Youngstown -- Youngstown State's Macey Nortey scored a career-high 20 points to lead three guards in double figures, but Kent State overcame an early deficit and kept the Penguins at arms length in the second half to win 70-55.

The Penguins led 10-2 through eight minutes, and they were able to trim a 16-point second-half deficit to 10 with 1:38 remaining before Kent State closed the game with five straight points.

YSU showed a big improvement from last season's game with Kent State. The Penguins lost 95-58 at KSU to open the 2008-09 campaign.

Kent State improved to 2-0 with the victory, and YSU dropped to 0-3.

Bojana Dimitrov added 15 points and Kenya Middlebrooks had a career-high 12, but the rest of YSU's roster combined for eight points. Kent State's high scorer was Jamilah Humes with 14, but nine more players scored as the Golden Flashes held a 29-0 edge in bench points. Kent State also outscored YSU 38-8 in the paint and 23-13 off turnovers.

After Dimitrov and Humes traded buckets in the first two minutes of the game, YSU scored eight straight points and led 10-2 on a Dimitrov 3-pointer at the 13:01 mark. From that point, YSU went without a field goal until Macey Nortey hit a jumper with 3:47 remaining as Kent State built a 20-15 lead. Nortey's three-point play cut the deficit to 20-18, but Kent State closed out the half on an 11-4 run to take a 31-22 lead at the break.

The Golden Flashes scored the first five points of the second half, and YSU answered with a seven-point run to make the score 38-31 on a Nortey jumper. Kent State scored the next five and extended its lead to 52-36 with 9:32 remaining, and YSU got within 11 five times in the next seven minutes. A Dimitrov 3-pointer with 1:38 remaining got the score to 65-55, but Stephanie Gibson hit a trey on Kent State's next possession, and two Humes free throws ended the scoring.

Yoshica Spears added 12 points and 13 rebounds for Kent State, and she grabbed eight of the Golden Flashes' 19 offensive rebounds. KSU held a 50-32 edge on the glass.

YSU shot 20.7 percent in the first half but improved to 46.2 percent in the final 20 minutes. The Guins were also 6-of-11 from behind the 3-point arc.

YSU will remain at home to play Canisius on Sunday at 2:05 p.m.