Los Angeles -- Youngstown State junior forward Brandi Brown cemented herself among the best players to ever wear YSU red and white and led the Penguins to a 64-50 win over LMU in front of an enthusiastic group of supporters on Friday.
Brown's 1,000th career point gave the Penguins a 7-6 lead, and they never trailed again. Brown, who grew up about an hour from Los Angeles, finished with a game-high 19 points and 14 rebounds.
YSU sophomore Heidi Schlegel joined Brown in a double-double, posting 17 points and a career-high 10 rebounds.
The Penguins will play the winner between Northern Iowa and Wyoming on Saturday at approximately 6:15 p.m. Eastern.
YSU led by double digits for most of the second half, but LMU cut the deficit to 43-36 with 12:23 left. Brown's layup on a pass from Los Angeles native Macey Nortey put YSU up nine on the next possession, and the Penguins went on to score seven straight points.
YSU's biggest lead came on Brown's final bucket of the game. Her layup at the 3:44 mark on a pass from Schlegel capped another seven-point run that put the Penguins up 62-44.
Schlegel had 13 points and five rebounds in the second half, and Brown matched her with 13 points in the final 20 minutes. Schlegel also had a game-high five assists. Kenya Middlebrooks had 14 points and hit four of YSU"s eight 3-pointers.
Alex Cowling had 18 points and 17 rebounds for LMU.
YSU outshot LMU 40.4 percent to 31.7 percent and outscored the Lions 20-8 off turnovers.
Brown's 1,000th point came from the free-throw line with 15:06 left in the first half, and it gave the Penguins their first lead at 7-6. YSU didn't trail again, and a Kelsea Fickiesen lay-up gave the Penguins a 16-10 advantage with 12:33 remaining.
A Middlebrooks triple gave the Penguins their first double-digit lead with 7:06 left, and her third 3-pointer of the period put YSU up 33-20 at the 3:41 mark. That completed a 12-4 run for the Penguins during which they held LMU without a field goal for five minutes.
Loyola Marymount scored the final four points of the half to cut the deficit to nine at the break.
Middlebrooks led all scorers with 11 points in the first half, and the senior had three of the Penguins' five 3-pointers in the period. Brown had six points and nine rebounds. YSU shot 37 percent as a team to offset 11 turnovers.
