The Youngstown State women's basketball team had its most steals in a game in nine years, and it earned its 10th victory of the season with an 87-41 win over Point Park on Tuesday morning. The contest against the NAIA Pioneers was the Eighth Annual School Field Trip Game, presented by Chick-fil-A in Boardman.
Lilly Ritz had 15 points and four steals in 15 minutes of action, and Chelsea Olson had 15 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals in 21 minutes as the Penguins finished up non-conference play. YSU has an eight-day break between games for the holidays, and the Penguins will carry a 10-1 record when Horizon League competition gets in full swing on Dec. 30.
Youngstown State finished the game with 16 steals, which was its highest total since having 16 against Wilmington on Dec. 9, 2012. The Penguins had nine steals in the first period as it built a 14-2 lead. YSU led 34-17 at halftime, and it outscored the Pioneers 53-24 over the final 20 minutes.
All 12 Penguins made at least one field goal, and no starter played more than 24 minutes.
Youngstown State was sluggish offensively at the start and led just 2-0 at the under-five-minute media timeout, but Malia Magestro hit a 3 out of the break to provide a spark. YSU scored 13 points over the final 4:38 of the period, and nine of those points came from turnovers.
A Ritz basket from Magestro gave the Penguins their largest lead of the first half at 21-2 just under 90 seconds into the second period. The Pioneers battled and got within 11 with two minutes left in the half, but a bucket by Jen Wendler and two more baskets from Ritz pushed the margin to 17 at halftime.
Youngstown State then shot 73.3 percent in the third period to extend the margin to 65-30. A 3-pointer by Paige Shy at the 9:08 mark increased the margin past 20 for the first time at 39-17, and the Penguins led by at least 20 for the rest of the contest. A fast-break layup by Haley Thierry with 1:35 left in the fourth period capped a 17-0 YSU run that made the score 85-39, and YSU maintained that 46-point margin for the final.
Lexi Petit led Point Park with 12 points in 31 minutes, and she hit two of PPU's three 3-pointers. The Penguins limited the Pioneers' top two scorers, guard Michelle Burns and forward Taylor Rinn, to two combined points on 1-for-11 shooting. That tandem came in averaging 29.2 points per game combined.
For the game, Youngstown State shot 43.7 percent overall and 29.7 percent from beyond the arc. The Penguins held a 43-33 edge in rebounding, and it finished with a sizeable 35-8 margin in points off turnovers. Point Park shot 32.7 percent overall and 13 percent from 3-point range.
Youngstown State will be back in action on Thursday, Dec. 30, to start a big Horizon League homestand. The Penguins will host Purdue Fort Wayne on Dec. 30 at 1 p.m., and they'll take on Cleveland State on Jan. 1 at 1 p.m. The Mastodons are 3-1 in conference play, and the Vikings are 4-0.
