Youngstown, Ohio — Malia Magestro scored 18 of her career-high 25 points in the second half, and Youngstown State's women's basketball team completed a 4-0 homestand by beating Mercyhurst 64-56 on Tuesday morning. The contest against the Lakers was the Annual School Kids Day game presented by Chick-fil-A Tiffany Square Plaza.
Magestro went 10-for-19 from the field overall and 5-for-11 from 3-point range to surpass her previous career high of 24 set in 2022. She was joined in double figures by Faith Burch, who tied her career high with 12 points, and Abby Liber, who had 10 points and nine rebounds.
Youngstown State is 4-0 for the fifth time in the last 13 years, and it accomplished its mission of an unbeaten four-game homestand to start the season. The Penguins will now go on the road for its next four contests.
Magestro scored five points during a 9-0 run to open the game for the Penguins in front of more than 3,500 fans on Kids Day. That early burst allowed YSU to hold the lead for more than 38 minutes, and Magestro hit big buckets in the second half once Mercyhurst rallied to take the lead.
The Penguins were plus-nine in turnover margin, which allowed them to hold a 17-6 edge in points off turnovers and win despite having a lower field-goal percentage than the Lakers. Mercyhurst shot 42.9% and had a 7-6 advantage from beyond the arc, and YSU shot 40.3%. The Penguins made four more field goals overall and one more free throw.
Bailey Kuhns led Mercyhurst with 22 points in 29 minutes before fouling out late in the fourth quarter.
The Penguins scored on four of their first five possessions, and a Jewel Watkins layup at the 7:55 mark put the team up 9-0. YSU had one field goal over the next seven minutes, but the defense allowed the Penguins to remain ahead during the drought. Sarah Baker's turnaround basket in the final minute put YSU up 15-8 at the end of the first.
Youngstown State got its lead back to nine on a Burch bucket at the 6:36 mark of the second quarter, and the redshirt junior made a layup with 4:02 on the clock to give YSU its first double-digit advantage at 26-16.
Kuhns had two points for the Lakers at that juncture, but she scored four points before the end of the half and brought Mercyhurst to within 30-24 at the break. The Lakers forward then scored eight points in the first two minutes of the third period to give Mercyhurst its only lead of the day at 32-31 with 8:06 left.
Magestro made her first of four second-half 3-pointers just over a minute later to give YSU a 34-32 lead, and the Penguins held the advantage the rest of the way. After Kuhns scored her 20th point to get Mercyhurst within 43-40 with 1:10 left in the third, Magestro hit a jumper from an out-of-bounds set, and Erica King scored on a fast break to give YSU a seven-point advantage heading into the fourth.
Liber and Burch scored in the first three possessions of the fourth quarter to extend the run to 8-0 and give the Penguins a 51-40 advantage. The Lakers fought to stay close and trailed 58-50 when Magestro hit two daggers in a three-possession span. Her fourth 3 of the game came at the 2:17 mark on a pass from Baker, and she hit another triple with a minute left on an assist from Watkins that gave YSU its largest advantage of the day at 64-50. Mercyhurst made two 3s in the final 20 seconds to shave six points off the final margin.
Youngstown State's four-game road stretch will begin Saturday with a game at Bucknell. The game against the Bison will begin at 11 a.m.
