The Youngstown State women's basketball team battled with Cleveland State, but low-scoring second and fourth quarters doomed the Penguins in a 60-52 loss to the Vikings at the Wolstein Center on Friday night.

Jen Wendler tied career highs with 13 points and nine rebounds, and Maddie Schires scored all 11 of her points in the third quarter to help Youngstown State build a 48-39 lead after 30 minutes. Cleveland State outscored the Penguins 21-4 in the fourth quarter to improve to 13-3 overall and 3-2 in Horizon League play. YSU, which had six players out with injuries, dropped to 9-7 and 2-3 despite leading for nearly 30 minutes in the game.

Mariah Miller had 17 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Vikings. Savanna Crockett grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds, and she scored six straight points in the fourth period after the Penguins led 52-50 with less than four minutes remaining.

Gabby Lupardus scored a career-best nine points, and she had all four YSU points in the fourth period. Her jumper at the 6:53 mark put the Penguins up 50-43, and her basket with 4:09 remaining gave YSU its final lead at 52-50. Crockett scored on Cleveland State's next possession to tie the score, and her go-ahead basket with 2:22 remaining followed two Vikings offensive rebounds. The sophomore scored again with 1:13 remaining to put CSU ahead 56-52, and the final four Vikings points came from the free-throw line as the Penguins tried to extend the game.

Youngstown State's defense kept it in the game as the Penguins shot 32.3 percent overall while going 4-for-17 from 3-point range. Cleveland State shot 35.1 percent from the field and made six of its 14 attempts from beyond the arc. The Vikings also outscored YSU 14-8 at the free-throw line.

YSU turned the ball over just 11 times, but those turnovers led to 17 Vikings points. The Penguins limited CSU to four steals, seven below its season average.

Youngstown State scored on its first five possessions of the game and led 10-0 following a putback by Wendler with 7:17 remaining. Wendler had six points, and Quinece Hatcher had the other four during the opening run. Cleveland State's first points didn't come until JaMiya Braxton hit a 3 at the 5:45 mark.

Hatcher scored in the lane again at 4:53 to make it 12-3, and Lupardus converted a three-point play with 1:23 remaining to give the Penguins a 15-5 lead at the quarter break.

Cleveland State was 1-for-11 with seven turnovers as YSU maintained its 10-point lead two-and-a-half minutes into the second period, but the Vikings got hot and scored 22 points in the final 7:21 of the half to take a 27-22 lead at halftime. Cleveland State's first lead came on two Mariah White free throws at the 3:15 mark, and YSU regained the lead at 22-20 on a Wendler basket with 2:14 remaining. The Vikings scored the final seven points of the half to lead 27-22.

The Penguins then blistered the nets to start the third period and outscored the Vikings 15-4 over the first five minutes to take a 37-31 lead. Schires hit her second of three 3-pointers in the period to give YSU the six-point lead, and she hit another triple with two minutes remaining to put YSU ahead 43-35. The margin reached 10 again at 45-35 with 1:16 remaining on two Lupardus free throws, and YSU led 48-39 heading into the fourth following a three-point play by Wendler.

Cleveland State switched from zone to man-to-man defensively to start the fourth, which helped it go on an 11-2 run to tie the score at 50 and set up the closing stretch. The Vikings outscored the Penguins 12-2 in the paint and 8-0 on offensive rebounds in the fourth period.

Youngstown State will make its annual swing through the Detroit area as it plays at Oakland and Detroit Mercy next week. The Penguins will play the Golden Grizzlies on Jan. 16 at 7 p.m., and they will end their five-game road stretch to begin 2020 at Detroit Mercy on Jan. 18 at 1 p.m.