The Youngstown State women's basketball team had No. 11/12 Green Bay down eight points with 35 seconds left, but the Phoenix put together a frantic rally to force overtime and avoid an upset by pulling out a 77-72 win.
The victory improves the Phoenix to 23-1 overall and 13-1 in the Horizon League while the Penguins drop to 10-16 and 4-11.
YSU led 65-57 when Kelsea Fickiesen split a pair of free throws with 42.5 seconds remaining. Green Bay began its comeback run when Adrian Ritchie drained a 3-pointer with 34.5 seconds left. On the ensuing inbounds toss, Fickiesen missed Brandi Brown and the ball went out of bounds.
Green Bay answered with 30.8 seconds left as Ritchie converted a layup and was fouled by Brown. Ritchie made the subsequent free throw cutting the deficit to 65-63.
With 28.2 seconds left, Fickiesen missed her first free throw before converting her second as the Penguins led 66-63. However with 18.2 seconds remaining, Ritchie was fouled on a 3-point attempt by Kenya Middlebrooks. Ritchie converted all three free throws to tie the contest at 66.
YSU had one final chance to win the game, but Middlebrooks' 3-point try from 25 feet was well short and sent the game to overtime.
In the extra session, Green Bay scored eight of the first nine points to seize control of the contest. The Phoenix built a 75-67 lead with 37 seconds left before two Brown free throws cut the deficit to 75-69. Brown made a 3-pointer to trim the deficit to 76-72 with 11 seconds left but that was as close the Guins would get.
In the second half, YSU led 41-34 at the 16:33 mark before Green Bay battled back to go on top 47-42 with 12 minutes left. From the 12-minute mark until the 2:44 mark neither team led by more than three points.
The Penguins took a 57-55 lead with Brown drilled a 3-pointer from the corner on a nifty pass from Fickiesen. Middlebrooks drained a 3-pointer with 1:35 remaining extending the advantage to 60-55. With 1:12 left Middlebrooks made two free throws before adding two more with just under a minute remaining to give YSU a 64-55 advantage.
For the game, Ritchie ended up with 26 points while Julie Wojta had 18 and Lydia Bauer had 14. Leading YSU was Middlebrooks who had 22 points while Brown finished with 21 points and 19 rebounds. Fickiesen had 12 while Melissa Thompson added 12 off the bench.
YSU shot 40.4 percent (21-of-52) for the game while Green Bay made 26-of-62 (41.9). The Penguins converted 12 3-pointers.
YSU shot 60 percent from behind the 3-point arc en route to building a 34-32 halftime lead.
The Penguins outrebounded the Phoenix 17-12 and had eight offensive rebounds in the opening half.
At the 6:00 mark, the contest was tied at 22 before YSU scored the eight straight points. Fickiesen knocked down two free throws then Middlebrooks drained 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to push the Guin advantage up to 30-22 at the 4:11 mark.
The Phoenix scored the next four points creeping within 30-26 but Brown answered for the Penguins. After Megan Lukan made a free throw, Fickiesen drove to the bucket for a layup putting the Guins in front 34-27.
Green Bay, which led by five by two occasions in the first half, scored the final five points of the half on a Wojta basket and a 3-pointer by Adrian Ritchie to get within two at the break.
The Penguins shot 44.4 percent (12-of-27) in the opening stanza while Green Bay hit at a 52.2 percent clip (12-of-23).
YSU returns to action on Thursday night when it visits Wright State. Tipoff at the Nutter Center is set for 7 p.m.
