The Youngstown State women's basketball team missed its first 13 attempts from 3-point range and wasn't able to finish a comeback attempt in a 67-54 loss to Green Bay on Sunday at Beeghly Center.
The Penguins dropped to 18-9 overall and 12-6 in Horizon League play, while Green Bay moved back into a tie for first place with a 16-2 mark against the conference. The Phoenix are 23-4 overall and they won for the ninth straight game. Youngstown State is in third place in the conference standings with a one-game lead on Tuesday's opponent, IUPUI.
Lilly Ritz, who was celebrated prior to the game along with fellow seniors Megan Callahan and Lindsey Mack, posted game highs of 20 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks in her final regular-season game on Rosselli Court. Callahan finished with nine points, and Mack made her first start as a Penguin.
Youngstown State trailed by as much as 25 midway through the third quarter, but it made a charge to get within 10 with plenty of time remaining in the fourth before falling.
Green Bay, which won for the 20th time in its last 21 games, was led in the scoring column by Callie Genke's 17 points and Cassie Schiltz's 16 points. Jenna Guyer came off the bench to contribute 15 points in 20 minutes.
Despite the cold start shooting, YSU nearly caught the Phoenix in field-goal percentage. Green Bay made 21-of-61 for 34.4% overall, and YSU was 20-for-60 for 33.3%. The Phoenix had just one more 3 than the Penguins, but they held a significant 19-9 edge in free throws.
Green Bay scored 12 straight points over a four-minute stretch in the first quarter to open up an 18-4 advantage, and YSU had to play from behind the rest of the way. The Penguins trailed just 6-4 after a Ritz basket from Paige Shy with 6:05 on the clock, but they did not score until Ritz ended the drought with 17 seconds left in the opening period. By that time the Phoenix had taken their 14-point lead.
YSU got back to within 10 at 18-8 and 20-10, and a 3-pointer by Dena Jarrels with 7:05 left in the second quarter made the score 20-13. That was YSU's first trey of the game on its 14th attempt, but the Penguins couldn't build on it. Green Bay didn't allow another field goal until Callahan's 3-pointer with 2:38 on the clock made the score 32-17, and Mady Aulbach followed with a 3 on YSU's next possession to make it a 12-point game.
Green Bay scored from an offensive rebound on its next possession to end the run, and a free throw by Shy in the final minute accounted for the only YSU points the rest of the half. The Phoenix held a 36-21 lead at the break.
Green Bay scored 13 of the first 16 points of the second half to push its lead to a game-high 25 points at 49-24 with 5:28 on the clock. That's when Youngstown State started its run to get back into the game.
Jarrells scored six points in 30 seconds to get the lead back under 20, and the Penguins ended up going on a 19-4 run that extended into the fourth quarter. Green Bay led 53-36 heading into the fourth, and YSU scored the first seven points of the final period to get within 53-43 and force a Phoenix timeout with 7:48 left.
The Penguins got a stop after the timeout but missed on their next possession, and Guyer converted a three-point play off an offensive rebound on the other end for Green Bay to push the lead back to 13 at 56-43. YSU got within 11 three times but couldn't string enough baskets together to cut the margin to single digits.
Youngstown State will be challenged again on Tuesday as it has to travel to Indianapolis for an evening contest at IUPUI. Tipoff at The Jungle is set for 7 p.m., and the game will be broadcast live on 1390 WNIO and ESPN+.
