YSU Athletic Communications / John Vogel. YSU's Haley Thierry (right) defends her fraternal twin sister, Ohio State's Taylor Thierry, on Saturday at Value City Arena.

Growing up outside of Cleveland, Haley and Taylor Thierry were inseparable.

The fraternal twins did almost everything together. Throughout youth, AAU and high school basketball, they always played together on the same team.

However, Youngstown State’s non-conference road trip to Columbus to face Ohio State on Saturday was the first time they ever shared the court together on opposing teams.

“Growing up together, always being on the same team and doing everything together, it was a nice experience to finally be apart and build ourselves, build our own game and go against each other in front of a crowd and in front of family and friends,” Haley said after the game. “I feel like that was a very memorable moment. I’m just happy to be here and be able to play against my best friend, so just taking it all in.”

Haley and Taylor both said they had about 15 family members that made the trip for the game, in addition to countless other friends who were also in attendance.

But, Taylor’s Buckeyes ended up getting the best of Haley’s Penguins, as YSU fell to 11th-ranked Ohio State 87-39 at Value City Arena.

“It was definitely weird and interesting playing my sister, especially since we’ve never done it before,” Taylor said during a press conference afterwards.

The pair shared a moment together with about three minutes to go in the second quarter when they were both at the scorer’s table set to check in to the game.

At first, Haley didn’t realize it was Taylor that was sitting behind her at the scorer’s table.

“I didn’t know until she said, ‘Oh hey!’ and then she gave me a high-five,” Haley said. “I didn’t expect it to be her, but when I saw her I got excited and happy.”

Haley has always been known for her defense, while Taylor has been more regarded for her dynamic offensive skill set.

“I feel like we have a lot of similarities and differences,” Haley said on Thursday before the game. “I love defense. I know she likes defense as well, but I feel like she’s more of an offensive player, and she’s very scrappy. I think defense wins games, so I’ll always love defense for that — getting steals, rebounds and stuff like that. But she also does the same thing, so I feel like we have similarities with that, as well.”

Taylor got a chance to show Haley some of her defensive prowess on Saturday.

On the court, the two were matched up against one another on several possessions. At one point, the 5-foot-8 Haley tried a move on Taylor in the post, but was blocked by her 6-foot-1 sister.

“I know something that we’ll both remember is when she blocked me,” Haley said with a smile. “After that, she said, ‘thank you,’ and then took (the ball). But it was extremely fun — a couple comments back and forth, but we were just having fun.”

YSU Athletic Communications / John Vogel. YSU’s Haley Thierry (right) shares a moment at the scorer’s table with her fraternal twin sister, Ohio State’s Taylor Thierry, on Saturday at Value City Arena.

Haley scored two points and pulled down four rebounds for the Penguins in 16 minutes of action, while Taylor finished with nine points and seven rebounds in 30 minutes.

YSU was able to keep pace with Ohio State in the first quarter. But the Buckeyes pulled away in the second quarter, during which they outscored the Penguins 29-4.

It was difficult for YSU to find its rhythm offensively, as Ohio State’s suffocating defense forced the Penguins into 34 turnovers.

Malia Magestro led YSU with eight points, while Faith Burch and Jewel Watkins each had seven points for the Penguins. OSU forward Cotie McMahon’s 29 points spurred the Buckeyes.

It was a family affair of sorts for Penguins senior Jewel Watkins, as well.

Watkins, who grew up in Columbus and played at Whitehall-Yearling in high school, made her return to her hometown for Saturday’s game.

“It was something we talked about in her recruiting process,” YSU head coach Melissa Jackson said Thursday. “When I was recruiting her, I was also talking to Ohio State trying to get this game on the schedule. I know she was really excited when I mentioned that to her. I don’t think it’s the ultimate reason she chose Youngstown, but I think it definitely factored into it, us being able to bring her home. I know she (had) a ton of people there.”