Milwaukee, Wis. -- A shorthanded and undersized Youngstown State women's basketball team gave a valiant effort before falling 78-51 to Milwaukee at the Klotsche Center on Saturday afternoon.
     The Penguins, playing without their top two scorers in Nikita LaFleur and Tiara Scott, had only two posts in uniform.
     Camisha Alexander scored a career-high 17 points as the only player to score in double figures for YSU.
     The Penguins were well within reach for the first 30 minutes before Milwaukee went on a 17-7 run over the next seven minutes.
     LaFleur was out with an injury, and Scott was attending the funeral of a family member. Rachael Manuel and Ashley Pendleton, YSU's only two players over 5-foot-8, were only the game together for a few minutes.
     Senior forward Traci Edwards, the Horizon League's top scorer, took advantage by scoring 21 points to go along with her eight rebounds and seven blocks. Three other players scored in double figures for the Panthers.
     YSU was held to 27.3 percent shooting while Milwaukee shot 48.5 percent overall and 60.7 percent in the second half. The Panthers outscored YSU 38-14 in the paint and held a 52-35 rebounding edge.
     Edwards scored the first four points of the game as UWM took a 6-0 lead, but YSU went on a 7-1 run to tie the score and didn't trail by more than five for the next 12 minutes. Alexander and Kaitlyn March both hit 3-pointers during the Guins' run that tied the score at 7-7 with 14:50 remaining.
     Kelsey Gurganus hit a free throw at the 6:22 mark that cut UWM's lead to 21-18, but the Panthers closed out the half on a 13-5 run. Milwaukee scored the next six points to go up 27-18, and it scored the final five points once Alexander's fourth trey of the half cut the margin to six. Markita Barnes' jumper just before the buzzer gave the Panthers' their largest lead of the period at 34-23.
     After two quick buckets, Edwards was held scoreless from 19:17 to 11:01 and again until 3:06 as the Penguins went into a zone. Both of YSU's two posts in uniform, Rachael Manuel and Ashley Pendleton, got two fouls as the Penguins played the final 3:06 of the half with five guards.
     Alexander was 4-for-8 from behind the 3-point arc in the first half for 12 of YSU's 23 points in the period. Edwards scored 11 points in the first half, going 4-for-5 from the field and 3-for-5 from the free-throw line.
     Milwaukee held a 29-20 edge in rebounding at a 16-4 lead in the paint.   
     The Panthers continued their momentum from the first half and opened the second half on 10-2 run to go up 44-25. UWM scored 14 points in the first 5:25 of the half and hit on seven of its first 11 shots.
     UWM led 48-29 after Jodie McClain's jumper at the 14:38 mark, but YSU quickly scored the next six points to get within 48-35. The Panthers answered by scoring 10 of the next 12 points as YSU missed three shots inside of eight feet to take a 58-37 lead with 8:17 remaining. UWM led by less than 20 only once the rest of the way.
     Monique Godfrey scored her first five points of the season on back-to-back possessions inside of five minutes remaining for the Penguins.
     Youngstown State will play at Cleveland State on Feb. 14 at 5 p.m.