The Youngstown State women’s basketball team earned its third consecutive win and its seventh victory in the last eight games Thursday against Northern Kentucky.

Having lost to NKU 61-49 in Youngstown back on Jan. 8, the Penguins (20-8, 13-5 in Horizon League) avenged the defeat with a 75-55 road win in Kentucky.

YSU’s Casey Santoro led her team with 18 points, 12 of which came on 3-pointers, while Danielle Cameron and Sarah Baker added 15 and 13, respectively. Paulina Hernandez also made a big contribution off the bench, scoring 15 points in 24 minutes.

While she did not have a big scoring night, West Branch product Sophia Gregory pulled down a career-high 17 rebounds, in addition to recording five assists and two steals. Erica King, who, like Gregory, had six points, tallied six assists as well.

The Penguins controlled the action for most of the first quarter Thursday, taking a 16-6 lead before NKU scored 10 unanswered as part of a 14-2 run, which gave the Norse a slim advantage.

Back-to-back triples by King and Santoro with under four minutes to go began a strong stretch to close the half for YSU, which led 36-28 at the break.

NKU twice got back within five points of the Penguins but never closer, as YSU took a double-digit lead a little over halfway through the third quarter and did not look back.

With the win, YSU reached the 20-win mark for the first time since the 2021-22 season, when the Penguins won 24 games. Last season, YSU went 12-19 in head coach Melissa Jackson’s first year at the helm.

The Penguins play their final road game of the regular season Saturday afternoon vs. Purdue Fort Wayne before their home finale vs. Detroit Mercy on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.