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

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

Fraternal twins have done almost everything together. Throughout their 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 shared the field together on opposing teams.

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

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

But Taylor’s Buckeyes ended up getting the better of Haley’s Penguins, as YSU fell to No. 11 Ohio State 87-39 at Value City Arena.

“It was definitely weird and interesting to play my sister, especially since we had never done it before,” Taylor said at a subsequent press conference.

The two shared a moment together about three minutes into the second quarter while they were both at the goal table checking on the game.

At first, Haley didn’t realize that it was Taylor who 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 was excited and happy.”

Haley has always been known for her defense, while Taylor has been valued more for her dynamic offensive skills.

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

Taylor had the opportunity to show Haley some of her defensive prowess on Saturday.

On the field, the two men clashed on several possessions. At one point, the 5-foot-8 Haley attempted a move on Taylor at the post, but was blocked by her 6-foot-1 sister.

“I know we’ll both remember the time she blocked me,” Haley said with a smile. “After that she said ‘thank you’ and then she took (the ball). But it was extremely fun – a few comments exchanged, 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, 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 came out on top in the second quarter, in 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 on.

It was also something of a family affair for Penguins senior Jewel Watkins.

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

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