Youngstown -- Cleveland State shot a blistering 56.1 percent and held the Youngstown State women's basketball team to 31.3 percent as the Vikings defeated the Penguins 80-51 on Saturday at the Beeghly Center.
    The Vikings shot 52 percent in the first half to build a 31-18 lead at the break, and they shot 59.4 percent to score 49 second-half points.
    Cleveland State, which improved to 9-8 overall and 3-2 in the Horizon League, also shot 53.8 percent in Youngstown last season. The Penguins dropped to 2-14 and 0-5.
    Senior Kelsey Gurganus scored a season-high 13 points to lead YSU. Nikita LaFleur grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.
    Kailey Klein scored 16 of her game-high 23 points in the first half to lead Cleveland State. Shawnita Garland added 18 points, and Jessica Roque had 11 points and nine assists.
    The Penguins opened the second half on a 10-5 run and trailed 36-28 after Tiara Scott's fast-break layup at the 17:19 mark. Cleveland State then scored 19 of the next 20 points to go up 55-29 and never looked back.
    A similar drought hurt the Penguins in the first half. YSU trailed just 13-11 after LaFleur's bucket at the 13:49 mark. Cleveland State then scored the next 10 points and held the Penguins to one field goal in the next 13 minutes.
    YSU connected on 7-of-30 shot attempts (23.3 percent) in the first half while Cleveland State hit at a solid 52 percent clip by making 13-of-25 from the field. YSU owned a slight 19-16 advantage on the boards, including 10-3 bulge on the offensive glass.
    Cleveland State hit its first five shots of the game and led 6-0 on back-to-back treys by Klein. The Guins got on the scoreboard when Gurganus connected on a 3-pointer, and they trailed 13-5 before scoring six straight points to get within a basket on a LaFleur jumper at 13:49. However, that's as close the Penguins would get the rest of the contest.
    Cleveland State's biggest lead of the opening half was 31-16 with 2:39 remaining in the first half. Tiara Scott made the final basket of the opening frame to get YSU within 31-18 at the break.
    The Penguins are back on the road on Thursday when they visit Wright State. Tipoff at the Nutter Center is set for 5:30 p.m.