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CLEVELAND -- For as much as the first meeting was a boxing match, the second meeting between Youngstown State and Cleveland State became a 3-point contest in some regards.
It had been 41 days since the first act of a two-act play took place at the Beeghly Center, and the rematch certainly didn't disappoint the contingent of Penguins fans that made the trip to the Wolstein Center.
"YSU 77 CSU 69," the scoreboards hanging off the dark green curtains in Cleveland read following the final buzzer, Youngstown State earning a key win Friday evening in what's slated to be a heated final three weeks of the regular season.
After suffering overtime losses earlier in the season to IUPUI and Green Bay, junior Lily Ritz told the team prior to the start of OT that the Penguins weren't losing.
Consider it mission accomplished.
"Honestly, I could just not bear to lose another overtime, so that was just my mindset, and I was trying to get it across to my teammates," said Ritz, who scored 17 points and grabbed 18 rebounds. "Just had to come out and play the basketball that we know how to play."
It wasn't easy for YSU (20-4,14-3), which led 38-34 at the midway mark, but had to weather the Vikings storm, as some great play by Cleveland State's Nadia Dumas and Destiny Leo kept the contest within striking distance.
Following an Amele Ngwafang score in the paint, Cleveland State led by six points with 4:24 to go in the contest, their largest edge. Mady Aulbach answered with a three moments later to cut the deficit in half, then Malia Magestro knotted the game up at 61 points apiece with 2:55 to go.
Neither team scored to finish regulation. YSU had an opportunity to win the game with the final possession, but a pair of Chelsea Olson shots fell short.
However, an Olson jumper followed by a three to start overtime seemly put YSU over the edge, as CSU never led during the OT period.
Youngstown State coach John Barnes couldn't be more elated with the way his team found balanced scoring, as five Penguins nailed a three. YSU netted a total of 15 threes, including four by Aulbach, who tallied a career-high 15 points.
"They all made big threes, especially down the stretch, in overtime, some big free throws, we got some really good stops and rebounds," Barnes commented. "I just thought it was a really tough, hard-fought win that we needed to come up with and (we) did."
Olson tallied a game-high 21 points, crediting a strong mindset for the Penguins' survival of Cleveland State's late fourth quarter run.
"Especially on their home court, we knew that they were going to make a run, or continue to make runs throughout the game, so we just had to stay locked in," Olson said. "Even if we're down four or five, we know we're a good basketball team and we're able to pull ourselves out of it.
"Everybody who was on the court made a big shot during overtime, so that's the biggest thing. We all have trust in each other, and that's the biggest key for our team -- just trusting each other and trusting that the open person is going to knock down the shot."
Megan Callahan had a trio of threes, scoring nine, with Magestro ending the contest with 11 points. As a whole, the Penguins shot 15-of-38 from deep and tallied 19 assists.
Seeing a team a second time is always a difficult task, especially one as dynamic as Cleveland State (13-5, 8-4), but Barnes knew what his team had to accomplish to walk away with a victory.
Leo had 11 points in the first quarter, but was much more limited throughout the rest of the evening.
"Leo is just so good, it takes a lot of your focus, and then some of the other players get loose and start getting hot," Barnes said. "I thought that (Gabriella) Smith did a really good job, stepped up, made big shots, so your whole defense kind of revolves around (Leo), and it's tough at times."
The Penguins now travel to Purdue Fort Wayne on Sunday before coming home for their final homestand of the season.