The Youngstown State women's basketball team went 4-for-18 from 3-point range in the second half and surrendered too many second-chance points in a 77-68 loss to Cleveland State on Thursday evening at Beeghly Center.
The Penguins had their winning streak stopped at seven, and the Vikings won for the 12th straight game. Cleveland State is now 12-1 overall and 3-0 in Horizon League play, and YSU falls to 8-4 overall and 2-1 in conference play.
Youngstown State led 35-31 at halftime, and it held a 48-44 lead with three minutes left in the third period. Cleveland State went on a 19-5 run to go up 63-53 less than 90 seconds into the fourth quarter, and YSU got no closer than five the rest of the night. The Vikings were 6-for-6 from the free-throw line and scored seven second-chance points in the final quarter.
Megan Callahan led the Penguins with 14 points and went 4-for-7 from 3-point range, and three of her teammates also scored in double figures. Lilly Ritz finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds to record her sixth double-double of the season, Dena Jarrells scored 12, and Paige Shy finished with 11. Shy also contributed a game and career-high six assists.
Amele Ngwafang scored 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds in 15 minutes, and she scored 11 of those points in the second half. The Vikings outrebounded the Penguins 45-34, and they converted 16 offensive rebounds into 17 second-chance points. Cleveland State was also plus-five in turnover margin, and it outscored YSU 19-5 at the free-throw line.
After a 3-pointer by YSU's Shay-Lee Kirby, Cleveland State scored seven straight points to take an 18-10 lead at the 2:36 mark of the opening quarter. Kirby hit another 3 later in the quarter to the Penguins to within five, but Deja Williams countered with a 3 that gave the Vikings a 23-15 lead at the end of the first period.
Cleveland State took its largest lead of the first half at 27-18 when Williams scored again with 8:52 left on the clock. From that point, Youngstown State held the Vikings to four points the rest of the quarter and closed the half on a 17-4 burst.
Jarrells scored on a driving layup at the 3:54 mark to put the Penguins ahead 28-27, and Shy scored on a jumper a minute later to finish a 12-point run. YSU was tied or led for the next 11:40 before the Vikings went on a run in the third quarter.
Shy hit a 3 in the final 30 seconds to give YSU a 35-31 advantage at halftime, and the Penguins matched that lead at 48-44 with three minutes left in the third quarter. That's when the game flipped as Leo scored eight points during a 14-5 run to end the period. The Vikings made four of their last five field-goal attempts and went 4-for-5 from the free-throw line during that stretch.
Cleveland State led 58-53 at the end of its 27-point third quarter, and it scored the first five points of the fourth period to take a 63-53 advantage at the 8:38 mark. YSU surrendered just two points over the next 5:45, but it was only able to cut the deficit in half. Malia Magestro split two free throws at the 6:57 mark to make the score 63-58, and Ritz scored with 4:04 remaining to make it 65-60.
Cleveland State scored the next four points, and Callahan hit a big 3 at the 1:54 mark to get the Penguins back to within 69-63. YSU got an initial stop on the next possession as the Vikings ran the shot clock down, but Ngwafang had a putback to push the lead to 71-63 with 1:21 remaining. That proved to be too big of a deficit for the Penguins to overcome.
Youngstown State outshot its Northeast Ohio counterparts 41.9% to 38.2%, and it made five more 3-pointers than the Vikings. Cleveland State offset that by going 19-for-25 from the free-throw line while YSU went 5-for-10.
The Penguins will try to bounce back quickly as it will host Purdue Fort Wayne on Saturday at noon. The game will be broadcast live on 570 WKBN and ESPN+.
