Box Score
The Youngstown State women's basketball team scored 47 points in the second half and had five players score in double figures as it beat Cleveland State 84-72 on Saturday afternoon at Beeghly Center.
Maddie Schires made four 3-pointers and set YSU's record for 3-pointers in a season by a freshman with 57. Her record-breaking 3 punctuated an 18-7 run in the third period that put the Penguins ahead 56-51, and YSU went on to lead for the final 13 minutes of the game.
McKenah Peters scored a team-high 18 points, freshmen Jen Wendler and Quinece Hatcher both had 14, and Chelsea Olson scored 12 points to go along with six assists and six rebounds. Wendler and freshman Taylor Petit both grabbed a game-best eight rebounds, and YSU won the rebounding battle 44-27.
The Penguins snapped a six-game losing skid by posting their highest scoring total of conference play. YSU shot 48.3 percent from the field, went 7-for-21 from 3-point range and made 19 of its 23 attempts from the free-throw line.
Mariah White led Cleveland State with a game-high 33 points, but the next-highest Viking has eight points. CSU shot 58.8 percent in the first period but shot below 36 percent in the final three quarters.
Youngstown State is now 12-13 overall and 5-9 in Horizon League play while Cleveland State dropped to 17-8 and 7-7.
Both teams got off to a strong start offensively as they combined for 44 points in the first quarter. The Penguins led 10-5 early on a Peters 3-pointer at the 6:22 mark, and the YSU junior scored seven points in the first six minutes. Cleveland State took its first lead at 15-14 on a JaMiya Braxton 3-pointer at the 4:24 mark, and the Vikings scored the final four points of the first quarter to lead 24-20.
Isabelle Gradwell's 3-pointer just over a minute into the second period extended Cleveland State's lead to 27-20, which ended up being its largest of the game. YSU then scored the next seven points as part of a 17-5 run to take a 37-32 lead, but Cleveland State scored the final six points of the half to hold a 38-37 lead at the intermission.
Schires hit her first 3 of the game during the run to put YSU up 32-30, and she buried another one to complete the spurt and give YSU its 37-32 lead.
Cleveland State scored six of the first seven points of the second half to built its lead to 44-38, but a three-point play by Gabby Lupardus sparked a 9-2 run for the Penguins that gave them a 47-46 lead midway through the period. Cleveland State's final lead was at 49-47, and Petit stole an inbounds pass out of a timeout and converted a layup to tie the game at 49 with 3:02 left in the third. Schires' record-setting 3-pointer put YSU ahead 56-51, and the Penguins led 58-54 heading into the fourth.
Schires' final 3 got two friendly bounces from the rim on YSU's first possession of the fourth period, and a Hatcher layup gave the Penguins their first double-digit lead at 67-56 at the 7:19 mark. Youngstown State led by at least eight the rest of the way, and the margin grew to as much as 18 at 82-64 on two Wendler free throws with 2:37 left.
Youngstown State will play two more home games next week as it wraps up its five-game homestand. The Penguins will host Detroit Mercy on Friday at 7 p.m., and their final home game of the regular season will be next Sunday at 1 p.m. versus Oakland.
