Youngstown -- Milwaukee shot 61.3 percent in the second half and held off a late rally by the Youngstown State women's basketball team to win 68-59 on Saturday at Beeghly Center.

YSU played arguably its best half of the season in the first 20 minutes as the score was 25-25 at halftime, but Milwaukee scored 13 of the first 16 points of the second half in what was the Horizon League opener for both schools. Milwaukee improved to 6-6 overall while YSU dropped to 0-12.

Freshman Brandi Brown posted game highs in both points in rebounds, finishing with 18 points and 15 boards. It was her fourth double-double of the year, and she had that in the first half.

Bojana Dimitrov added 14 points, and Rachael Manuel tied her career high with 11 points. Macey Nortey added eight assists.

Ashley Imperiale led four UWM players in double figures with 16 points.

Behind Brown's 15 rebounds and eight from Manuel, YSU won the battle of the boards 43-37, including 27-14 in the first half. Nearly half of those were on the offensive end as YSU grabbed 21 of its own misses. The Penguins converted those into an 18-8 edge in second-chance points.

YSU also had a season-high 13 steals, five of which came from Brown.

The first half had four ties and six lead changes, and Youngstown State held Milwaukee scoreless for more than seven minutes as it built a 23-18 advantage.

The Panthers led 18-13 on a Danielle Jorgenson bucket at the 11:38 remaining, but YSU scored the next 10 points and took its 23-18 lead on Manuel's jumper with 4:58 remaining. UWM scored seven straight points and reclaimed the lead on two Jorgenson free throws with 51 seconds remaining, and Brown's jumper with 34 seconds left tied the score at 25-25 at halftime.

UWM opened the second half by making six of its first eight shots, and the Panthers matched their first-half scoring total at the 9:44 mark as Jenilee Klomstad's jumper made the score 50-38. The Panthers led by double digits until YSU scored nine straight points in a minute to cut the margin to 64-59 with 1:17 remaining.

The Panthers made substitutions during a timeout leading 64-50 with 2:15 left, and Manuel scored a quick bucket to spark the nine-point run. Jenkins scored all five of her points during the run, including a 3-pointer with 1:17 remaining that made the score 64-59. The Panthers' starters re-entered, and they scored four straight points to close out the contest.

UWM finished the game making 50 percent (27-for-54) from the field, and YSU shot 32.4 percent (24-for-74). The Penguins were 2-for-19 from behind the arc and missed 15 straight attempts from 3-point range until Jenkins' late trey.

YSU will entertain No. 20/22 Green Bay at 7:05  p.m. on Monday at Beeghly Center.