League First-Team selection went 8-for-9 from the field and added eight rebounds, two steals, two blocks and two assists. Casey Santoro and Erica King made two 3-pointers each as both guards reached double figures for the second straight game, and forward Sarah Baker added 14 points.
Santoro, the reigning Horizon League Player of the Week, leads YSU with 13.0 points per game. The sixth-year senior, who began her career at Kent State, needs 17 points to reach 1,000 for her career. She is one of five Penguins averaging at least seven points, and six different players have led YSU in scoring through six games.
- A Win Would…
- Give the Penguins a 5-2 record to start the season, which would be their best record through seven games since the 2021-22 team started 8-0.
- Improve YSU’s record on the road to 3-1.
- Give YSU its first win at Akron since Dec. 18, 2011, and snap a six-game skid at James A. Rhodes Arena.
- Be YSU’s first road win against a MAC team since beating Eastern Michigan in the 2021-22 season opener on Nov. 9, 2021.
- Give Head Coach Melissa Jackson her 89th career win, her 17th at Youngstown State, and her first career victory over Akron.
Milestone Watch
- Faith Burch is approaching 400 career rebounds, needing 11.
- Paulina Hernandez needs 13 rebounds to reach 100 for her career.
- Erica King is 22 points shy of 250 for her career.
- Casey Santoro enters Sunday’s game with 983 career points, needing 17 to reach 1,000. She’s also two 3-pointers away from 150 in her career.
A Glimpse at the Guins
- YSU is in its second season under head coach Melissa Jackson in 2025-26. The Penguins started 4-0 last season and are 4-2 to start her second campaign. Jackson was on Akron’s coaching staff for 15 seasons from 2008-23, including the final five as the Zips’ head coach. She has the best winning percentage by a head coach in Akron’s history at .511.
- Youngstown State’s 2025-26 roster features 12 student-athletes, including nine returners and three newcomers. Bella Samz is the longest-tenured Penguin in her third season with the program. YSU has two seniors — sixth-year guard Casey Santoro and fifth-year post Faith Burch — two juniors, four sophomores, three redshirt freshmen and one true freshman.
- Among the nine returners, only Burch, Gregory and Erica King played in more than 10 games and averaged at least 14 minutes per game for YSU in 2024-25.
- Sophia Gregory was the Horizon League Freshman of the Year in 2024-25. She is the lone returner who averaged at least 22 minutes per game last season and was named to the Preseason All-Horizon League First Team. She is coming off a season-high 16 points vs. Toledo and averages a team-high 8.2 rebounds.
- Santoro and Paulina Hernandez join the program as transfers, and Brooke Adkins is the lone true freshman. Santoro is the team’s leader in points, assists and 3-point shooting through six games, and she is 17 points from 1,000.
- Redshirt freshman Sarah Baker is averaging 10.2 points and was named the Horizon League Freshman of the Week to start the season. Danielle Cameron, who missed the final 29 games of 2024-25, is averaging 7.0 points and has made 11 3-pointers.
- King has scored in double figures in three straight games. She is averaging 14.7 points and 35.6 minutes per game in her last three contests.
- YSU is averaging 1.4 more 3-pointers per game and shooting 6.1% better from beyond the arc compared with last season. Santoro leads the Horizon League in 3-point field-goal percentage at 48.4%. Cameron ranks second on the team with 11 3-pointers.
- YSU was picked to finish third and received one of the 11 first-place votes in the Horizon League preseason poll.
Scouting Akron
- Akron is 0-6 this season with four losses on the road to start the season and back-to-back close setbacks at James A. Rhodes Arena. The Zips lost their home opener 95-94 in double overtime to Binghamton, and they’re coming off a 64-57 loss to Xavier on Monday. Akron had road losses at Robert Morris (70-61 on Nov. 7) and Cleveland State (76-55 on Nov. 16).
- Sophomore forward Ni’Rah Clark leads the Zips with 13.7 points and 6.8 rebounds, and freshman guard/forward Monique Mitchell averages 10.4 points. Shaena Brew has team highs of 22 assists and eight 3-pointers, and Keiryn McGuff is averaging seven free-throw attempts per game.
- Akron was picked to finish eighth in the MAC Preseason Coaches Poll.
Series History and Matchup Notes
Overall: Youngstown State leads 41-20
Home: 21-6 // Away: 15-13 // Neutral: 5-1 // Jackson (career): 0-0
Current Win Streak: 1 by Youngstown State
Youngstown State has played Akron more than any team that isn’t currently in the Horizon League, and it owns a 41-20 advantage in the all-time series dating back to YSU’s first official season in 1975-76. Akron includes one additional YSU victory in its all-time series records due to a game played in 1974-75. The teams have split the last six meetings with each squad winning on its home floor. Youngstown State will be looking for its first win in Akron since Dec. 18, 2011.
Last Time vs. Akron
Youngstown State prevailed in a defensive battle to edge Akron 53-52 on Dec. 6, 2023, at Beeghly Center. Emily Saunders scored a game-high 13 points, added three blocks and hit a key free throw with 4.9 seconds left to make it 53-49 before Akron beat the buzzer with a 3-pointer. YSU held Akron standout Reagan Bass — who entered averaging 23.3 points — to 11 on 4-for-13 shooting. Dena Jarrells added 12 points and two clutch free throws with 16.6 seconds remaining, and Shay-Lee Kirby scored 10 with three 3s. Despite shooting just 5-for-29 from deep, the Penguins controlled the game with consistent stops, never trailing after the first quarter. YSU shot 35.6%, while Akron shot 36.8%.
Jackson’s Return to Akron
Youngstown State head coach Melissa Jackson spent 15 seasons on Akron’s bench from 2008-23, and Sunday will be her first time returning to James A. Rhodes Arena. She was an assistant coach from 2008-12 and the associate head coach from 2012-18 on Jodi Kest’s staff, and Jackson was Akron’s head coach for five seasons from 2018-19 through 2022-23. She holds the highest winning percentage of any head coach in Akron’s history at .511, and the Zips played in two postseason tournaments in her five seasons. Jackson last faced Akron when she was an assistant coach at Cleveland State in 2023-24 at CSU’s Wolstein Center.
Up Next
Youngstown State will open Horizon League play with its first three games of December, beginning with its annual trip to Wisconsin next week. The Penguins will play at Milwaukee on Dec. 5 at 7 p.m. Eastern.
