A big third quarter helped YSU douse the Flames by a final score of 77-65 for the Penguins’ fourth consecutive victory.

“It was kind of a tale of different games, it felt like,” YSU coach John Barnes said. “Most of the first half was a little odd. We couldn’t really get anything going, we were able to maintain a little bit of a lead.

“We just tried to turn up the pressure (in the third quarter) as much as we could, force them into some turnovers, and try to get some easy baskets.”

Despite walking away with a double-digit victory, YSU only shot the ball at 34.8 percent from the field and 20.5 percent from beyond the arc.

Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes Ny’Dajah Jackson (right) puts up a shot over Jealissa Presswood (left) of UIC during the third quarter.

YSU held a 31-26 lead going into halftime, but outscored UIC 24-11 during the third quarter. The Penguins’ lead grew to as large as 20 points late in the third.

The Flames wouldn’t go down so easily, as they cut the deficit down to five points at 62-57 after Tiana Jackson made a layup on a fast break opportunity with 3:06 left in the game.

That’s as close as UIC (1-12, 0-2) would get, as YSU shot the ball well from the charity stripe in the closing minutes of the game and made all eight of their free throw opportunities over the final three minutes.

“It’s tough coming off of a such an emotional win on Saturday, a lot of players played a lot of minutes,” Barnes said. “I would have liked us just maintain that 20-point lead and maybe build on a it a little bit.

“But that wasn’t the way it was meant to be, so I’m just happy we got the win.”

Redshirt freshman Taylor Petit had a big night for YSU, as she’d led the team with a career-high 19 points and four rebounds.

“(I was) just playing basketball, taking the looks I got, whether it was at the 3-point line or an open drive, I was just playing basketball out there,” Petit said.

Petit said she thought that Barnes helped rally the team at halftime before their big third quarter.

“We came out really slow and sloppy, and were letting them kind of pick us up a little bit and rushing us into making decisions out on the court, not playing our game.

“So he came in there and told us that we need to get it together,” she said. “You don’t want to beat IUPUI the other day and then come in here and lose to not so good of a team, so we just came together and tried to pick it up and play with each other and play for each other.”

Ny’Dajah Jackson and Chelson Olson scored 14 points a piece. McKenah Peters was a point short of a double-double with 14 rebounds and nine points.

There’s a long road ahead for the Penguins, as they’ll play their next five contests all on the road before returning home on Jan. 24 against Green Bay.

Petit said that winning the first two conference games at home was huge.

“We need to protect home court for sure and we got that done this weekend,” she said. “We just need to go into these next five road games and play as hard as we can, and just to pick up Ws in all of them.”

Despite having a few key players out with injuries, Barnes said his team is becoming more confident with each win.

“I think the win over IUPUI was big, they’re the 24th-ranked mid-major team in the country. To be able to get a big win with Mary (Dunn) out, Emma (VanZanten) out, Amara (Chikwe) out, Lexi (Wagner) out, that’s a lot of firepower to overcome.

“Just super proud of the players that are stepping up their game, and a lot of it is heart and toughness and finding a way, so proud of them for that.”

YSU (9-4, 2-0) begins its lengthy road stretch on Thursday at Northern Kentucky (7-6, 1-1) with a 7 p.m. tip-off.