Youngstown State pushed Horizon League regular-season champion Milwaukee to a deadlock through 33 minutes, but the Panthers prevailed 77-68 in the quarterfinals of the 2021 Horizon League Women's Basketball Championship.
Milwaukee advances to the tournament semifinals to play IUPUI in Indianapolis, and YSU's season concludes with a 10-8 record.
Penguins senior Chelsea Olson went 6-for-7 from 3-point range and scored a team-high 22 points, and fifth-year senior Mary Dunn scored all of her 20 points in the first three quarters. Freshman Nneka Obiazor had 13 points and eight rebounds to finish off a memorable first season with the program.
Fifth-year senior McKaela Schmelzer had a career night for the Panthers with 24 points, which was nine more than her previous career high. She went 3-for-4 from 3-point range, and the Panthers hit 10 of their 20 attempts from long distance in the game.
"I thought our team played really hard, and I'm proud of them," YSU head coach John Barnes said. "It was a battle, and I felt like we got a little tired toward the end. We started to miss some of the shots we were making, and Milwaukee just made big shots."
"It was an incredibly hard year to get through with COVID forcing us to miss so many games early, and our league was really good this year. To finish with a winning record after all of the challenges is something we can build on. Our team is capable of being really good and competing for a championship, and that's something we need to work toward in the offseason."
Youngstown State led 36-34 at halftime, and the Penguins' advantage reached its pinnacle at 43-36 with just under eight minutes remaining in the third period. The Panthers caught them and took a 57-55 lead at the end of the third, and they had a big 8-0 run in the fourth that ultimately tipped the game in their favor.
Youngstown State trailed 7-2 less than two minutes into the game, but it went on a 13-5 run to take a 15-12 lead. The Penguins finished that run with a 7-0 spurt that featured a 3 by Olson and buckets by Peters and Obiazor.
Olson's second 3-pointer of the period came with 36 seconds left and put the Penguins ahead 21-17, but Milwaukee scored the final two points of the first quarter and the first seven points of the second to take a 26-21 lead. The Panthers' advantage grew to 32-25 on an Emma Wittmerhaus basket with 4:55 on the clock, but the Penguins outscored the Panthers 11-2 the rest of the half. Olson started the run with a 3, and she finished it with a jumper in the final minute.
YSU was plus-seven in turnover margin in the first half, but it was minus-three in the second half as Milwaukee held a 43-32 lead over the final 20 minutes.
Olson and Schmelzer traded baskets in the opening minute of the third quarter, and Olson hit a 3 to spark a five-point run that gave the Penguins their largest lead of the game at 43-36 with 7:52 left. YSU didn't have a field goal for nearly three minutes after Olson's triple, and that allowed Milwaukee to tie the score at 44. Another Schmelzer triple at the 5:03 mark gave the Panthers their first lead of the second half at 47-46, and the margin stayed within a possession until Milwaukee's run in the fourth.
Obiazor hit a 3-pointer with 1:18 remaining in the third quarter to give the Penguins a 55-52 lead, but Kendall Nead scored the final five points of the period to give the Panthers a 57-55 advantage entering the fourth. Olson hit a 3 on YSU's first possession of the final quarter to give the Penguins their final lead of the night at 58-57, and Nead countered with another triple 20 seconds later to put Milwaukee back on top.
The score was tied at 60 when Bre Cera scored eight straight points for the Panthers to help the home team start to take control. She hit a pull-up jumper near the end of the shot clock to give Milwaukee a 62-60 lead with 6:21 left, and she hit 3s on the Panthers' next two possessions to push the margin to 68-60. The Penguins called timeout, and Olson hit her sixth 3-pointer of the game at 4:12 to get the difference back to five. After that Olson trey, YSU did not score again until a Malia Magestro 3-pointer with 36 seconds left. By then, Milwaukee had built a 75-63 lead as it finished off a 15-3 run.
Magestro's 3 made the score 75-66, and Schmelzer made two free throws to cap off her career effort. YSU fifth-year senior Emma VanZanten came in off the bench and scored on the final possession of her career and the Penguins' season for the final tally.
Youngstown State shot 42.4 percent for the game, and it went 8-for-17 from 3-point range. The Penguins' 68 points were 13 more than the Panthers allowed on average during the regular season.
Milwaukee came into the game averaging 5.8 3s per game, but the Panthers went 10-for-20 from long distance against YSU. Milwaukee shot 48.3 percent overall and converted 13-of-14 at the free-throw line.
