Box Score
The Youngstown State women's basketball team went 6-for-29 from the field in the second half and saw its five-game winning streak end with a 61-46 loss at Robert Morris on Friday evening.
The Penguins had shot at least 47 percent from the field in each game of their five-game streak, and they shot 44.4 percent in the first half as they trailed 32-30. YSU was behind just 44-39 heading into the fourth, but it went almost nine minutes without a field goal in the final period as Robert Morris pulled away.
Nneka Obiazor led all scorers with 16 points, and Mary Dunn scored 10 points for YSU. Chelsea Olson was the top-scoring guard with seven points, and she added five assists.
Dahomeé Forgues led Robert Morris with 12 points, and Sol Castro posted 10 points and 15 rebounds. Robert Morris held a 46-37 rebounding advantage despite being outrebounded by more than 12 per game entering the contest.
Robert Morris led by five twice during the first five minutes of the opening period at 9-4 and 11-6, but YSU was able to go on a 9-4 burst to tie the score at 15. A 3-pointer by Olson started the spurt, and a three-point play on a back-door cut by Maddie Schires ended it at the 1:58 mark.
The Penguins were held scoreless the remainder of the opening quarter, and Robert Morris made two 3-pointers in the first minute of the second period to take a 23-17 advantage.
The lead grew to 25-18, then Obiazor backed her way inside for a bucket and Peters hit a deep 3 to get the Penguins within 25-23 at the 7:07 mark. YSU went without a field goal for nearly five minutes as Robert Morris built its lead to 32-23 to force a Penguins timeout at the 3:52 mark.
After that timeout, YSU didn't allow another point the rest of the period. Three straight points by Obiazor got her into double digits, and a floater by Olson got YSU within four at 32-28 with 2:12 left. Olson then had a spin-and-scoop for another bucket with 48 seconds left for the final points of the opening half.
YSU played zone defense often through the midway point of the second period, but it switched to man-to-man after Esther Castedo's 3-pointer with 5:57 remaining gave the Colonials four 3-pointers in just over 14 minutes. RMU finished 7-for-25 from 3-point range for the game, and YSU was 3-for-20.
Obiazor led all scorers with 12 points in the opening half, and Olson had seven points to go along with four assists.
Obiazor tied the score at 32 at the 8:47 mark of the third period, but Robert Morris scored 10 of the next 14 points to go up 42-34 on a fast-break layup by Forgues with 3:12 remaining.
Dunn converted a three-point play and scored another two points in the final 2:30 of the quarter to help the Penguins get back within 44-39 at the horn.
Maddie Schires hit a 3-pointer at the 9:18 mark of the fourth period to cut the margin to 46-43, but the Penguins didn't make another field goal until Emma VanZanten's basket with 27.7 seconds left.
Laura Carrasco and Forgues hit 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to push the RMU lead to 54-44, and another 3 by Carrasco made it 59-44 with 4:33 remaining. Sol Castro's bucket with 2:05 remaining accounted for Robert Morris' final points of the night.
Youngstown State will try to split the weekend series on Saturday when the teams play again at UPMC Events Center. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m., an the game will be carried live on 1390 WNIO and ESPN+.
