YSU women rally past Bucknell to stay unbeaten

Staff report

LEWISBURG, PA.

It’s not how you start that is important. It’s how you finish.

The Youngstown State women’s basketball team spotted Bucknell the game’s first seven points, then suffered through a shooting lull before finding the range in the fourth quarter at the Sojka Pavilion.

The Penguins outscored the Bison 25-8 over the game’s final 10 minutes and 10 seconds to stay unbeaten with a 55-47 victory.

YSU (6-0) went more than eight minutes without a point and more than 14 minutes without a field goal over the second and third quarters before rallying. Kelley Wright ended the drought with a 3-pointer in the final 10 seconds of the third period to get YSU within 39-33, and the Penguins outscored Bucknell 22-8 in the fourth.

YSU is now 6-0 for the second straight season and for just the third time at the Division I level, while Bucknell drops to 4-3.

The Penguins’ Indiya Benjamin scored all 11 of her points in the fourth period, and Nikki Arbanas led all scorers with 15 points while contributing a career-best nine rebounds. Sarah Cash added 12 points and eight rebounds for YSU.

Claire DeBoer had 15 points and 11 rebounds, and Jacquie Klotz finished with nine points and 11 rebounds for Bucknell. Klotz, Bucknell’s leader in both categories, picked up two fouls seven minutes into the game and ended up fouling out in 22 minutes of action.

Bucknell scored the first seven points of the game, but YSU outscored the Bison 18-5 over the final seven minutes of the first period to take an 18-12 lead. YSU’s field goal came on a Kelsea Newman triple with 6:36 left, and the Penguins’ took the lead for the first time at 10-9 on Arbanas’ three-point play at the 3:34 mark. The Bison tied the score at 11 and 12 before the Penguins scored the final four points of the period.

YSU finished the game shooting just 27.1 percent, but it shot 57.1 percent in the fourth quarter. The Penguins held Bucknell to 30-percent from the field, and they outscored the Bison 18-7 at the free-throw line.

YSU visits Penn State at 7 p.m. Tuesday.