YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO– After a tough battle in the first half, Robert Morris fell short to Youngstown state 65-48.

After falling to Detroit Mercy, the Robert Morris women’s basketball team (7-9, 1-6 Horizon League) traveled to the Beeghly Center to take on last year’s Horizon League champions, Youngstown State (12-4, 6-1 Horizon League) to close out their road trip.

The Colonials would drop their fifth game in a row, in a 65-48 loss to the Penguins Thursday night.

Despite the lopsided final score, Robert Morris was able to stay with the Penguins throughout much of the first half, with the score being tied 16-16 a few minutes into the second quarter. The Colonial’s defense had kept them close in the game with the outstanding Penguins offense.

Everything changed when both teams began to trend in opposite directions as Robert Morris would go 0-6 in the following minutes while Youngstown State shot five for seven from the field, including two for four from beyond the arc. What resulted was a 13-0 Youngstown State run.

The Colonials would show signs of life coming out of halftime as they outscored the Penguins 17-13 in the third quarter, cutting down the lead to as little as six at one point. The team had a shooting average of 28% battling Youngstown state with 40 percent.

The comeback was led by a two-women team of Phoenix Gedeon and Mackenzie Amalia. Gedeon recorded a 17-point double-double, and Amalia scored 12 points on four-for-seven shooting from the field.

Together, the two accounted for more than 60% of the team’s points on the night.

In the end, the Penguins would flex their full might in by out-scoring the Colonial 21-12 in the final quarter, led by 53 percent shooting from the field.

The Penguins showed off their size advantage by dominating the inside the whole game, scoring twice as many points in the paint as the Colonials.

Fifth-year Senior Lilly Ritz led the Penguins with 19 points despite not having a three-point attempt the whole game.

Robert Morris will end their road trip and head back to the UPMC Event Center on Jan. 14 against IUPUI at 1:00 p.m.