The Youngstown State women's basketball team outscored Robert Morris in all four quarters and led for more than 35 minutes in a 61-44 victory on Saturday afternoon at Beeghly Center. The win was the 300th in YSU head coach John Barnes' career.
The Penguins won for the third time this season against the Colonials and completed a sweep of this week's home-and-home series. YSU improved to a conference-best 17-2 overall and 11-1 in Horizon League play, while Robert Morris fell to 7-10 and 5-7 in the league.
For Barnes, it was his 144th victory in his eight-plus seasons at Youngstown State. He also won 156 games from 2003-10 as the head coach at Division II Michigan Tech.
Lilly Ritz highlighted the Penguins' scoring fleet, scoring a game-high 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting while adding a game-high 18 rebounds. That was the highest rebound total since Heidi Schlegel grabbed 18 on Jan. 15, 2015, in a game against Cleveland State. Malia Magestro was YSU's second-leading scorer, finishing with 14 points and acting as one of four Penguins who shot 100% from the foul line. Lexi Wagner was the other Penguin to reach double figures, tallying 10 points on 3-of-10 shooting.
Robert Morris was led by Esther Castedo, who posted 15 points and a team-high three assists. Sol Castro was also in double figures with 10 points.
Chelsea Olson got the Penguins on the board with a layup in the paint on an assist from Ritz at the 7:55 mark to halt a 5-0 RMU run to begin the game. That Olson basket sparked a 12-2 run for the Penguins, who took their first lead of the game at 9-7 when Wagner made three throws at the 5:28 mark. The Colonials had a near four-minute scoring drought that stretched from 7:02 to the 3:19 mark of the quarter, and a Jen Wendler bucket with 1:09 left stretched YSU's lead to 16-11. The Penguins led 18-14 heading into the second.
Starting 0-of-4 from deep, YSU connected on its first of back-to-back long-range baskets of the game with 7:12 remaining in the half on 3 from Magestro. That accounted for her first of 14 points in the game. After an RMU three-ball on the other end, Olson forced a turnover, traveled the length of the floor and accepted a pass from Magestro for an open three in front of the Colonials' bench to extend the Penguin lead to six at the 6:17 point.
The Penguins found their biggest lead of the half on a pair of occasions, extending the advantage to eight at the 3:12 and 1:16 marks. The final made basket of the half for either team came at the 1:03 mark with a turnaround jump shot from Castro to bring the YSU advantage to six heading into the halftime locker room.
Out of the half, Megan Callahan knocked down the first YSU points of the third quarter with a 3-pointer at the 8:23 mark that ended the Penguins' four-minute field goal drought that extended back to the 3:12 mark of the second quarter. Following a Robert Morris bucket at the 4:22 mark that brought YSU's lead to 37-32, a pair of baskets by Ritz and a made jumper from Wagner fueled a YSU 7-0 scoring run to propel the Penguins to a 44-32 advantage with 32 ticks remaining in the period.
The Penguins played the entirety of the final quarter with no less than a nine-point advantage, ultimately winning by a decisive 17 points. The Colonials clawed back to within nine at 4:50 and 3:42, but missed shots on ensuing possessions plagued RMU from putting together a comeback bid. The YSU defense forced Robert Morris to shoot just 2-of-15 in the fourth quarter.
YSU outrebounded RMU 42-27, holding a 30-20 edge on the defensive boards. The Penguins were 19-of-51 (37.3 percent) from the field and 6-of-24 (25 percent) from the three, while also posting an impressive 17-of-21 from the foul line. Robert Morris shot just 29.8 percent from the field and went 3-for-14 from 3-point range.
The Penguins are back in action next weekend for a two-game home stint at the Beeghly Center, facing off against Detroit Mercy and Oakland. Tip-off against the Titans is slated for Friday, Jan. 28, at 7 p.m.
