Moon Township, Pa. — Casey Santoro scored 19 points, but Youngstown State's women's basketball team fell 55-40 to Robert Morris on Wednesday at the UPMC Events Center.
Youngstown State has dropped back-to-back games for the first time this season and is now 13-7 overall and 6-4 in Horizon League play. The Colonials improved to 13-6 and 6-4 against the conference.
Santoro finished 7-for-14 from the field, making two 3-pointers, and 3-for-4 from the free-throw line. Sarah Baker scored 13 points on five field goals and three free throws, and the rest of the team combined for three field goals.
Eva Levingston paced Robert Morris with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
In a contest between two of the top defensive teams in the Horizon League, the first half fit that narrative. Youngstown State held a 21-20 lead after 20 minutes, but Robert Morris scored 35 points and shot 55% from the field in the second half to pull away.
The Penguins led 7-3 at the 5:55 mark on Santoro's first bucket of the game, but RMU kept YSU scoreless for more than five minutes to go up 9-7. Baker tied the score at 9-9 with 27 seconds left, and Ava Leroux split two free throws to give RMU a 10-9 lead at the end of the period.
Youngstown State led by as many as six points in the second quarter when Baker made two free throws at the 2:37 mark to put the Penguins ahead 21-15. YSU did not score again in the half as RMU climbed to within 21-20.
Erica King's 3-pointer on the first possession of the second half pushed the lead to 24-20, and the margin was four again when Baker's turnaround made it 26-22 at the 7:37 mark. The Penguins were held without a field goal until Santoro's 3-pointer at the buzzer trimmed a 38-29 deficit to 38-32 after 30 minutes.
YSU was within four at 40-36 when Danielle Cameron split two free-throw attempts with 8:07 left, but that's as close as it would get. Robert Morris went on a 10-2 run over the next 5:36 to go up 50-38, and the margin remained double digits the rest of the contest.
YSU was 15-for-50 (30%) from the field for the game, and it was 3-for-18 from 3-point range. The Colonials were 19-for-49 (38.8%) overall and 3-for-11 from beyond the arc, and they outscored the Penguins by seven at the free-throw line.
YSU forced 22 turnovers and was plus-five in turnover margin, but the Penguins were only able to convert those into six points. All five Youngstown State starters had at least two steals, and the Penguins had 13 as a team. RMU grabbed 11 offensive rebounds and scored seven second-chance points.
Youngstown State will try to bounce back when it hosts Cleveland State on Sunday at 1 p.m. inside Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center.
