Dayton, Ohio -- The Youngstown State women's basketball team battled all afternoon with the third-place team in the Horizon League but couldn't hang on at Wright State, losing 70-67 in the final 12 seconds.
The Penguins, who also lost by three to the Raiders at home on Jan. 30, had a 67-66 lead with 13 seconds remaining. Maryum Jenkins missed the front end of a one-and-one and fouled WSU's Shaunda Sandifer on the rebound. Sandifer hit both free throws to put the Raiders up 68-67, and Monica Touvelle's 3-point attempt with less than five seconds remaining was blocked by Molly Fox. LaShawna Thomas hit two free throws with 0.9 seconds left, and YSU did not get another shot off.
Thomas scored a career-high 35 points, going 10-for-23 from the field and 13-for-19 from the free-throw line. She missed two free throws with 12 seconds left that would have given Wright State the lead, and Jenkins grabbed the rebound on the second miss to set up the final sequence.
Brandi Brown scored 20 points, and Kenya Middlebrooks hit four 3-pointers en route to 14 points for the Penguins. YSU made four more field goals overall and hit five more threes, but the Penguins were outscored by 16 at the free-throw line and 11 on second-chance points.
YSU shot 42.4 percent overall and was 11-for-29 from 3-point range. Wright State shot 36.8 perdent and was 6-for-19 from beyond the arc.
Thomas added 11 rebounds, and Sandifer finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
The Penguins scored the first 11 points of the game and led 13-2 after making their first five attempts. YSU then missed its next eight shots, and Wright State scored 19 straight points to go up 21-13 with 10:35 left. Bennett had eight points during the run, and Thomas scored the final nine.
Middlebrooks hit two 3-pointers to keep Wright State from pulling away, and a 10-0 run gave the Penguins a 33-32 lead with under a minute remaining. Courtney Boyd hit a deep triple to give Wright State a 35-33 advantage, but Maryum Jenkins nailed a bucket just inside the 3-point arc at the buzzer to tie the score at 35 at halfftime.
The Penguins hit seven 3-pointers on 15 attempts in the opening period but were outscored by six at the free-throw line as only three fouls were called on Wright State. Brown scored 11 points, and Middlebrooks had nine for YSU. Thomas and Maria Bennett had 11 apiece for Wright State.
Jenkins tied the score again at 45 with 15:05 remaining, but Wright State scored the next eight points and went up 53-45 with 13:09 to go. The Raiders still led by eight, 57-49, but Youngstown State made its charge.
Jenkins' steal and lay-up with 6:42 remaining capped a 9-0 run put the Penguins up 61-59. Two Sandifer free throws tied the score at 61 with 5:41 left, and neither team led by more than one until there was 0.9 ticks left.
Thomas hit a jumper to give the Raiders a 66-65 lead with 1:35 left, but Tieara Jones hit an off-balance bucket on YSU's next possession to give the Guins a 67-66 lead with 1:11 left. Neither team scored on its next possession, and Thomas was fouled by Jenkins with 12 seconds left. The senior guard missed both free throw attempts, and Jenkins was fouled to set up the one-and-one situation.
Youngstown State displayed its improvement against the Raiders. The Guins lost by an average of 27.7 points the last three times at the Nutter Center.
Youngstown State plays its final regular-season road game at Cleveland State on Saturday at 4 p.m.
