Box Score
IUPUI scored the final eight points of the game and held an 11-point edge in the fourth period as it rallied to defeat the Youngstown State women's basketball team 72-65 on Friday evening at The Jungle.
The Penguins led by as many as 15 points twice in the first half, but they had scoring lulls at the end of both halves that proved costly. IUPUI closed the first half on a 14-2 run, and it ended the game 15-3 spurt.
IUPUI improved to 12-4 overall and 10-3 in Horizon League play, and Youngstown State dropped to 8-5 overall and against the conference.
Mary Dunn led the Penguins with 18 points and five rebounds, and three of her teammates joined her in double figures. Nneka Obiazor and Chelsea Olson both had 11 points, and McKenah Peters had 10. Malia Magestro added nine points on 4-of-5 shooting and had three steals.
Macee Williams paced the Jaguars with 25 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. She also had one of the biggest plays of the game at the 5:10 mark of the fourth period when her offensive rebound led to a three-point play that gave the Jaguars their first lead since the opening minutes.
Youngstown State shot 48.2 percent for the game despite shooting 27.3 percent in the fourth period. IUPUI shot 51.9 percent and made at least half of their attempts in each period. IUPUI grabbed seven offensive rebounds and turned them into 12 second-chance points.
The Jaguars were 10-for-17 from the free-throw line, and YSU was 4-for-6. IUPUI had a 13-0 edge in free-throw attempts in the second half, and it wasn't whistled for a foul in the second half until the 3:02 mark of the fourth period.
The Penguins started the game in a flurry and led by as many as 15 points twice in the first half. With the game tied at 6-6, Youngstown State scored 11 straight points to take a 17-6 lead with 4:23 left. The first 15-point lead came when a Maddie Schires 3-pointer at the 1:31 mark made the score 24-9, and YSU's advantage was 28-15 at the end of the period.
The lead was 15 again at 35-20 on a Peters layup with 7:28 remaining in the second period, but YSU scored just two points the rest of the half. IUPUI outscored the Penguins 10-0 over the final 4:44 as part of an overall 14-2 run to close the half.
IUPUI tied the score at 41-41 on a Williams basket two minutes into the second half, but YSU held and eventually took a 52-45 lead on a layup from Dunn on a nice pass from Obiazor at the 3:12 mark. YSU led 56-52 at the end of the period.
An Olson 3-pointer gave the Penguins a 62-57 lead at the 6:38 mark, but YSU had one field goal the rest of the game. Meanwhile, IUPUI had five points on one trip down the floor midway through the period that gave the Jaguars their first lead since it was 3-2 in the opening minutes.
Rachel McLimore hit a jumper at the 5:11 mark, and Williams grabbed an offensive rebound on McLimore's missed free throw to start a three-point play. That put IUPUI up 64-62, and YSU's last lead was 65-64 on an Obiazor 3-pointer with 2:43 remaining. Perkins' fourth 3-pointer of the game came 20 seconds later, and a Williams basket with 42 seconds remaining upped the margin to two possessions at 69-65. IUPUI added three free throws for the final tally.
The Penguins will try to earn a split in the weekend series on Saturday when the teams play against at 6 p.m.
