Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes YSU’s Malia Magestro drives to the lane. She posted a season-high 22 points to pace the Penguins in a 82-68 loss to Wright State.

YOUNGSTOWN – A blend of turnovers and foul trouble rarely mix well, especially against a foe that has a knack for scoring in droves, and Youngstown State fell to a high-octane Wright State squad 82-68 as a result.

YSU senior Malia Magestro tallied a season-best 22 points off the bench in the losing effort, but 22 turnovers along with 24 fouls allowed the Raiders to step to the charity stripe 31 times, despite the Penguins making a second-half comeback to cut the deficit to within six.

Wright State (8-6, 2-1) runs to kick-start and end the contest played major roles in their road victory.

“The last thing we need to do is give them extra possessions, and for whatever reason we started off a little sluggish. It’s when we’re just passing and catching the basketball,” acting YSU coach John Nicolais said. “We’ve talked about how our margin of error is really thin, so any time you turn the ball over 22 times, you’re not going to put yourself in a position to win a game late.

“It’s incredibly frustrating, it’s something we have to overcome, to be able to jockey for position in the Horizon League play to get cut it six to start the fourth then we turn around and give up 26 points, a lot of that was us running them off the line. They didn’t shoot a good percentage tonight, but we had talked about making sure we’re defending without fouling, and we put them to the free throw line 31 times.”

Down by as many as 13 midway through the third quarter, some success was found in the post with Emily Saunders and later Lindsey Linard providing consistent scoring while Magestro found the basket from various areas of the floor. Following a pair of made free throws off the hands of Dena Jarrells, YSU cut the lead down to 56-50 heading into the final 10 minutes of play.

After a couple of made shots from Wright State, a driving layup in the midst of two defenders by Shay-Lee Kirby kept the matchup to within six at 62-56 with less than eight minutes to play, but a plethora of WSU shots at the line kept space on the scoreboard.

Ultimately, YSU was outscored 26-18 during the final quarter, unable to overcome and potentially close out a big win.

Grad transfer Alexis Hutchison was a force for the Raiders, scoring a game-high 26 points, while Kacee Baumhower (15) and Layne Ferrell (14) kept the pressure on YSU. By the time the final buzzer rang, the Penguins fielded five players with three or more personal fouls.

For Magestro and company, the defense effort fell short, allowing 82 points while WSU was only 16.7% from beyond the arc.

“The past couple of games we’ve really focused on our defense and keeping teams below 60 points and obviously they scored over 80, and that’s not our goal at all. We’re focusing every single day on defense, and we’ve been doing that until this game,” Magestro said. “Just refocusing and getting back to the Youngstown State defense that we know how to play.

“We say before every game we need to have a certain amount of turnovers or less, and that was doubled, so taking care of the ball. They definitely sped us up a little bit, so just using that for the next game. Just slowing down, not letting them make us go fast and maybe those turnovers won’t happen.”

The season-high 22 points for the Kennedy Catholic (Pa.) grad is a performance that the Penguins hope to see again.

“It was nice to get Malia going again. The recipe for us to compete in Horizon League play is that we have to have multiple of the starters be productive night in and night out with the experience that we have. We’re still a work in progress on that,” Nicolais said. “It’s certainly nice to see Malia back in the offensive side of things producing for us; we certainly need it.

“She can see herself back in the (starting) lineup. I’ll kind of leave that up to her with what she wants to do per se. That’s a conservation we’ll have as a staff. We’re just trying to move things around and kind of see what sticks. I’m certainly glad to see her going tonight, that’s a bright spot for sure.”

Saunders added 14, with Linard posting a career-high 10 points. YSU is back in action this coming Sunday against IUPUI as part of a doubleheader with the men’s team. Tip-off for the women’s game is set for noon.

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