Cleveland, Ohio — Youngstown State's women's basketball team battled on the road at Cleveland State on Thursday night but couldn't make enough shots in a 67-53 loss to the Vikings at the Wolstein Center.
Jewel Watkins scored a team-high 15 points, and Haley Thierry scored 10 off the bench for the Penguins. Sophia Gregory grabbed a team-best nine rebounds and distributed a career-best six assists.
Sara Guerreiro had 18 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists to lead Cleveland State, which improved to 16-4 overall and 8-2 in Horizon League play.
The Penguins held the Vikings below their season averages in field-goal percentage and points and won the battle on the glass 40-36 against the Horizon League's top rebounding team. YSU had 13 offensive rebounds, which led to 16 second-chance points.
Youngstown State shot 33.3% from the floor and went 7-for-24 from 3-point range, which was two more makes from long distance than CSU had. The Vikings had an 18-6 advantage at the free-throw line.
The Penguins scored nine of the first 11 points of the game, and those points came from four different players. Xoe Rosalez hit a 3 at the 8:27 mark, and Faith Burch scored on the next possession to put YSU up 5-0. Youngstown State's lead advanced to 9-2 on a Thierry layup on Gregory's third assist with 6:28 on the clock.
The Penguins were held to 11 points for the rest of the half, and their defense allowed them to remain ahead 11-8 at the end of the first quarter. Cleveland State's first lead came when Mickayla Perdue made three free throws at the 8:43 mark, and the Vikings held the upper hand the rest of the game.
Thierry's fast-break layup with 5:46 on the second-quarter clock cut YSU's deficit to 17-14, but Cleveland State went on a 15-3 run to go up 32-17. Erica King hit a triple to cut the margin to a dozen at the break, and the Vikings scored 11 straight points early in the third to grow their advantage to 43-22.
YSU trailed 49-31 at the end of the quarter, and the Penguins shaved four points off the difference by shooting 56.3% from the field in the fourth. King and Hayden Barrier hit 3-pointers over the final 2:30 for YSU as it closed the game on an 8-2 burst.
Youngstown State will host Oakland on Sunday at 2 p.m. to complete the first loop of conference play. The game from Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center will be broadcast live on 570 WKBN and ESPN+.
