Youngstown -- Despite 34 points on 12-of-17 shooting by Heather Karner (St. Louis, Mo.) in her Youngstown State debut and a seven-point halftime lead, the YSU women's basketball team (0-1) dropped its season opener to Cincinnati (1-0), 85-78, on Friday evening at the Beeghly Center.

Karner's 34 points marks the first time a Youngstown State player scored at least 30 points in a game since Jenny Horner posted 30 against Cleveland State in 2002.

Trailing 45-38 at the half, the Bearcats scored the first nine points of the second half and held the Penguins scoreless for the first three minutes of the second stanza to take a 47-45 lead.

Youngstown State committed seven turnovers and made just 2-of-5 field goal attempts during the first five minutes of the second half while the Bearcats scored nine points off the Penguins' miscues.

UC's Treasure Humphries, who posted 17 points, gave the Bearcats a seven-point advantage with a jumper at the 13:49 mark but YSU's Velissa Vaughn, who recorded a career-high with 14 points, trimmed the UC lead down to three, 59-56, with two free throws and a jumper with 13:08 to go.

Over the next eight minutes, Cincinnati exploded for a 24-8 run to take a 19-point lead, 83-64, with 5:19 remaining.

The Penguins mounted a rally keyed by Karner, who scored 11 of the Penguins last 14 points, and a defensive effort that did not allow a Bearcats' field goal for the rest of the game. The Penguins scored 14 straight points points to slice the deficit down to five, 83-78, on three jumpers, a 3-pointer and two charity tosses by Karner and a jumper and a free throw from Jessica Schloemp, who finished with 10 points and eight rebounds.

Humphries, though, closed out the scoring with two free throws and gave UC an 85-78 lead with 23 seconds left.

In the first half, the Penguins trailed by as many as nine points, 17-8, at the 14:08 mark after a 3-pointer by UC's Karen Twehues.

The Penguins clawed their way back into the game with an 11-0 run ignited by two jumpers from Schloemp and 3-pointers from Kira Mowen (Waynesboro, Pa.) and Karner to take their first lead of the game, 19-17, with 10:26 remaining.

After six lead changes and five ties over the next five minutes, the Penguins scored 10 straight points to take a 10-point advantage, 43-33, with 1:52 remaining before the half.

Karner began the run with a 3-pointer at the 5:01 mark then hit a jumper with four minutes remaining and converted two free throws with 2:20 to go.

Vaughn capped the run with a 3-pointer at the 1:52 mark and forced the Bearcats to call timeout.

A jumper by Karner gave the Penguins a 45-34 lead with 45 ticks left but a free throw by Humphries and a 3-pointer by Shelly Bellman with five seconds left cut the Penguins' lead to 45-38 at the half.

YSU shot 49.1 percent from the field, including 66.7 percent in the first half, but was out-rebounded by the Bearcats, 41-36. The Bearcats also had 20 offensive rebounds and converted 23 second-chance points, 16 coming in the second half.

YSU visits Coppin State, Friday, Nov. 17, at 6 p.m. in Baltimore, Md.