Rochester, Mich. — The Youngstown State women's basketball team led for more than 39 minutes and had all five starters score in double figures in an 85-79 victory at Oakland on Thursday night at the OU Credit Union O'rena.
The Penguins had one of their best offensive performances of the campaign, scoring a season-best 85 points and shooting 55.2% from the field. YSU was also 9-for-22 from 3-point range, and it shot 50% or better in all four quarters.
Youngstown State earned its first Horizon League road victory of the season, and it improved to 10-14 overall and 6-8 in conference play. The Penguins have now won four of their last six games, and they finished a regular-season sweep of the Golden Grizzlies. Oakland is now 9-13 overall and 5-9 in conference play.
Shay-Lee Kirby matched her career high with 24 points while making five 3-pointers, and her four starting teammates also scored in double figures. Dena Jarrells scored 14 of her 19 points in the second half, Malia Magestro scored 18 points, and Haley Thierry and Emily Saunders both had 10. Thierry added seven rebounds, six assists and three steals, including one in the final minute on a key defensive stop.
Markyia McCormick led Oakland with 19 points.
The Penguins had four players whistled for two fouls in the opening half, but they were still able to lead by as many as 10 and held a 42-36 lead at the break.
YSU led 6-0 90 seconds into the game, and it did not trail in the half after that early burst. The Penguins matched the six-point advantage at 8-2, and Kirby's first of two 3-pointers in the quarter gave them an 11-7 lead with 6:38 on the clock. That triple came from an offensive rebound by Saunders, and YSU had seven second-chance points early in the contest.
Youngstown State's largest lead of the opening quarter came when Magestro made a layup on an out-of-bounds play to make the score 19-12, and the Penguins led 24-19 after 10 minutes.
Jarrells hit a 3 on YSU's first possession of the second quarter to push the lead to 27-19, and the Penguins led by eight at 29-21 and 31-23 before Oakland scored six straight points to force a timeout. The teams then traded buckets as YSU maintained a 33-31 advantage, and the Penguins scored eight straight points to take their first double-digit lead of the night.
Thierry scored in transition to start the run, and YSU also had layups from Magestro, Jarrells and Kirby to build a 41-31 lead. Alexis Johnson hit her fourth 3 of the half during a 5-0 run for Oakland that cut the deficit in half, and Kirby made a free throw in the final seconds for the halftime margin.
Kirby's third 3 of the evening at the 7:29 mark of the third quarter put the Penguins back up by double digits at 49-39, and YSU's largest lead of the quarter came 40 seconds later when Magestro hit a triple to make it a 52-41 advantage.
Oakland went on a 13-2 run over the next four-and-a-half minutes to tie the score at 54-54, and the Golden Grizzlies took their only lead of the night when a Maddy Skorupski 3-pointer gave them a 57-56 edge with 1:07 on the clock. Jarrells scored on the next possession, and Saunders beat the horn to give YSU a 60-57 cushion heading into the fourth.
Oakland's Brooke Quarles-Daniels scored the first points of the final quarter to make it a one-point game, but Jarrells and Kirby made 3-pointers during a 10-0 run that increased YSU's lead back to 11 at 70-59. Kirby then hit her fifth 3-pointer in front of YSU's bench to give YSU its largest lead of the night at 73-61 with 6:19 remaining.
The Golden Grizzlies made one more charge, and a 3-pointer by Jarrells was YSU's only field goal for more than five minutes after that Kirby 3. The Penguins started to go late in the shot clock to shorten the game with just over two minutes left in the game, and Oakland was able to get within five points at 77-72 with 1:43 left. Oakland then forced a turnover with 1:15 left and was running in transition, but Thierry deflected a pass in the frontcourt to for her third steal. Saunders scored on the left block to get the margin back to seven at 79-72, and the Penguins led by at least five the rest of the night.
Oakland shot 43.3% overall while also making nine 3-pointers, but YSU had six more field goals than the Golden Grizzlies. The Penguins won the rebounding battle 34-29, and they scored 46 points in the paint. YSU also outscored Oakland 16-13 on second-chance opportunities, which was a big change from the first meeting when the Golden Grizzlies had a 24-7 scoring edge from offensive rebounds.
Youngstown State will try to win its third straight contest on Saturday as it makes the short trip north to play Detroit Mercy. Tipoff at Calihan Hall is set for 1 p.m., and the game will be broadcast live on 1390 WNIO and ESPN+.
