Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes Youngstown State's Haley Thierry puts up a layup at Robert Morris on Sunday.

MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. — The opportunity to break the cold spell was so close — yet so far. Going toe-to-toe on the road with Robert Morris following a slow start, Youngstown State lost 65-63, its sixth consecutive loss and longest such streak in nearly four years.

YSU (2-6, 0-2) led with only 22 seconds left following a made free throw off the fingertips of Emily Saunders, but RMU replied on the following possession by way of a Naomi Barnwell bucket in the paint to reclaim the lead. The Penguins wouldn’t make another shot attempt following a turnover and a mishandled rebound after a missed Colonials free throw.

“We had a chance to win it late, a little disappointed in how we executed at the end. We got to be better, especially late game. Everybody has to be on the same page and making the reads and everything,” acting head coach John Nicolais said. “We had a chance to win it, that’s all we can ask for. (But we) needed better execution there late.”

The Penguins had to find ways to get creative after shooting 4-for-22 from beyond the arc.

“It affects it to a degree. We got kids that were recruited here to shoot and shots weren’t falling, so I’ll give them credit, we did a better job of trying to get downhill to force their defense into a little bit of a pressure to get us to the foul line, or attack to an inside-out kick or a dump to a post,” Nicolais said. “We did adjust a little bit there, but the shooting has got to improve.”

Robert Morris (3-5, 1-1) took an early 21-14 edge following a sluggish first quarter for the Penguins, who would cut the deficit down to 34-30 heading into halftime following a three-point make by Mady Aulbach.

YSU continued to chip away during the second half, with Haley Thierry providing a spark off the bench, driving to the basket and taking advantage of open lanes to the hoop and scoring a career-high 16 points in the losing effort.

“We came in knowing we’d have to throw the first punch. We’ve been working and trying to find a way to come out with a win in practice and battling in practice and trying to make each other better with that,” Thierry said. “Obviously, it wasn’t the outcome we wanted today and we just have to go back to the drawing board right after this and find out what we need to do for the next game coming up.”

“For me, when my shot wasn’t falling, I tried to figure out what I can do to contribute to the team if my shot isn’t falling. If that means setting screens to create shots for other people, cutting back door, getting rebounds, deflections, steals anything like that to contribute to the team that’s what I try to do and try to bring the energy as well with that.”

Nicolais added, “(Thierry) did that without having to knock down threes or anything like that, so that was a bright spot for her. I thought her and Abby Liber did a good job of coming in when we went a little bit smaller out there, especially on the defensive end. They did a really good job of trying to keep some of their athletic kids in check. That’s something we can build off of for sure.”

The visiting Penguins took a 53-51 lead early in the fourth following an and-1 conversion by Thierry, leading by as much as four points following a score moments later by Malia Magestro, but couldn’t break away late in the contest.

Following Thierry’s 16 points was Magestro and Saunders with 13 each. Barnwell boasted a game-high 19 points for Robert Morris. Simone Morris added 12. Western Reserve graduate Danielle Vuletich tacked on six points and eight rebounds along with two blocks for the Colonials.

Youngstown State returns back to the Beeghly Center this Wednesday for a contest with Akron (3-3) at 6:30 p.m.

“It’s a loss, it’s out the window, we have to focus on the next thing. That’s the mindset we have to have. We can’t dwell on the past, we have to keep moving forward and push from there,” Thierry said.

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