The Youngstown State women's basketball team controlled the middle two quarters to pull away for a 79-42 victory over Mount Vernon Nazarene on Wednesday morning at Beeghly Center.

The Penguins have now won seven straight decisions, and they'll have a seven-day break from competition for the holidays. Youngstown State is 8-3 overall after beating the Cougars in its non-conference finale, and it will be all Horizon League games the rest of the regular season when the schedule resumes on Dec. 29.

Megan Callahan scored a game-high 19 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the field, and she was 3-for-5 from 3-point range to lead the Penguins to their seventh straight win. Lilly Ritz scored 15 points while grabbing nine rebounds and collecting five steals, and Emily Saunders scored 11 points off the bench.

Rylee Pireu led Mount Vernon Nazarene, an NAIA opponent, with eight points.

While Callahan was 3-for-5 from long distance, the Penguins did not have their shooting touch collectively from the outside. YSU was 6-for-25 on 3-point attempts, and it was 2-for-18 through three quarters. The Penguins were 0-for-6 from beyond the arc in the first period, and that contributed to a sluggish start.

YSU led 8-0 when Saunders scored on a pass from Dena Jarrells at the 6:49 mark of the opening quarter, but the Penguins went more than four minutes before scoring again. Mount Vernon Nazarene scored 10 straight points during that stretch, and the Cougars took their lone lead of the game at 10-8 on a Maggie Coe jumper with 2:52 remaining. Ritz had a steal and basket 30 seconds later to tie the score, and she scored seven straight points to give YSU a 15-10 lead.

The Penguins led 15-12 at the end of the first period, and they turned up the pressure defensively in the second to extend their lead to 38-21 at halftime. Haley Thierry gave YSU its first double-digit lead at 24-14 at the 7:20 mark, and Shay-Lee Kirby scored twice in the final 25 seconds of the period to push the margin to 17 at the break. Callahan had eight points in the quarter, YSU shot 50% from the field, and it converted five offensive rebounds into nine second-chance points.

Ritz gave YSU its first 20-point margin at 44-23 on a layup by Ritz at the 7:33 mark of the third period, and the Penguins ended the quarter on a 16-8 run to take a 60-31 lead. The Penguins led 74-37 on a Jarrells free throw with 4:02 left in the fourth, and they matched that 37-point margin at the end when Lindsey Mack hit a 3-pointer in the final minute.

Youngstown State shot 45.6% for the game, making 31-of-68 from the field. Mount Vernon Nazarene shot 28.0% overall, and it was 9-for-38 after the first period. Youngstown State held a 50-10 scoring edge in the paint, and it outscored the Cougars 27-9 off turnovers.

The Penguins will host Cleveland State on Thursday, Dec. 29, at 5:15 p.m. The game will be part of a doubleheader with the YSU men's basketball team, which will also play the Vikings.

Source:  Youngstown State University