The Youngstown State women's basketball team's record-breaking 2021-22 campaign came to a close Wednesday night with a 68-59 loss to Kent State in the opening round of the Women's NIT.
The Penguins finish the season with a 24-7 record, a Horizon League regular-season championship and their most wins in 24 years. Kent State advances to the round of 32 and will play either Houston Baptist or Toledo.
Youngstown State led by as many as 10 in the second quarter, and the Penguins had a 29-21 advantage with five minutes left in the half when fifth-year senior guard Chelsea Olson suffered a lower-body injury while running for a rebound. Olson, a four-time All-Horizon League guard who led the Penguins in minutes and assists and was second in points during the season, did not return. She had 11 points in the first 13 minutes of the contest, and Kent State went on a 27-6 run over the next 13 minutes as the Penguins tried to adjust without their leader.
Youngstown State battled to trim a 48-35 deficit down to five at the end of the third quarter, and the Penguins trailed 58-52 following a Paige Shy 3-pointer with 4:43 left in the fourth. However, they went scoreless for the next three minutes, and Kent State scored 10 straight points to take a 68-52 lead with less than two minutes remaining. The Penguins scored the final seven points for the final margin.
Malia Magestro scored a game-high 16 points, and 10 of those came in the second half. Lilly Ritz had 14 points and five rebounds, and Olson finished with 11 points, a rebound, a block and a steal in the final game of her legendary career.
Lindsey Thall had 15 points to lead three Golden Flashes in double figures.
Kent State shot 48.1% from the field, and it was 8-for-21 from 3-point range. Youngstown State shot 38.5% overall while going 7-for-21 from beyond the arc. The Penguins were also 12-for-13 from the free-throw line.
Olson's 3-pointer at the 8:10 mark of the first quarter acted as the Penguins' first points of the contest after Kent State bucketed back-to-back threes off the opening tip. YSU closed Kent State's early advantage to a one-point margin at the 7:12 and 5:29 marks of the quarter, both off Ritz baskets, and the Golden Flashes worked their lead back to six at 15-9.
YSU took its first lead of the game, 16-15, off a Paige Shy long-ball from Aulbach with 56 seconds to play in the quarter, which capped a 7-0 run to end the period. The Penguins then scored the first eight points of the second period on a two-pointer by Olson, a three-point play by Ritz and a 3-pointer by Magestro. In the first 46 seconds of the quarter, Olson had the field goal, a steal and an assist.
Magestro's 3-pointer gave the Penguins a 24-15 lead, and the margin peaked at 29-19 on another 3-pointer by Magestro with 7:11 on the clock. Jenna Batsch scored for Kent State on the next possession to make it 29-21, and Olson's injury came after she tried to rebound her own miss with just over five minutes left in the half.
Kent State shaved the margin down to five before Lindsey Mack hit a 3-pointer in front of the Golden Flashes' bench extended the Penguin advantage back to eight, 32-24. During the span, the Penguins defense held steady as they forced Kent State to shoot just 2-of-6 from the floor, including 0-of-3 from long range. Kent State went on a 6-0 run to cut the YSU lead to a pair before a made free throw from Ritz with 47 ticks remaining in the half sent the Penguins into the break with a 3-point lead, 33-30.
The Golden Flashes scored 18 of the first 20 points of the third period to take their 48-35 lead with 1:54 left. Magestro made two free throws at the 1:36 mark to spark an 8-0 run to close the quarter, and her basket on a driving layup at the 1:03 mark accounted for the Penguins' first field goal since Mack's 3 at the 2:50 mark of the second period. Magestro scored again on a cut to the basket, and Aulbach made two free throws with 0.3 seconds left to trim the 13-point deficit down to 48-43.
Thall scored a quick basket to start the fourth, and Mariah Modkins followed with a 3-pointer to get the margin back to 10 at 53-43. YSU didn't back down and got within six twice at 53-47 and 58-52 before Kent State's 10-0 run that made the score 68-52 with 1:51 left.