The Youngstown State women's basketball team made 15 3-pointers in the first three quarters and withstood a second-half push by Green Bay as it beat the Phoenix 67-58 on Saturday afternoon at Beeghly Center.
The Penguins improved to 7-0 overall and 4-0 in conference play, and they completed a Horizon League sweep against Milwaukee and Green Bay, which were picked second and third in the preseason coaches poll.
Megan Callahan scored a career and game-high 20 points and went 4-for-7 from 3-point range, and Malia Magestro made a career-best five 3s to finish with 15 points. Five different Penguins made at least two 3-pointers, and Youngstown State finished one shy of the school record for 3s in a game.
Youngstown State was 1-for-5 from 3-point range to start the game with a triple by Callahan at the 7:36 mark of the opening quarter accounting for its only points over the first six minutes of the contest. Green Bay led 7-3 following a 3-pointer by Hailey Oskey, but the Penguins held a 13-12 lead at the end of the period after Magestro nailed a 3 with 33 seconds left. Her trey accounted for the fifth lead change of the opening quarter, and YSU did not trail again.
A Magestro 3-pointer at the 3:24 mark of the first period started a stretch where the Penguins made nine of their next 14 attempts from 3-point range over a stretch of 11:38 as they opened up a 37-23 lead. Magestro hit three, Lindsey Mack and Paige Shy both made two, and Mady Aulbach and Callahan both made one.
The Penguins led 37-26 at halftime, and they withstood a Green Bay charge in which the Phoenix made six straight 3-point attempts. Green Bay got as close as four at 47-43 on an Oskey triple at the 3:50 mark of the third period, but Callahan hit a pair of 3s in a 30-second span to push the margin back to 10 at 53-43. YSU led 53-47 at the end of the third, and the difference was at least five the rest of the game.
Youngstown State will play two non-conference road games next week, starting with a contest at Canisius on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The game against the Golden Griffins will be broadcast live on 1390 WNIO and ESPN3.
