Youngstown -- The Youngstown State women's basketball team used a strong second-half effort to beat Loyola 70-58 on Saturday afternoon in the Beeghly Center. The victory gives the Penguins a 2-0 conference start for the first time since joining the Horizon League seven years ago.

    Junior forward Tiara Scott and senior guard Heather Karner each scored 17 points as the Penguins improved to 7-6 on the season. Velissa Vaughn and Jessica Schloemp also reached double figures for YSU. Vaughn had 14 points while Schleomp contributed 12. The Guins played just seven players in the contest.

    Maggie McCloskey scored a game-high 19 points for the Ramblers who dropped to 2-11 and 0-2.

    YSU held a three-point advantage at halftime, but was able to open the game up in the second half. The Penguins scored 10 of the first 13 points to open the second stanza grabbing a 45-35 lead.

    Youngstown State led 60-46  with just over five minutes remaining, however Loyola scored the next six points before Vaughn scored with just under four minutes remaining to end the Rambler threat.

    In the first half, the Penguins couldn't shake the Ramblers despite building a 29-21 lead on Heather Karner's 3-pointer with 4:13 remaining. Loyola went on a 11-3 run to pull ahead 32-31 on Brittney Marshall's 3-pointer. But Karner answered 20 seconds later with a hoop to put YSU ahead 33-32.

    After a missed Rambler basket, the Loyola bench was hit with a technical foul as YSU brought the ball up the court in the final 10 seconds of the half. Lauren Branson made both free throws to put the Penguins in front 35-32 at halftime.

    In the first half, YSU shot 34.5 percent making 10-of-29 attempts, but was solid from the 3-point line making 5-of-9 while connecting on 10-of-11 from the charity stripe. Loyola was 13-of-27 from the field (48.1 percent), including 4-of-8 from 3-point range and made just two free throws.

    For the game, YSU shot 42.9 percent making 24-of-56 attempts while Loyola was 22-of-45 (48.9 percent). The Guins had an advantage at the free-throw line making 16-of-22 shots while Loyola was 8-of-14. The Guins forced 22 Rambler turnovers will committing just 12.

    It was the third straight game the Guins have bettered the 70-point mark. All three contests were YSU victories.

    YSU plays its first Horizon League road game of the season on Thursday night at Milwaukee. Tipoff at the Klotsche Center is set for 8 p.m. Eastern time.