Reigning Champ Green Bay, No. 2 Seed Youngstown State Set For Tuesday’s Barbasol #HLWBB Championship

Reigning Champ Green Bay, No. 2 Seed Youngstown State Set For Tuesday’s Barbasol #HLWBB Championship

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Sa'Mone Winters

INDIANAPOLIS (March 9, 2026) – Regular season champion Green Bay cruised past No. 5 Purdue Fort Wayne 73-48 to earn a trip to the Barbasol #HLWBB Championship final for the fourth straight year. Monday’s second semifinal saw No. 2 seed Youngstown State advance past No. 3 Cleveland State 60-55.
 
Tuesday’s women’s championship game between the Phoenix and Penguins will be at noon on ESPN2.
 
 
Semifinal #1 – No. 1 Green Bay 73, No. 5 Purdue Fort Wayne 48
 
Green Bay got a game-high 20 points from Carley Duffney and used a suffocating defense to earn a trip to the #HLWBB Championship final for the fourth straight year.
 
  • Meghan Schultz had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds and Kristina Ouimette added 11 points.
  • Green Bay, which has won the past two conference tournament championships, grabbed 16 offensive rebounds and had a 44-22 edge in paint scoring.
  • Leading 34-23 at halftime, Green Bay forced PFW into 28% shooting in the first half. After the break, the Phoenix pounded the ball inside to outscore the Mastodons 25-12 in the 3rd quarter.
  • Maddy Skorupski of Green Bay grabbed six steals, one shy of the single-game tournament record last tied in 2008.
  • Green Bay improved to 28-2 all-time in #HLWBB Championship semifinal games. This is Green Bay’s 14th trip to the league tourney final in the last 18 years.
  • Purdue Fort Wayne, which reached 20 wins in the tournament’s second round on Sunday, was led by Jordan Reid’s 14 points.
 
Quotable: “We just played each other eight days ago, and we learned a lot from that game,” Green Bay head coach Kayla Karius said. “Ever since that game, this group has been driven to fix some issues that we had. And we responded in a big way.”
 
“I give all the credit to our players for buying in. They had big shoes to fill with everyone we lost (from last year),” PFW head coach Maria Marchesano said. “To get another 20-win season is pretty phenomenal. I give credit to them for trusting and continuing to buy in and get in the gym. They were one of the best groups to be around every day.”
 
Semifinal #2 – No. 2 Youngstown State 60, No. 3 Cleveland State 55


League regular season runner-up Youngstown State made three 3-pointers late to edge No. 3 Cleveland State 60-55 Monday afternoon. The win gave YSU its first-ever trip to the Barbasol Horizon League Women’s Basketball Championship final.
  • Danielle Cameron scored 16 points to lead three Penguins in double-digit scoring. Erica King added 13 and Sophia Gregory scored 11 with nine rebounds.
  • Monday’s semifinal win marked Youngstown State’s first appearance playing in Indianapolis since the Horizon League adopted its current format.
  • The pivotal plays were a trio of 3-pointers over the last 3:24 of the game. With Youngstown State leading 47-46, Casey Santoro hit a pull-up trey with 3:24 left. With YSU’s lead at 3, Erica King sank a 3-pointer with 2:11 on the clock to put the Penguins up 54-48. Cleveland State would make one more push before a Danielle Cameron 3-pointer with 22.3 seconds left gave YSU the lead for good.
  • Cleveland State’s Izabella Zingaro put up 19 points and 14 rebounds, both game highs.
  • Youngstown State owned an 18-10 advantage in points of turnovers.
  • At 24-9, Cleveland State has won at least 24 games in each of the last four seasons. Youngstown State advances to Tuesday’s final with a school record-tying 24 wins.
 
Quotable: “Our first trip to Indy, first trip to the championship game,” YSU head coach Melissa Jackson said. “Our mantra all year has been the grit but it’s to take one game at a time. We knew Cleveland State was going to give us their best shot and they came out and punched us in the mouth. I called timeout to settle us down - and we punched back.”
 
“Proud of our players and entire program. The resiliency and fight we showed was special,” CSU head coach Chris Kielsmeier said. “We got to Indy and gave ourselves a chance. It was a phenomenal basketball game, and Youngstown just made a couple more plays than us.”