Cleveland, Ohio – The Youngstown State women's basketball team fell 81-48 at Cleveland State on Saturday afternoon at the Wolstein Center.
The Penguins dropped their second straight game on the road trip, and they fell two games behind the Vikings in the Horizon League standings. YSU is now 16-7 overall and 10-4 in conference play, while Cleveland State improved to 21-3 overall and 12-2 against the circuit.
Cleveland State scored 13 straight points to take a 13-1 lead at the 5:36 mark of the opening quarter. Dena Jarrells scored eight points in the next two minutes to get the Penguins to within six at 15-9, and YSU trailed just 22-15 at the end of the quarter despite the undesirable start.
Megan Callahan's bucket just over a minute into the second quarter trimmed the margin to five at 22-17, and her 3-pointer at the 6:16 mark brought the Penguins to within four at 26-22. The Penguins scored two points the rest of the half, and Cleveland State built its lead back to a dozen at 36-24 at the break.
The Penguins had a one-point advantage from field goals in the opening half, but the Vikings held a 14-1 edge in points at the free-throw line.
YSU leading scorer Lilly Ritz was whistled for her fourth foul of the game at the 8:22 mark of the third quarter, backup post Emily Saunders was charged with her fourth with 5:53 left in the period. That contributed to Cleveland State scoring 18 points in the first 5:06 of the quarter to take a 54-33 lead, and Youngstown State couldn't keep up. The Vikings outscored the Penguins 29-11 in the third quarter and 16-13 in the fourth for the final margin.
Jarrells and Saunders led the Penguins in the scoring column with eight points, and Paige Shy posted five assists to go along with her five points. Ritz was held to a season-low six points, and she grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
Youngstown State went just 4-for-32 from beyond the arc, and the Penguins went without a triple from Callahan's at the 6:16 mark of the third quarter until Haley Thierry's first career 3 with 2:40 left in the fourth.
Cleveland State went just 3-for-16 from beyond the arc, but the Vikings scored 40 points in the paint and made 26 free throws. CSU was led by Amele Ngwafang's 21 points and 15 rebounds, and Destiny Leo went 12-for-12 from the free-throw line in an 18-point effort. The Vikings shot 40.6% from the field, and 21 of their 55 rebounds were on the offensive end.
Youngstown State's next four games will be at Beeghly Center, starting with a contest against Oakland on Feb. 9. Tipoff against the Golden Grizzlies is set for 7 p.m.
