YSU women fall to Kent State

Penguins end season with 24-7 overall record after 68-59 WNIT loss at home

YOUNGSTOWN -- For as great of a season it was, Youngstown State just couldn't find a way to snuff out a win when they needed it the most.

The Youngstown State women's basketball season had its season come to an end Wednesday as it fell 68-59 to Kent State in the opening round of the WNIT, ending a campaign where YSU secured its first regular season conference title in 23 years.

It's the end of the road for 5th-year senior Chelsea Olson; however, an ankle injury after an awkward fall marked a complete change in momentum after the Penguins led by as much as 10 during the second quarter.

Coach John Barnes felt the despair for Olson, who's been a cornerstone in the Penguins lineup during her career.

"I'm crushed for (Olson), for the team, she is a 5th year senior who decided to come back, she's been waiting for this moment," Barnes said. "She had 11 points in 13 minutes, you had an eight-ten point lead and it's just hard to adjust. She does so much. You need a month of practice to adjust to not having her in."

The Penguins ended their season with a mark of 24-7, the most wins in 24 seasons, while securing their first spot in the WNIT since a loss at Cincinnati in 2019.

Olson finished her time at YSU with 1,461 points, 848 rebounds, and 516 assists.

YSU took a 16-15 lead into the second quarter after Paige Shy nailed a three late in the first quarter off a turnover for the first score by a Penguin not named Lily Ritz or Olson since the second quarter of Horizon League quarterfinals against Oakland.

YSU would eventually lead Kent State by 10 at 29-19 at the 7:11 mark following a trey on the left-side by Malia Magestro. But, later in the quarter, Olson got tangled up on a rebound attempt and fell down in pain as play continued on the other end of the floor.

Needing assistance to walk off, Olson would eventually come out of halftime with a boot on.

It would mark the end for the four time All-Horizon selection, and a slide for the Penguins, who allowed Kent State to go on a 27-6 run,

The Penguins went over 10 minutes without a field goal. A driving layup by Magestro with 1:03 left in the third broke the dry spell from the field.

Magestro led the Penguins with 16 points and is looking to be one of the leaders heading into next winter.

"I think we all knew that we had to come together," Magestro said about the second half. "We're so good at picking each other up and being there for each other, so I think we all led very well to try and hang in there.

"(Kent) would drive and you'd have to help, and then they'd get open shots, we just have to do a better job of containing them, not letting them drive to the hoop and get open shots, but they shot the lights out."

The Golden Flashes (19-11) shot an electrifying 48.1 percent from the field on 25-52 from the field, taking advantage of the Penguins being down a key defender. Kent State also won the rebound battle 35-21.

YSU did cut the deficit to five after Mady Aulbach buried a pair of free throws to end the third quarter. Kent State continued to build its lead back up though as they used multiple full-court passes to break YSU's press.

Lindsey Thall led Kent with 15 points and Lakeview alum Annie Pavlansky saw four minutes on the floor in front of a sizable Golden Flash delegation that nearly filled up a section in the Beeghly Center's lower bowl.

Lily Ritz added 14 points for YSU on 6-of-16 shooting, with Lindsey Mack and Paige Shy each chipping in six. Following the game, Barnes did note that Olson's injury would have more than likely sidelined her even if they had won.

Sometimes luck is on your side, sometimes it just isn't your day – or in YSU's case it hasn't been their past few weeks after avoidIng the injury bug throughout most of the year, all while Shy battled strep throat that forced her to miss practices leading into the WNIT.

It wasn't a season to forget, but the same roster will never take the court again.

"Our luck was really good all season, then we lose Malia for the Oakland game to our best three point shooter, second best perimeter defender," Barnes said. "Chelsea in this game, it was also like it wasn't meant to be, it's like the regular season was what we were meant to do."

"Proud of their effort and all that, but our luck kinda ran out down the stretch here."