Detroit, Mich. -- Freshman guard Camisha Alexander scored a career-high 15 points in her first start, but her hot hand was not enough to carry the Youngstown State women's basketball team in a 73-50 defeat at Detroit on Saturday afternoon.
     Alexander was 5-for-7 from behind the 3-point arc in 20 minutes, and Kelsey Gurganus added eight points and five assists.
     Detroit went on runs of 11-0 and 19-1 in the first half as it built a 44-31 lead at halftime. The Penguins could not make a second-half surge as they were held to 30.4 percent from the floor in the period. They hit 44.0 percent in the first half, and the Guins were 7-for-16 from the 3-point arc from the game.
     The Titans converted on 43.6 percent from the field and made 21-of-27 from the free-throw line. They outscored YSU by 21-7 at the line, 36-14 in the paint, 23-7 off turnovers and 20-2 in second-chance points.
     Chanica Hall scored a game-high 19 points to lead Detroit, Sandi Brown scored 14 and Heather Hatter had 13. Brown and Hall had four steals apiece as the Titans collected 13 as a squad. Brown added 14 rebounds as the Titans held a 38-21 edge on the glass.
     Alexander surpassed her career-high in the first 10 minutes and hit on her first three 3-point attempts. She scored 15 of YSU's 31 points in the opening half by going 5-for-6 from the floor. The other 10 players who saw time in the first half shot a combined 6-for-19 as the Penguins shot 44 percent. The Penguins actually outshot Detroit 44 percent to 43.8 percent, but the Titans outscored the Penguins by 11 at the free-throw line and 22-4 in the paint. The Titans also held a 14-5 edge in points off turnovers and 14-0 in second-chance points in the opening period.
     After Hall scored the opening bucket, Alexander hit back-to-back treys and Tiara Scott hit a jumper to give the Guins an 8-2 lead. Detroit then scored 11 straight points and held YSU scoreless until Macey Nortey's jumper at the 13:09 mark made the score 13-10.
     YSU trailed just 23-21 at the 8:35 mark on Kelsey Gurganus' jumper, but YSU was held without a field goal for the next seven minutes as Detroit went on a 19-1 run and built a 42-22 lead with 1:53 remaining in the half. YSU was able to close out the half on a 9-2 run to make the deficit 44-31 at the break.
     Youngstown State will play host to UIC and Loyola in a pair of doubleheaders next week. The Penguins and Flames will open the week on Thursday at 5:15 p.m.