Youngstown State senior Lilly Ritz surpassed 2,000 career points as the Penguins fell 87-80 on Tuesday night at IUPUI.
Ritz finished the night with 20 points and 14 rebounds while adding four steals and two blocks. She entered the night with 1,986 points, 924 of which had come in her two seasons at YSU. She will enter the regular-season finale on Tuesday with 2,006 career points and 944 as a Penguin.
Dena Jarrells scored a game-high 25 points, which was a new career high, and she added a game-best five assists.
Youngstown State dropped into a tie with IUPUI for third place in the Horizon League standings with a 12-7 record. YSU is 18-10 overall, while IUPUIÂ improved to 16-12. The Jaguars swept the regular-season series, which gives them a potential tiebreaker in seeding for the 2023 Barbasol Horizon League Women's Basketball Championship.
Youngstown State, which played for the third time in the last five days, struggled to guard the Jaguars. IUPUI's 87 points were the most scored by an opponent this season. YSU was good enough offensively to stay in the game, though. The Penguins went 11-for-28 from 3-point range for 39.3%, and they shot 44.4% overall. They had a nine-point advantage over the Jaguars in points from the field, but IUPUI went 29-for-34 from the free-throw line.
Youngstown State outscored IUPUI 27-17 in the first period, and it led by 12 twice in the first minute of the second quarter. The Jaguars counterpunched with a 27-12 advantage in the second quarter, and YSU was not able to take the lead in the second half.Malia Magestro made YSU's fourth 3-pointer in the first five minutes to give the Penguins an 18-6 lead at the 5:08 mark. Ritz scored her 10th point of the game on the final possession of the quarter to give YSU the 10-point cushion after 10 minutes.
Ritz scored again on the first possession of the second period to get to a dozen points, but IUPUI started swarming her on defense. That opened up the perimeter for YSU's guards to make 11 3-pointers, but Ritz was held to eight points the rest of the way.
Emily Saunders followed Ritz's basket with one of her own to give YSU a 31-19 lead at the 9:13 mark of the second period, but the Penguins made just two of their final eight attempts and had five turnovers in the final nine minutes. That contributed to IUPUI going on an extended 25-10 run to close the half. The Jaguars made three 3-pointers in the final three minutes and five overall in the quarter as the built a 44-39 lead going into the locker room.
Ritz scored on the first possession of the second quarter, and Emily Saunders countered two IUPUI free throws to put YSU ahead 31-19 at the 9:13 mark. That was YSU's last field goal until Jarrells hit a 3 with 5:40 on the clock, which gave the Penguins a 35-28 lead. Jarrells hit a pullup jumper at the 3:11 mark to put YSU up 37-33, but the Guins didn't make a field goal the rest of the half.
Youngstown State tied the game twice in the third quarter but could never regain the lead that it held for much of the first half. Paige Shy hit a triple with 8:16 on the clock to knot the game at 46, and Jarrells buried a 3 at the 6:44 mark to get into double figures and tie the game at 49. IUPUI hit four free throws as part of a 7-0 run that allowed it to regain control, but Ritz banked in a 14-footer at the buzzer to cut the margin to 62-58 heading into the fourth. That basket put Ritz over the 2,000-point marker.
YSU got within a possession when Magestro's 3-pointer with 6:41 on the clock made the score 68-65, but that's as close as it would get. IUPUI's leading scorer fouled out with 2:50 left and the Jaguars up by five, and Jarrells went 1-for-2 at the line to make the score 73-69. IUPUI scored six points in the next minute to push the margin to an insurmountable 10.
Youngstown State will try to finish the regular season with a victory as it travels to Robert Morris on Saturday. That game will tip off at 3 p.m., and it will be broadcast live on 1390 WNIO and ESPN3.
