Box Score
The Youngstown State women's basketball team went toe-to-toe with IUPUI again on Saturday at The Jungle, but IUPUI had a big fourth quarter for the second straight night to beat the Penguins 64-53.
The Penguins led 38-31 at halftime and 45-34 with 15 minutes left in the game, but IUPUI outscored the Penguins 30-8 from that point forward.
YSU senior Mary Dunn scored a game-high 21 points, and freshman Nneka Obiazor scored all 17 of her points in the first half. The Jaguars swarmed the two starting posts on every inside touch over the final stretch of the game, which helped them force tough shots and turnovers.
Rachel McLimore led IUPUI with 18 points, and Macee Williams had 15 points, 12 rebounds and five assists.
IUPUI improved to 13-4 overall and 11-3 against Horizon League opponents, and YSU is now 8-6 against conference teams.
Obiazor made a career-high five 3-pointers in the first half, and YSU scored the final 13 points of the second period to take a 38-30 lead at the break.
Obiazor's second triple in the first three minutes gave YSU an 8-5 lead, but McLimore hit a 3-pointer for IUPUI 18 seconds later to spark a 9-0 run that extended to a 16-5 spurt. The Jaguars led 23-15 , but YSU scored the final five points and the first two of the second to close the gap to 23-22.
Obiazor's fourth 3 tied the game at 25, and a Destiny Perkins 3-pointer and a McLimore bucket put IUPUI ahead 30-25 with 7:29 left. The Penguins didn't allow another point the rest of the half, and they scored 13 straight points to take their eight-point halftime lead.
YSU's lead grew to 45-34 after a deep 3 by Chelsea Olson and a Dunn basket at the 5:14 mark, and IUPUI called a timeout. From that point, IUPUI closed the quarter on a 10-1 run to shave the margin to 46-44 and build momentum for the fourth period.
Katelyn O'Reilly made two free throws at the 8:09 mark to give IUPUI a 47-46 lead, and Olson rebounded her own miss for a basket to end a field-goal drought of 7:30 to give YSU its final lead at 48-47 with 7:43 remaining. The Penguins missed their next three shots with opportunities to build on their lead, and a three-point play by McLimore with 5:37 remaining sparked the final push for IUPUI.
Maddie Schires hit a 3 to get the Penguins back within five once a 56-48 lead, but O'Reilly answered with a three-point play to up the margin back to eight with 1:34 remaining.
Youngstown State shot 53.8 percent in the first half but 23.1 percent in the second half to finish at 38.5 percent for the game. YSU made eight 3-pointers, three more than IUPUI, but the Jaguars held a 12-point edge at the free-throw line. IUPUI attempted 17 more free throws than YSU on Saturday and 40-12 edge in free-throw attempts in the series.
Youngstown State will play its final two games of the regular season next weekend against Cleveland State. Tipoff on Friday against the Vikings will be at 2 p.m. at Beeghly Center.
