Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes Youngstown State’s Chelsea Olson celebrates after a play against Long Island University earlier this season. Olson set the program record for most games played this year with 137.

YOUNGSTOWN — Five seasons in the red and white, and a program-record 137 games played to date.

It’s all starting to come to a head for Chelsea Olson, who is leading Youngstown State into her regular-season finale at the Beeghly Center today when the Penguins host Wright State (1 p.m., ESPN+, 570 AM WKBN).

“I think the farther we get into the season and the less games we have left, it’s kind of starting to hit me more,” Olson said. “So I definitely think there’s going to be some emotions to go along with that, but I’m still just set in game mode and trying to get the win and trying to get two wins this weekend.”

YSU (22-4, 16-3) picked up the first of those wins Friday night in a 62-49 victory over Northern Kentucky. Fittingly enough, Olson led the Penguins with 27 points. A win this afternoon would guarantee Youngstown State a top four finish in the Horizon League regular season, which brings with it a first-round bye in the conference tournament and a home quarterfinal game.

As the postseason draws ever closer, the sense of urgency continues to rise. For Olson, though, it’s been high since the season began, given the finality of this 2021-22 campaign.

“I’ve definitely tried to have more of a sense of urgency just because it is my last year. I think it’s more so that time is coming to an end eventually, and I take that into consideration each time I go out on the court and play,” Olson said. “I try and play my hardest obviously, and I leave it all out there.”

Olson was recruited to Youngstown State from tiny Westby, Wisconsin, a town of 2,472 people near the Minnesota and Iowa state lines. She was drawn to YSU by the coaching staff and style of play the Penguins featured, as well as Youngstown State’s campus.

Since her arrival, the Penguins have gone 83-55 and been to the postseason twice — a WBI appearance in the 2017-18 season and a WNIT berth in the 2018-19 campaign in which YSU went 22-10.

That WNIT season and the Penguins’ current campaign are her two favorites, Olson says.

Why?

“I would say the people, that’s really what makes a team go and makes it enjoyable is just playing with the people,” she said, before acknowledging that winning helps, too.

“We were very good my sophomore year, and we’re very good this year, so obviously winning makes everybody happy,” she added.

And it’s those relationships Olson says she’s going to miss most after she departs the Mahoning Valley.

“I would say that’s the most important part to me, and the most important factor throughout the past five years is the relationships I’ve built off the court because of playing basketball,” Olson said.

Look no further than Mady Aulbach to see how those have developed. Aulbach has been Olson’s teammate for three seasons, and said after YSU’s win over Northern Kentucky, “I could honestly cry about (Olson’s finale). Chelsea was who I looked up to when I came in freshman year, so it’s sad to me that she’s leaving. I feel like I’ve only known this team with her, so it’s going to be really sad, but she’s done so much here.”

On the court, Olson said she’s enjoyed playing in some of YSU’s bigger games and in front of the Penguins’ dedicated fans, which she said means a lot to the team as a whole.

There was one bit of hesitation about returning for this fifth campaign, though. Also successful in the classroom, Olson, who currently studies business administration and last spring earned her degree in exercise science, was accepted to the University of Wisconsin’s physical therapy program during the offseason.

But, she was granted a deferral on her acceptance, and will begin that chapter of her career and life after wrapping up her time in Youngstown.

“After that, it was a no-brainer to come back and spend the final year here,” she added.

Olson will begin in Madison, Wisconsin, the first week of June, giving her a couple weeks to relax before heading off to UW.

She’s looking forward to that respite, she says, and is both eager and nervous to begin PT school.

Before that time comes, though, Olson has her eyes set on winning the Horizon League.

“It’s always been within grasp, but especially this year,” Olson said. “That’s most important to me. It’s my last year to do it.”

That team-first mentality is how Olson wants to be remembered when she departs, too.

“That’s the biggest thing I’ve been proud of throughout the past five years — just being that type of player who wants nothing but the best for our team,” she said. “That’s the one thing I hope people remember me by is doing whatever the team needs me to do in order to win.”

It’s how YSU coach John Barnes described her career, too.

“Chelsea is exactly what we want in our players — just a team play all the way from the second she stepped on campus,” he said. “She probably could have averaged 15 to 20 points every year, but we asked her to play point guard and make the players around her better, which she’s done her whole career.”

With an eye to the task at hand, he added, “Obviously we’re going to be sad when she plays her last game for YSU. She’s a future hall of famer without a doubt. My job, I’m just really focused on trying to get her a win in her last regular season home game at Beeghly. After that, I’ll think a little bit more about the other things.”