Youngstown, Ohio — Malia Magestro scored her 1,000th career point, and Youngstown State's women's basketball team used an early burst to beat St. Bonaventure 60-52 on Tuesday evening at Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center.
The Penguins scored the first nine points of the game, and they led for the rest of the night. St. Bonaventure kept clawing behind 24 points from Dani Haskell, and the Bonnies got as close as five with four minutes left.
The margin was 55-50 after a Isabellah Middelton layup with 3:30 on the clock, but the Penguins did not surrender another field goal the rest of the night.
Magestro finished with a team-high 15 points, and her milestone came on a drive to the basket at the 3:10 mark of the second quarter. Jewel Watkins scored 14 points and blocked three shots, Bella Samz scored a career-best 10 points, and Abby Liber grabbed 11 rebounds.
Youngstown State is now 2-0 this season, and it avenged a 55-47 loss to the Bonnies in New York last season.
Youngstown State did not allow any points until the 4:46 mark of the opening quarter, and the Penguins held the Bonnies to 28.1% shooting for the night.
Entering the night eight points away from 1,000, Magestro scored five points during YSU's opening run that gave it a 9-0 lead. Her bucket at the 4:26 mark got her to seven points, and Samz buried a 3 less than a minute later to give YSU a 14-4 lead. That 10-point advantage ended up being YSU's largest, and the Penguins matched that eight times throughout the game.
Haskell hit a 3 to make the score 17-10 at the end of the opening quarter, and the Bonnies got within four twice in the second quarter. Magestro's 1,000th career point came on a layup with 3:10 left in the period, and she got the lead back to 10 at 26-16. The margin was 30-25 at halftime.
Liber hit a 3-pointer two minutes into the third quarter to push the advantage back to 10 at 37-27, and the junior made a free throw at the 5:16 mark to make it 40-30. Faith Burch's two free throws gave the Penguins a 47-37 lead with a minute left in the period, and YSU led 47-39 with 10 minutes remaining.
The Penguins led by 10 three times in the first four minutes of the fourth, but they went scoreless for three minutes as St. Bonaventure closed to within 53-48. The margin was five points again at 55-50 after Middleton's basket, but a Watkins free throw and a Samz pullup jumper pushed the score to a more comfortable, 58-50 margin. Liber followed two St. Bonaventure free throws with a breakaway layup for the final score.
Youngstown State shot 38.3% overall, and it was 17-for-29 inside the three-point arc. St. Bonaventure went 5-for-23 from long distance after going 13-for-23 in its season opener.
The Penguins will continue their homestand at Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center on Friday against Clarion. The contest against the Golden Eagles is an addition to the schedule, and it will begin at 6:30 p.m.
