The Youngstown State women's basketball team got a double-double from Lilly Ritz and a big boost from Lexi Wagner off the bench as it beat Cleveland State 70-59 on Saturday afternoon at Beeghly Center.
The Penguins endured a physical battle that lasted more than two-and-a-half hours with its Northeast Ohio rival as they matched their best starter ever to Horizon League play at 6-0. Youngstown State is now 12-1 overall, 8-0 at home and 6-0 against conference opponents.
There were 48 fouls called, including two technicals, and the teams combined to shoot 55 free throws in the game. Add in several video reviews and a delay to fix the shot clock after it was hit on a half-court heave, and the challenges were plenty on Rosselli Court. But the Penguins kept their composure and overcame a slow start offensively as they took a two-game lead on the rest of the pack in the conference standings. Cleveland State dropped to 9-3 overall and 4-2 in Horizon League play, and it is one of five teams in the conference sitting two games behind YSU in the loss column.
There were plenty of heroes in the high-effort victory for the Penguins. Ritz finished with 20 points and a season-high 14 rebounds, and Wagner scorched the nets in the second period when she scored 14 of her career-best 19 points. Megan Callahan added 14 points and three steals. Mady Aulbach was the primary defender on Cleveland State's Destiny Leo and held her to 16 points, which tied for her lowest output of the season.
After Ritz scored the first points of the game at the 8:30 mark, Cleveland State went on a 13-2 run to take a 13-4 lead with 3:38 remaining. YSU had a scoring drought of 4:30 during the run, but the Penguins scored eight points in just over a minute to get to within a point at the quarter's end.
Paige Shy made two free throws with 2:59 on the clock to stop the scoring lull, and Callahan and Wagner hit 3-pointers on YSU's next two possessions to make it 13-12.
The second-quarter score was within a possession until Lindsey Mack made two free throws at the 5:24 mark to put the Penguins up 26-22. That capped a mini 5-0 run that began when Wagner hit her first of four 3-pointers in the quarter that gave the Penguins a 24-22 lead. They did not trail again.
Wagner's second 3 came at the 3:11 mark, and it started a stretch where she scored 11 straight points for the Penguins over 1:49. Her fourth 3 of the quarter came with 1:29 on the clock, and it gave YSU its first double-digit lead of the game at 37-27. Youngstown State led 39-30 at halftime.
YSU started 1-for-7 from the field in the second as Cleveland State got within four twice in the first 3:40, but the Vikings went more than seven minutes without a field goal as the Penguins started to pull away.
A 3 by Callahan at the 4:14 mark got YSU's lead back to double digits at 48-38, and she hit another with 1:31 on the clock to push the margin to its peak at 53-39. Deja Williams hit a long 3 at the buzzer to make the score 53-43 heading into the fourth, and Cleveland State got as close as eight on a Gabriella Smith basket at the 8:35 mark of the final quarter. After that bucket, the Vikings did not make another field goal until there was 1:16 left.
The margin was 14 three more times when Ritz's bucket made the score 61-47 with 3:58 left, Chelsea Olson made two free throws with 2:39 on the clock and Malia Magestro went 2-for-2 at the line with 1:53 remaining. Cleveland State got no closer than 10.
Youngstown State shot 37.3 percent overall and went 9-for-26 from 3-point range. The Penguins were 23-for-30 from the free-throw line and outscored Cleveland State 23-18 on the charity stripe. The Vikings entered the contest leading the country in free throws makes per game. Defensively, YSU held Cleveland State under 36 percent from the field in every quarter, and the Vikings were 8-for-29 in the second half.
Youngstown State is scheduled to play its first Horizon League road contests since November next week. The Penguins will play at Wright State on Friday at 6 p.m., and they'll take on Northern Kentucky next Sunday at 2 p.m.
