Box Score
Taylor Petit scored a career-high 19 points, and the Youngstown State women's basketball team earned its fourth straight win with a 77-65 victory over UIC on Monday evening at Beeghly Center.
Petit helped the Penguins overcome a rare cool shooting performance in their own gym as they went 8-for-39 from beyond the 3-point arc. Petit was 5-for-12 overall from the field, 3-for-7 from long distance and 6-for-6 from the free-throw line. The Penguins were an impressive 23-of-25 from the free-throw line and outscored the Flames by 15 at the charity stripe.
Chelsea Olson scored 14 points and was 11-of-12 from the free-throw line, and Ny'Dajah Jackson scored 14 points while adding three steals in 29 minutes off the bench. McKenah Peters had nine points and a career-best 14 rebounds.
Tylah Lampley scored a game-high 22 points to lead UIC.
YSU scored the first six points of the game on 3-pointers by Peters and Petit, but UIC regrouped out of a timeout and scored 13 of the next 16 points to take a 13-9 lead. That ended up being the only time the Flames led in the game.
Youngstown State scored the final nine points of the first period and the first four of the second period to take a 22-13 lead on a layup by Peters at the 8:14 mark. The Penguins held a 27-20 with 5:59 left before halftime, but UIC kept them scoreless and scored the next six points to get within one. A Gabby Lupardus basket at the 1:10 mark ended the YSU drought and made the score 29-26, and Quinece Hatcher beat the buzzer on a long two to put YSU ahead 31-26 at halftime.
YSU outscored the Flames 24-11 in the third period, and a 17-3 run helped the Penguins take a 51-31 lead at the 1:55 mark. Petit had nine points in the quarter, and YSU turned seven UIC turnovers into nine points as it took a 55-37 lead into the fourth.
Two Petit free throws at the 7:35 mark of the fourth period gave YSU a 57-39 lead, but UIC got hot and went on an 18-5 run to get within 62-57 with 3:06 remaining. After a Penguins timeout, Olson hit her first 3 of the game to push the lead back to eight, and a Jackson basket gave the Penguins a 69-59 cushion with 1:48 remaining. UIC got no closer than eight the rest of the game.
Youngstown State will play its next five contests on the road, beginning with a game at Northern Kentucky on Thursday at 7 p.m. The contest will be broadcast live on 1390 WNIO and ESPN+.
