Staff photo / Greg Macafee YSU’s Megan Callahan looks to complete a layup Saturday afternoon against Robert Morris.

YOUNGSTOWN — Twice in the regular season, Youngstown State managed to edge Northern Kentucky in nail-biting fashion, the first a 59-55 win in Highland Heights, Ky., and the other a 52-51 win at the Beeghly Center.

Now, the foes will meet again with higher stakes, as the Penguins host the Norse in the Horizon League Tournament quarterfinals (5:30 p.m., ESPN+, 570 AM WKBN). It marks the first postseason meeting between the teams.

The winner will advance to Monday’s semifinal round in Indianapolis.

“Every team wants more in March,” YSU guard Megan Callahan said. “It’s your last (game) for your seniors, the girls that maybe don’t know if they’re going to stay any longer. So last (chance) for everyone … so I think everyone’s just a little bit hungrier and a little bit more excited. Everyone’s out for a little bit more blood in March.”

Both teams enter following a tough month of February. YSU (19-10, 13-7 Horizon League), the 4-seed, went 3-5 during that span and was on a three-game losing skid until a 65-51 win at Robert Morris on Saturday to end the regular season. NKU (16-13, 10-10 Horizon League), the 5-seed, also went 3-5 and has lost three of its last four games.

“It was definitely hard,” Callahan said of the stretch. “But the good thing is we got all our kinks out in February, so going into tournament time, we’re ready to play our best basketball.”

In order to play its best basketball against NKU, Youngstown State will need to defend the talented backcourt trio of Lindsey Duvall, Ivy Turner and Kailee Davis.

Duvall, former Kentucky Miss Basketball and a Louisville transfer, averages 17.7 points and 9.3 rebounds per game and is who powers NKU. Davis chips in 13.4 points per game, while Turner scores 12.2.

Forward Emmy Souder is averaging 8.4 points and 7 rebounds per game.

Duvall is shooting 41.2 percent overall, but is just 22.3 percent from 3-point range. Davis and Turner are shooting 34.8 and 34.0 percent from deep, respectively.

“We have to understand that coming out, we have to be playing our best basketball, locking onto her and the things that she can do and then the other guards that are also very talented and can shoot the three-ball well,” Callahan said.

The Penguins did well in that aspect last time. Duvall went 3-for-14 from the field for eight points, her third-lowest output of the season. Davis and Souder went for 11 points each, while Turner scored seven.

Still, the Penguins narrowly escaped with that one-point win, courtesy of a pair of Paige Shy free throws after she was fouled on an inbound with two seconds to play. As a team, YSU shot just 21-for-59 overall and 5-for-22 from beyond the arc.

YSU coach John Barnes is expecting another tightly contested defensive battle in Round 3. That’s also been a series trend, as eight of the last 11 games between the Norse and Penguins have been decided by either four points or fewer or have gone to overtime.

“They’re well-coached. (NKU coach Camryn Whitaker) does a great job getting them ready, understanding their opponents and executing the plan,” Barnes said. “And that’s what we try to do, too, and I feel like the team that follows the scout and executes the best is going to be the one that wins the game.”

With it being the third meeting between the programs, Barnes also isn’t anticipating many differences in terms of game plans.

“There’s not a lot of surprises this time of year, so I think you just have to be dialed in,” he said. “Making shots is always important for both sides, too. They have a lot of good shooters, and so do we. If your team gets hot, you’re going to be hard to beat.”

The Penguins enter with a 6-1 mark in home games in the Horizon League Tournament, the lone loss coming to Oakland in last year’s quarterfinals.

“The team understands where we are and what we want to do,” Barnes said. “I think we tried to approach all year just one game at a time, and hopefully execute the basics, the fundamentals, the little things. When we’ve done that, we’ve usually won. So that’s what we’re going to focus on this game.”

jwhetzel@tribtoday.com