Youngstown -- Youngstown State junior Brandi Brown scored 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds, but the Youngstown State women's basketball team dropped a 48-41 decision to American on Monday evening at the Beeghly Center.
The Guins fall to 2-2 overall while American improves to 3-2 on the year.
Brown came up just one point short of her 1,000th career point.
Although the Guins struggled from the field shooting just 26.8 percent, they never quit fighting on the defensive end and forced 25 American turnovers. However, YSU only converted those turnovers into 15 points.
The second half featured two ties and eight lead changes but the final one came when American's Lisa Strack converted two free throws to give the Eagles a 38-37 lead with 2:53 left in the game. AU's Alexis Dobbs then hit a 3-pointer to put the Eagles ahead, 41-37, with 2:29 to go.
Senior Kenya Middlebrooks made two free throws at the 1:41 mark to get the Guins within two, 41-39, but the Eagles answered again with a 3-pointer from Arron Zimmerman to take a five point lead, 44-39.
American was able to extend its lead to seven, 46-39, after two more free throws from Strack.
Youngstown State's largest lead of the second half was two, 34-32, after Monica Touville nailed a 3-pointer at the 10:44 mark.
The Guins' last lead came at the 3:40 mark after a jumper by Brown put them up 37-36.
In the first half, the Guins shot just 27.6 percent from the field and 21.4 percent from 3-point range compared to American's 42.9 percent from the field and 45.5 percent from behind the arc.
The Guins also committed nine turnovers that led the 11 American points, while only scoring 10 points off of 12 turnovers by the Eagles.
After three lead changes and three ties, American outscored the Guins 14-3 over a four minute span to take a 22-11 with 7:08 remaining.
A 3-pointer by Devan Matkin, a layup by Melissa Thompson and jumpers by Brown and Macey Nortey led to a 9-0 run by the Guins to cut the deficit to two, 22-20, with 2:08 to go before the intermission.
Dobbs nailed a 3-pointer with 1:49 left to push the lead back to five and a free throw from Strack with seconds left was the half's final point, giving the Eagles a 26-20 halftime edge.
The Guins visit Loyola Marymount, Friday, Nov. 25, at 4 p.m. in Los Angeles, Calif.
