Chelsea Olson scored a career-high 28 points, and Jen Wendler scored 10 points in the second half to help the Youngstown State women's basketball team beat Canisius 69-66 on Wednesday evening at the Koessler Athletic Center.
The Penguins improved to 8-0 for the third time in program history by escaping with the three-point win over the Golden Griffins.
Olson's career night came on 12-of-16 shooting from the field, and she was 10-for-11 inside the 3-point arc. She played nearly 38 minutes and added four rebounds, two assists and two steals. Wendler was 3-for-7 from the floor and 4-for-5 from the free-throw line.
Erika Joseph went 4-for-5 from 3-point range to score 16 points, and Dani Haskell had 14 points for Canisius, which dropped to 2-6.
Youngstown State led for 34:23 in the game, and it held a 63-50 lead with less than three minutes left in the game. Canisius went on an 11-2 run to get within four at 65-61 with 28 seconds remaining, but the Penguins went 4-for-6 from the free-throw line and forced a turnover on defense to help close out the win. Haskell hit a long, uncontested 3-pointer at the buzzer to trim a six-point difference to three for the final score.
Youngstown State shot 46.5 percent from the field, including 52.9 percent over the final three quarters. The Penguins were 7-for-16 from 3-point range in the first half but were 0-for-7 in the second half. Canisius shot 46.5 percent, the highest mark by an opponent this season, and went 7-for-17 from beyond the arc.
Canisius held a 29-13 edge in free-throw attempts, and eight of YSU's attempts from the charity stripe came in the final 89 seconds as the Golden Griffins were trying to extend the game.
The teams were deadlocked at 6-6 for more than three minutes in the first period until Olson scored her first five points of the night and Lindsey Mack hit a 3 to put YSU ahead 14-6. The Penguins led 14-8 at the end of the period, and Youngstown State's margin was 33-25 at halftime as Olson hit a 3 with a minute left to reach a dozen points.
Starting guards Mady Aulbach and Megan Callahan played a combined 7:26 in the first half due to being whistled for two fouls apiece in the first period.
Olson scored on the first possession of the second half to put the Penguins up 35-25 and give them their first double-digit lead of the game, but the Golden Griffins scored 14 of the next 16 points of the game to take their only lead of the second half. Haskell's three-point play at the 6:03 mark made it 39-37, but the Penguins counterpunched with a 20-4 run over the next 9:40 to go up 57-43. Wendler scored all 10 of her points during that game-deciding run, and she finished it with a three-point play with 6:23 left in the game.
Olson tied her career high with an elbow jumper to give YSU a 63-50 lead with 3:04 left, and she made two free throws with 1:29 on the clock to set a new personal standard. Her previous career high was 26 at Cleveland State on Jan. 20, 2018, in her freshman year.
Youngstown State will play its final non-conference road game of the regular season as it travels to Penn State on Sunday. Tipoff at the Bryce Jordan Center is set for 2 p.m., and the game will be broadcast live on 570 WKBN and B1G+.
