Youngstown -- The Youngstown State women's basketball team built a 19-point second-half lead before holding on to defeat Toledo 55-48 in the Penguins' home opener on Thursday night.
    Junior guard Kelsey Gurganus and junior forward Ashley Pendleton sparked the victory scoring 13 points each. Senior forward Jessica Schloemp posted a double-double scoring 11 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
    YSU led 36-17 early in the second half, but Toledo mounted a comeback attempt to put pressure on the Penguins. The Rockets got as close as two on five different occasions but could never tie or take the lead.
    The Penguins scored the first four points of the second half before the Rockets scored 19 of the game's next 21 points to make the score 38-36 with 11:50 remaining. Forward Allie Clifton, who finished with a game-high 15 points, scored 10 points during the run.
    Gurganus made two free throws to get the lead back to five at 42-37 with 9:27 remaining, but the Rockets got a trey and kept the score within four until Jessica Schloemp hit a layup to up the advantage to 51-45 with 1:18 left.
    Gurganus hit two more of her nine free throws with 42 seconds remaining to up the advantage to 53-45, and Lauren Branson hit two charity tosses with 18 seconds left to offset an Amber Heistan trey.
    Toledo had an opportunity to get closer as neither team scored for two-and-a-half minutes late. The Rockets missed their last seven free throw attempts and converted only 7-of-19 for the game.
    YSU came out strong in the first half to build an impressive 31-15 halftime advantage.
    Youngstown State scored the first four points and nine of the game's first 11. Schloemp opened the scoring and Heather Karner followed with a basket. After Toledo's Ta'Yani Clark got the Rockets on the scoreboard, Pendleton scored and Karner drilled a 3-pointer to give the Guins a 9-2 advantage.
    After holding a 15-9 edge at the 8:21 mark, the Penguins went on a 9-0 run pushing their cushion to 24-9 on a basket by Schloemp.
    Just before the intermission, YSU built its biggest lead of the first half at 32-15 on a Branson free throw with 16 seconds remaining. Clifton cut the deficit to 15 with a basket just before the halftime buzzer.
    The Penguins shot 48 percent making 12-of-25 shots while their defense harassed the Rockets into a 26.7 percentage. UT made just 8-of-30 attempts in the opening frame, including an 0-of-5 mark from behind the 3-point arc.
    Youngstown State is back on the road when it plays at Saint Francis (Pa.) on Saturday night. Tipoff at the DeGol Arena is set for 7 p.m.