The Youngstown State women's basketball team torched the nets to build a sizeable lead and held off a frantic Oakland rally to win 79-68 on Thursday evening at the Athletics Center O'rena.
The Penguins improved to 3-0 overall as they topped the Golden Grizzlies in the Horizon League opener for both teams.
YSU shot 56.3 percent from the field and made 12 3-pointers, which helped the Penguins lead comfortably for a good portion of the game. The margin got as high as 22 with nine minutes left in the fourth quarter before Oakland's pressure defense helped the Golden Grizzlies get as close as seven twice.
YSU forward Lilly Ritz had the best game in her three-game Penguin career with 24 points on 10-of-12 shooting, and she added nine rebounds. She had one of the biggest baskets of the game during Oakland's charge to put the Penguins up 69-60 at the 3:28 mark and stop a field goal drought of nearly four minutes.
That ended up being YSU's final field goal of the night, and the Penguins closed out the game by going 10-for-12 from the free-throw line in the final 1:44.
Ritz got plenty of help as YSU's early-season trend of balanced scoring continued. Paige Shy scored a career-high 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and Chelsea Olson filled the box score with 12 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Megan Callahan scored 11 points, the most of her YSU career, and Lexi Wagner added eight off the bench.
YSU was 27-for-48 from the field, 12-for-23 from 3-point range and 13-for-20 from the free-throw line. The Penguins had an impressive 21 assists o 27 field goals. Oakland was plus-12 in turnover margin, which allowed the home team to attempt 18 more field goals. The Golden Grizzlies shot 39.4 percent overall, but they were just 7-for-29 from 3-point range and 9-for-19 at the charity stripe.
Kahlaijah Dean led Oakland with 18 points, and Kayla Luchenbach had 10.
Youngstown State never trailed, and Shy's first of four 3-pointers in the game came at the 9:16 mark for the game's first bucket. The junior hit two more treys in the first period, and her third gave Youngstown State its first double-digit lead at 23-11 with 29 seconds left.
After that 3, YSU didn't score for more than six minutes as it missed its first five field goals and had five turnovers to start the second period. Oakland scored the final two points of the first period and the first seven of the second, but Olson sparked the Penguins into a 15-5 run to end the half.
Olson hit a 3 at the 4:13 mark to put YSU up 26-20, and she nailed another one 90 seconds later to push the margin to nine. Olson followed with a layup to get the lead back to double digits, and a Wagner 3-pointer gave the Penguins their largest lead of the half at 34-20.
With Oakland having to guard the perimeter, Ritz scored buckets on back-to-back possessions in the final two minutes to give YSU a 38-25 lead at halftime.
YSU scored eight of the first nine points of the second half, and a Callahan 3 gave the Penguins their first 20-point advantage at 46-26. She hit another triple at the 6:45 mark to push the lead to 21, and YSU led by at least 18 the rest of the period.
The margin peaked at 22 at 55-33 in the third quarter on two free throws by Mady Aulbach, and it was 22 again on a Shy basket on the first possession of the fourth period. Wagner hit a 3 for the Penguins to make the score 66-46 with 7:18 left, but Oakland turned the Penguins over in bunches and went on a 13-1 run to get within 67-60 with 3:56 remaining.
Ritz's basket on a pass from Olson with 3:28 remaining got the margin back to nine, and Oakland scored a minute later to get within 69-62. YSU got back-to-back stops on defense and made four free throws to up the lead back to double digits at 73-62, and Oakland had to keep fouling to extend the game. That set up YSU's final stretch where it went 10-for-12 from the line.
Youngstown State will try to sweep its Michigan road trip as it heads south to Detroit to take on the Titans on Saturday. Tipoff at Calihan Hall is set for 2 p.m., and the game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
