Youngstown -- Behind 23 points from Brandi Brown, the Youngstown State women's basketball team opened up Horizon League play with a 70-48 victory over Cleveland State on Saturday at Beeghly Center.
The Penguins scored 12 straight points early to take a 14-2 lead, and they led by double digits for the final 32:54 of the game.
YSU, which was picked to finish 10th in the Horizon League's preseason poll, snapped a nine-game losing streak against Cleveland State. The Vikings were picked to finish second in the conference standings. The win also gave the Penguins their 11th win in 2011. They had three wins combined the previous two calendar years.
YSU is now 7-5 and has surpassed its six-win total from the 2010-11 season. Cleveland State dropped to 5-7.
Brown's 23 points came on an efficient shooting day in which she was 7-for-11 from the field, 3-for-4 from 3-point range and 6-for-6 from the free-throw line. She also finished with 12 rebounds in 29 minutes. Heidi Schlegel added 16 points, and Monica Touvelle had 12.
Shalonda Winton had 17 points and 13 rebounds for Cleveland State in 40 minutes. The junior forward was 5-for-15 from the field and committed seven of CSU's 23 turnovers.
The Penguins made seven 3-pointers in the first half and got a big lift from Touvelle's 4-for-4 effort from distance to take a 35-22 lead at the break.
The Penguins never trailed in the first half and scored 12 straight points once the game was tied at 2-2. A Destinee Blue jumper cut the margin to nine, but Touvelle's hot streak started with a triple at the 10:35 mark that made the score 17-5. She hit all four of her triples in a two-minute span, and her final one gave YSU a 26-9 cushion with 8:41 to go.
The Vikings got the deficit down to 11 with less than a minute to go, but Macey Nortey's lay-up put YSU ahead 13 at halftime.
A Kenya Middlebrooks triple triple gave the Penguins their largest lead at 43-24 a minute-and-a-half into the second half. Schlegel's free throw made the score 44-26 at the 17:13 mark, but Cleveland State scored the next eight points to trim the margin to 44-34 with 13:30 to play. Tieara Jones hit a free throw to stop the spurt, and a big Brown triple with 12 minutes left was YSU's first field goal since Middlebrooks' triple at the 18:33 mark.
A Winton bucket made the score 50-39 with 9:25 left, but YSU's defense did not allow another field goal for nearly eight minutes. Brown hit another triple to push the score to 14, and she made two free throws at the 4:43 mark that sparked a 12-0 run that gave YSU a 66-42 lead with 2:02 left.
YSU shot 43.8 percent overall and 42.9 percent from beyond the arc. Cleveland State shot 34 percent overall and was just 2-for-13 from distance. YSU outscored the Vikings 28-12 off turnovers.
YSU's next game will be at Butler on Thursday at 7 p.m. The contest will be broadcast live on 1390 WNIO and the Horizon League Network.
FINAL 1 2 T
Cleveland State (5-7, 0-1 HL) 22 26 48
Youngstown State (7-5, 1-0 HL) 35 35 70
Youngstown, Ohio - Beeghly Center
Cleveland State Youngstown State
Pts: WINTON, Shalonda - 17 Pts: Brandi Brown - 23
Reb: WINTON, Shalonda - 13 Reb: Brandi Brown - 12
Ast: WINTON, Shalonda - 3 Ast: Macey Nortey - 7
Team Statistics Cleveland State Youngstown State
Field Goal % 34.0% (17-50 ) 43.8% (21-48 )
Rebounds 33 33
Assists 9 15
Turnovers 23 20
Pts off Turnovers 12 28
2nd Chance Pts 12 5
Pts in the Paint 24 18
Fastbreak Pts 4 4
Bench Pts 14 16
