Youngstown, Ohio — Youngstown State's women's basketball team made a frantic comeback attempt in the fourth quarter but came up short in a 67-61 loss to Robert Morris on Saturday at Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center.
The Colonials shot 53.1% from the field for the game, and they went 8-for-11 in the third quarter to extend a four-point halftime lead to a 15-point advantage. Youngstown State scored the first 10 points of the fourth period, and the Penguins got as close as four in the final 90 seconds.
Jewel Watkins scored a game-high 21 points behind four 3-pointers, and Malia Magestro scored 16 while Sophia Gregory had 10. Gregory added nine rebounds, and Faith Burch provided a spark in the second half to finish with nine points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Watkins, Magestro and Gregory combined to score YSU's first 40 points.
Noa Givon led Robert Morris with 20 points, and she went 3-for-4 from beyond the arc.
The lead changed hands three times in the first period, and YSU held five-point advantages at 11-6 and 15-10 in the quarter. Givon had a steal and layup in the final seconds to cut the margin to three, and RMU outscored the Penguins 16-9 in the second quarter.
YSU's final lead of the game came when Watkins buried her third three of the half to make it 20-19 at the 6:19 mark. Jada Lee, who scored 11 points off the bench for RMU, scored on the next possession to spark a 9-0 run over the next 3:40. YSU blanked the Colonials the rest of the half, and Gregory and Watkins scored to cut the deficit in half at 28-24.
RMU scored the first seven points of the third period to take a 35-24 lead, and the margin was double digits for the final 7:49 of the quarter. Magestro hit back-to-back 3-pointers as the Penguins tried to keep pace, but her second at the 3:29 mark accounted for YSU's final points of the period. RMU's lead was 52-37 heading into the fourth.
Watkins had a three-point play on YSU's second possession of the fourth, and the Penguins scored on four straight possessions during their 10-0 run that got them within 52-47 with 6:44 on the clock. Burch had five points during the burst, and she had nine points in the quarter.
RMU got the lead back to nine on a Naomi Barnwell bucket with 4:54 left, but YSU kept battling and got within five at 59-54 and 61-56. The margin closed to four on an Erica King 3-pointer with 1:21 remaining, but RMU's Lee drew a blocking foul at the end of the shot clock on the next possession to get points and take 30 seconds off the clock. She made both attempts to push the lead to six and YSU got no closer than five.
Youngstown State's next game will be at Cleveland State on Thursday at 7 p.m.
