The Youngstown State women's basketball team scored the first eight points of the game and never looked back in a 72-52 victory at Wright State on Wednesday night.
The Penguins won their fourth straight game, including the last three on the road, and have improved their record to 12-14 overall and 8-8 in Horizon League play.
After beginning the month fighting to avoid a first-round road game in the upcoming Barbasol Horizon League Women's Basketball Championship, the Penguins are now just a half-game out of a first-round bye. The Penguins are 4-0 in February, and they possess the longest winning streak in the conference.
Malia Magestro led a balanced YSU scoring effort with 14 points, and five of her teammates scored at least nine points. Dena Jarrells and Emily Saunders both scored 13, Haley Thierry had 10, and Mady Aulbach and Lindsey Linard both had nine.
Kacee Baumhower scored a game-high 15 points to lead Wright State. Alexis Hutchison, the league's leading scorer at 19.2 points per game, had a tough night with six points on 1-for-12 shooting.
Youngstown State had another strong offensive effort shooting 50% from the field, and the Penguins were 19-for-30 in the first half as they built a 45-23 halftime advantage. YSU fought through a cold spurt in the third quarter, but it had a big enough cushion to withstand a Wright State run and closed out the game making seven of its last 15 attempts.
The Penguins were 8-for-18 from 3-point range, while Wright State was 4-for-32.
Jarrells scored 10 points in the opening quarter, and her jumper at the 7:43 mark gave YSU an 8-0 advantage and forced a Raiders timeout. A 3 by Jarrells put the Penguins up by double digits for the first time at 14-4 with 5:47 remaining, and Aulbach's first of three 3-pointers put YSU up 17-6 40 seconds later. The Penguins were 7-for-9 overall and 3-for-3 from 3-point range at that point.
After Jarrells hit another 3 at the 1:47 mark to put YSU up 24-13, it did not lead by fewer than 11 points the rest of the night. The margin was 26-15 after a quarter, and the Penguins scored the first seven points of the second period to stretch the lead to 33-15. Wright State got to within 13 points with 4:02 left, but Magestro scored seven points during a 10-1 for the Penguins to close out the half that put them ahead 45-23 at the break.
The Penguins led 52-27 following a three-point play by Saunders with 7:37 remaining in the third quarter, and they went on to fight through a field-goal drought of nearly five minutes. Wright State went on an 11-1 run during which Hutchison scored her first points of the night to get within 53-38, but Linard gave the Penguins two big buckets on assists from Thierry in the final three minutes of the quarter to help them stem the tide. Despite starting the quarter 3-for-12, YSU led 59-42 heading into the fourth.
Baumhower started the final period with a 3 to bring the Raiders to within 59-45, but Aulbach hit a 3 on the next possession to start a nine-point burst that gave YSU a 68-45 advantage. Wright State got no closer than 18 the rest of the way, and it hit one field goal over the final seven-and-a-half minutes.
Youngstown State will celebrate Senior Day on Saturday as it hosts Green Bay at Beeghly Center. Tipoff against the Phoenix is set for 1:30 p.m., and the senior salute will begin at 1 p.m.
