Five players scored in double figures as the Youngstown State women's basketball team knocked off Detroit Mercy 78-59 on Friday evening at the Beeghly Center.
Malia Magestro led the Penguins with 15 points while Lilly Ritz and Paige Shy each had 14 points. Chelsea Olson, who was one rebound shy of a triple-double, posted 12 points and 10 assists while Megan Callahan also had 12 points.
The Penguins improve to 18-2 overall and 12-1 in the Horizon League while the Titans fall to 0-19 overall and 0-12 in the league.
The Penguins led for nearly 36 minutes in the contest, and the margin was double digits for the entire second half.
Detroit Mercy led 2-0 and 4-3 in the first two minutes of the game, but the Penguins went on a 13-2 run to take a 16-6 lead at the 5:09 mark of the opening quarter. Callahan scored on a driving reverse layup to spark an 8-0 run, and she had seven points during the 13-2 stretch. After Olson's bucket gave the Penguins their 10-point lead, YSU made just one field goal the rest of the quarter as the Titans went on an 11-4 run.
Brandi Washington's jumper with 29 seconds left in the first cut the margin to 20-17, and Lucia Fleta Robles hit a 3-pointer on the first possession of the second quarter to tie the score at 20.
The score remained 20-20 for more than two minutes until Ritz made a free throw at the 7:40 mark, and Magestro came off the bench with two fouls to make a 3-pointer with 6:21 remaining to give the Penguins a boost at 24-20. Detroit Mercy got within three twice before Youngstown State scored the final seven points of the half to take a 42-30 lead heading into the locker room. Ritz scored on back-to-back possessions to start the spurt, and Shy made a 3-pointer with 23 seconds on the clock to complete it.
Ritz scored 12 points in the first half while Magestro had 10. Olson neared the triple-double in the first half with eight points, eight rebounds and eight assists.
Youngstown State made three 3-pointers and went 7-for-9 from the free-throw line to bolster the lead to 16, 62-46, at the end of three quarters. Olson scored her 10th point on a pair of free throws at the 7:28 mark of the quarter, and her 10th assist came on a pick-and-roll with Ritz with 33.2 seconds remaining. She ended the quarter with 10 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds, and she went to the bench with 4:36 on the clock in the fourth still stuck at nine.
YSU's lead reached 20 for the first time on another Shy 3-pointer at the 8:26 mark of the fourth period, and the largest difference in the game came when Jen Wendler's basket put the Penguins ahead 78-53 with 3:25 left.
The Penguins forced 12 Titans' second-half turnovers and scored 11 points off of those miscues. For the game, YSU was plus-nine in turnover margin and held a 22-6 edge in points off turnovers.
Youngstown State shot 41.9% from the field, and it went 9-for-30 from 3-point range. YSU held a big edge at the free-throw line, outscoring the Titans 17-5. The Penguins also made five more 3-pointers than the visitors.
Monique Pruitt came off the bench to score 19 points, and three other Titans reached double figures.
The Penguins will host Oakland on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Beeghly Center.
