Youngstown State junior Monica Touvelle came off the bench to score a career-high 23 points while the defense clamped down on Milwaukee to lift the Penguins past the Panthers 67-50 on Thursday night at the Beeghly Center.
Touvelle was 8-of-11 on the night and 5-of-8 from behind the 3-point line in 24 minutes of action. She was also 2-of-2 from the line. She made all five of the Penguins 3-pointers in the contest.
With the win, YSU improves to 10-4 and 1-1 in the Horizon League while the Panthers fall to 4-10 and 0-2. The win was the first for the Penguins over the Panthers since Feb. 26, 2005, snapping a 15-game losing streak in the series.
For the game, YSU shot 49.1 percent making 26-of-53 shots while holding the Panthers to just 34.8 percent shooting (16-of-46), including 6-of-22 from behind the 3-point arc. The Guins harassed the Panthers into 27 turnovers, including 15 in the second half.
Touvelle carried the Penguins in the first half scoring half of the team's points while coming off the bench. She was 5-of-7 from the field and connected on all of the Guins' 3-pointers (four). She was 4-of-6 while the rest of the squad went 0-for-7.
Milwaukee grabbed an early lead in the first eight minutes of the contest before the Penguins tied the contest at 10 on Touvelle's first 3-pointer of the game with 11:52 left. Brandi Brown's putback off a Liz Hornberger missed 3-pointer gave the Guins the lead for good with 10:19 left in the half. YSU capped its 7-0 run as Davis connected on two free throws to extend the advantage to 14-10.
At the 7:09 mark, YSU held a slim 17-15 advantage before a 10-0 run helped seize control of the contest. Karen Flagg opened the run with a layup before Touvelle scored the next eight points as the Penguins built a 27-15 lead with 4:23 remaining.
UWM cut the deficit to 32-24 at halftime as Ashley Green converted two free throws with 2.3 seconds left. The Panthers were 8-of-8 from the line in the first half.
YSU was 11-of-25 (44 percent) while Milwaukee shot 31.8 percent (7-of-22) in the opening period. Both teams combined for 21 turnovers.
In the second half, Milwaukee cut the deficit to 32-26 in the first minute before the Guins scored seven straight points to push their lead back up to 13.
At the 5:02 mark the Guins had their biggest lead of the night at 65-38 on a layup by Shar'Rae Davis. The Panthers ended the game on a 12-2, which included a free-throw by Sami Tucker at the 2:17 mark which was her 1,000th-career point.
Brown had 18 points and six rebounds while Flagg and Davis each finished with 10. Heidi Schlegel had six points off the bench as only five players scored for YSU on the night.
The Penguins' bench outscored the Panthers 29-10 with Touvelle and Schlegel combining for all 29. Schlegel also had eight rebounds.
The Penguins return to action on Saturday night when they play host to Green Bay. Tipoff for the contest against the Phoenix is set for 7:05 p.m.
