Youngstown -- Kent State shot 54.7 percent and had five players score in double figures as it defeated the Youngstown State women's basketball team 95-58 on Saturday afternoon in the season opener for both squads.

    Freshman Macey Nortey and junior Kaitlyn March scored 13 apiece to lead YSU. Freshman Camisha Alexander added 11 for the Penguins, who were held to 33.3 percent from the floor.   

    Senior center Anna Kowalska scored a game-high 19 points in 19 minutes for Kent State while Rachel Bennett scored 18.

    The Golden Flashes held a 44-18 edge in points in the paint and outscored the Penguins 14-0 on the fast break. YSU's bench scored 36 of its 58 points thanks to the 24 combined from March and Alexander.

    Kent State hit its first two 3-pointers and took a 9-4 lead 2 1/2-minutes in. YSU got back within three and trailed 16-11 with 11:09 remaining on Nikita LaFleur's lay-in. Kent State went on a 10-1 run to go up 14 at 26-12, but back-to-back 3's by March helped the Penguins trim the margin to seven with just over six minutes to play. The Golden Flashes hit 3's on back-to-back possessions to go up 13 and never led by less than 10 the rest of the way.

    KSU scored the first six points of the second half to go up 50-29, and the teams traded five-point runs over the next 3 1/2 minutes. Alexander's 3 and Kelsey Gurganus' lay-up cut the margin to 59-44 with 10:21, but Kent State answered with nine straight points as part of a 21-4 run over the next five minutes to go up 80-45.

    March's 13 points were more than she had in her first two years at YSU. Jaquetta Westley (three), Nortey (13), Kenya Middlebrooks (three), Racael Manuel (three) and Alexander (11) all scored their first career points for the Penguins.

    The Penguins will play their home opener on Wednesday against Buffalo. Tipoff against the Bulls is set for 7:05 p.m. at the Beeghly Center.