Megan Callahan hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 0.9 seconds remaining to lift the Youngstown State women's basketball team to a storybook 59-57 victory over Robert Morris on Thursday night at the UPMC Events Center.
Callahan, a Robert Morris graduate who transferred to YSU this season, helped the Penguins overcome a 12-point deficit and improve to 16-2 overall and 10-1 in Horizon League play. She finished with 13 points, 10 of which came in the second half, in the building she used to call home.
Lilly Ritz scored a game-high 16 points and added 10 rebounds for her sixth double-double, and Malia Magestro and Lexi Wagner both finished with 11 points. Chelsea Olson had eight assists, including one on the game-winner by Callahan.
Olson became Youngstown State's career leader in minutes played, and she also became the 12th player in program history to reach 1,300 career points.
Robert Morris led 21-9 15 minutes into the game, and the Penguins were able to close the first half on a 16-4 run to the tie game at 25. Youngstown State didn't trail until the five-minute mark of the fourth quarter, and the score was within a possession the rest of the way.
Olson's three-point play put the Penguins ahead 56-53 at the 2:46 mark, but Robert Morris scored the next four points to go up 57-56 on a Natalie Villaflor free throw with 1:07 on the clock.
Wagner, who made her first three 3-pointers of the game, missed from long distance on YSU's next possession, and the Penguins elected to play defense with a nine-second differential between the shot clock and game clock. Callahan forced a turnover by RMU's Nina Augustin on a drive to the basket with 8.4 seconds remaining to give the Penguins a chance.
YSU called timeout to advance the ball to the frontcourt, and a deflection took 0.8 seconds off the clock. Olson then inbounded the ball to Magestro, who gave it back to Olson. Olson drove from the right wing to the foul line and, with the defense collapsed, hit Callahan on the left wing to set the stage for the graduate transfer.
Callahan finished 3-for-8 from 3-point range, and Magestro and Wagner also had three 3s. The Penguins started 2-for-11 from beyond the arc, but they made eight of their final 15 tries.
Olson reached 1,300 career points on a jumper at the 3:32 mark of the opening quarter, but that was YSU's last field goal of the period. The Olson bucket gave the Penguins a 7-6 lead, and Robert Morris scored the final six points to take a 12-7 advantage into the second quarter.
Ritz scored at 8:43 of the second quarter to stop a field-goal drought of nearly five minutes for the Penguins. Her basket YSU to within a possession, but Villaflor followed with a basket for RMU to start a 9-0 run that gave the home squad its largest lead at 21-9.
Wagner hit a 3 at the end of the shot clock on the next possession, which started the 16-4 run to end the half. Ritz had 10 points during the run, and Callahan finished it with a 3-pointer with 12 seconds left on the clock.
Magestro's first of three 3-pointers of the third quarter gave the Penguins a 28-25 lead, their first advantage since it was 7-6, at the 8:52 mark. Her third 3 put YSU ahead 36-32 with 5:48 remaining, but the Penguins didn't score for more than four minutes as RMU tied the score at 36. Wagner's 3-pointer gave YSU a 39-36 lead in the final minute, and Esther Castedo followed with a triple to knot the score heading into the fourth.
Three-pointers by Wagner and Callahan gave the Penguins a 45-39 lead less than 90 seconds into the fourth. Robert Morris tied the score at 45 on a free throw by Sol Castro with 5:43 left, and Simone Morris' 3 at the 5-minute mark gave Robert Morris a 48-47 lead. That was its first advantage of the second half.
Wagner tied the score with two free throws at 51 with 4:06 on the clock, and YSU also had leads of 53-51 and 56-53 before the Colonials went on their four-point run to go up 57-56.
Youngstown State will try to knock off Robert Morris again on Saturday when the teams play for the third time this season. Tipoff against the Colonials at Beeghly Center is set for 1 p.m.
