Staff photo / Neel Madhavan. YSU sixth-year guard Casey Santoro (14) drives the lane during the first half of Thursday's game at Mercyhurst in Erie, Pa.

ERIE, Pa. — In six years of playing college basketball, Casey Santoro has played in 125 games. Her experience, steadiness and veteran presence on the floor are the reasons why Youngstown State’s coaching staff wanted the point guard to join the program during the offseason.

Each of those qualities were on full display on Thursday night, as Santoro led the Penguins with 21 points, tying a career-high in 39 minutes of a 64-50 road victory at Mercyhurst.

“We knew with such a young group that we were going to need stability at that point guard position. She brings that,” head coach Melissa Jackson said. “She brings great experience. I thought she did that for us in the Bucknell game. Even though she didn’t score (much), she was stabilizing us. Today, we needed her to score. We needed her to shoot the ball the way she did, and then calm us down in some of those moments.

“It was hard to take her off the floor tonight. I gave her a little quick 30-second rest. But I give that kid a lot of credit because she saw 40 minutes of pressure and 40 minutes of 2-3 zone that we haven’t seen all year.”

Coming in, Santoro had led the Penguins in scoring, averaging 10.5 points per game with a pair of double-figure games this season. Her 21 points tie a career high that she set against Akron in 2022 when she was at Kent State.

“I’ve played a lot of basketball,” Santoro said. “So I was just using the experiences that I’ve been through in these moments, just trying to stay calm and help everyone else stay calm.”

Santoro carried YSU offensively during a sluggish first half as the Penguins adjusted to the Lakers’ defensive pressure. She scored 13 of her points before halftime and was 3-for-3 from beyond the arc at the break.

“We were trying to get the ball in the post because we felt that we had a size advantage, but it seemed like they were doubling them a little bit or trying to take them away,” Santoro said. “I just happened to be open and happened to be knocking down shots. I was just taking what the defense gave us, honestly.”

YSU needed Santoro’s presence on the ball in a game that lacked any kind of flow and featured a ton of stoppages as the two teams combined for 47 fouls.

That made it hard for the Penguins to find any rhythm on either end of the floor. But offensively, YSU was still able to make its shots when it needed them as it shot 45.7% overall and 38% from three.

“I think it’s a huge advantage for them in the way that they play, because they want stoppages, they want dead balls so they can set up their press and set up their zone,” Jackson said. “We weren’t able to really get out in transition. It definitely played into what I think they do well. So it was tough to get into a rhythm. I was really happy with our shooting percentage. And honestly, 15 turnovers — some of them we’re going to have against that pressure, but for us to only have 15 is a good thing for our program.”

Erica King also had her second straight game in double figures, as she finished with a new career-high 19 points.

With so many fouls, both teams battled foul trouble all night. Alena Fusetti and Sofia Wilson fouled out for the Lakers, while Julia Lewis, Lauryn Stover and Lena Walz finished with four fouls. Walz also led Mercyhurst with 16 points.

Sophia Gregory and Sarah Baker each finished with four fouls for the Penguins. Despite playing only 15 minutes and sitting long stretches because of foul trouble, Gregory made the most of her time on the floor, finishing with nine points, three rebounds and a key steal and fast-break layup in the final minutes that helped put the game away.

With the lack of game flow, Mercyhurst kept things close for most of the game. Then, with just under seven minutes left, Walz knocked down a three that cut YSU’s lead to one (49-48). But from there, the Penguins closed out the game on a 15-2 run.

“I think we showed our grit right there,” Jackson said. “When they did hit that shot, we just stayed calm, we executed, we got a bucket and then we got some big-time stops and rebounds that led to some other good baskets for us. It’s tough when Sophia is on the bench that much, but I give her a lot of credit because she came back in at the end of the game and provided a huge spark.”

YSU now returns home to face Toledo on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at Zidian Family Arena.

Youngstown State 64, Mercyhurst 50

YSU 16 15 16 17 — 64

MU 11 13 18 8 — 50

YOUNGSTOWN STATE (4-1): Casey Santoro 6-11 5-6 21, Erica King 5-10 7-8 19, Sophia Gregory 4-7 1-2 9, Danielle Cameron 3-7 2-6 8, Sarah Baker 3-6 0-0 6, Faith Burch 0-2 1-2 1, Hayden Barrier 0-2 0-0 0, Paulina Hernandez 0-1 0-0 0, Dacia Lewandowski 0-0 0-0 0, Bella Samz 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 21-46 14-18 64.

MERCYHURST (0-4): Lena Walz 5-13 3-5 16, Jenna Van Schaik 4-10 3-6 12, Alena Fusetti 1-2 2-2 5, Erica Hall 1-4 0-0 3, Cici Hernandez 0-2 0-0 0, Julia Lewis 2-3 2-2 6, Lauryn Stover 1-3 0-0 3, Sofia Wilson 1-1 0-0 2, Shannon Heine 0-1 2-2 2, Imani Frazier 0-6 1-2 1. TOTALS: 15-45 13-19 50.