The Youngstown State women's basketball team scored 15 straight points to take the lead in the final moments, but Northern Kentucky's Lindsey Duvall scored with 3.8 seconds left to send the Norse to a 59-58 victory on Thursday in Beeghly Center.
The Norse advance to the semifinals of the 2023 Barbasol Horizon League Women's Basketball Championship with the one-point victory. NKU is 17-13 overall, while YSU dropped to 19-11.
Lilly Ritz grabbed 21 rebounds, which was a Horizon League Tournament record for a single game, and scored 17 points. She scored 10 of those points in the fourth quarter as the Penguins made their charge. Dena Jarrells scored 15 points and registered four assists, and Malia Magestro added 10 points.
Duvall and Ivy Turner led NKU with 14 points apiece, and Kailee Davis finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.
Both teams struggled from the field at the outset to set the stage for a defensive battle, but the Norse shot 51.7% in the middle two quarters as they led by as many as 16 at 43-27 with 4:50 left in the third quarter.
Paige Shy hit a 3-pointer just before the third-quarter horn to get the Penguins within 52-40 and give the team and a big crowd an energy boost for the final 10 minutes.
Jarrells hit a triple at the 7:48 mark to get the Penguins within 10 points at 53-43, and Ritz started her scoring tear with a steal and layup with 4:20 remaining that cut the deficit to single digits at 57-48. That was the first time the margin was under 10 since the opening 30 seconds of the third quarter.
Ritz's steal and score started a stretch where she scored on five straight possessions, and she went 2-for-2 from the free-throw line with 52.5 seconds left to get the Penguins to within one at 57-56. Youngstown State then forced a turnover on defense, and Megan Callahan scored on a driving layup with 8.1 seconds left to give YSU its first lead since the score was 14-12.
NKU called timeout to advance the ball to the frontcourt, and Duvall received the inbounds pass near the baseline. Officials were letting the teams play physically down the stretch, and Duvall ran through Magestro on her way to an open layup on the right block with 3.7 left. That was the Norse's only field goal of the fourth quarter.
YSU called timeout to advance the ball, and NKU doubled Ritz in the paint to take away the primary option. The Penguins had to settle for a contested 3-point attempt by Jarrells that bounced off the backboard and rim.
NKU started the game 0-for-10 from the field and just 1-for-14 as Youngstown State took three different four-point leads in the first eight minutes. Jarrells' three-point play with 20 seconds on the clock gave the Penguins their largest lead of the game at 14-9.
Kennedy Igo hit a 3-pointer for the Norse before the end of the quarter to make the score 14-12, and NKU scored the first eight points of the second quarter to extend the run to 11-0. Northern Kentucky's first lead came when Khamari Mitchell-Steen hit a jumper at the 7:31 mark, and NKU did not trail until Callahan's layup with 8.1 seconds left in the game.
Ritz's first points of the night didn't come until a layup with 3:58 on the clock brought the Penguins within two, and Magestro made two free throws with 2:26 left to tie the score at 22. NKU scored the final eight points of the half, including two by Turner on a putback at the buzzer.
Youngstown State didn't score in the second half until a Jarrells 3-pointer with 6:15 left, and NKU took its largest lead at 43-27 on a 3-pointer by Davis with 4:50 remaining. That 3 completed a 21-5 run for the Norse after Magestro's free throws tied the score at 22.
Neither team shot the ball well from the field as both squads made 20 field goals, and YSU held the upper hand at 37%. The Penguins made three more 3s than the Norse, but NKU held a 16-12 edge at the free-throw line.
