YSU men, women go down to defeat

The Penguin men will start 2005 with a 3-8 record; the women are 6-6.
PITTSBURGH -- Duquesne took advantage of a 12-0 run to start the second half and held the Youngstown State men's basketball team to 29.1 percent shooting from the floor to register a 78-54 victory Friday afternoon at the Palumbo Center.
Quin Humphrey led YSU with 16 points to become the first Penguin to score in double figures in the first 11 games of the season since the 1978-79 season.
Humphrey added a career-high 10 rebounds while Colin LeForme posted a career-high 10 points.
The Dukes held a 12-point advantage at the end of the first half behind eight points from Kieron Achara, an 18-6 advantage inside the paint and seven blocks.
Fast start for Dukes
Duquesne jumped out to a 13-4 lead after a Sean McKeon basket with 12:12 remaining, but Zach Silverman scored the next four points on a 3-pointer and a free throw to cut the deficit to 13-8. Duquesne then went on an 11-2 run and took a 24-10 lead at the 5:15 mark after a jumper by Chauncey Duke.
YSU got to within 12 four times before the end of the half with the last time being on a Humphrey jumper with 11 seconds remaining.
Duquesne held the Penguins to 5-for-25 shooting in the first half and allowed four points apiece to Humphrey, Silverman and LaForme.
Duquesne then took control early in the second half as it scored the opening 12 points and did not allow a YSU point until a Humphrey fast-break dunk at the 14:44 mark.
Bryant McAllister finished with 16 points to pace the Dukes while Achara finished with 14 and DeVario Hudson posted 12. The Dukes (3-10) held the rebounding advantage 43-30 and benefited from a 22-9 margin on second-chance points. They shot 48.1 percent overall and 46.7 percent from behind the arc.
The Penguins (3-8) will play host to Illinois-Chicago on Monday at 7 p.m.
Women fall to Xavier, 67-57
CINCINNATI -- Youngstown State senior Jen Perugini scored a team-best 17 points and freshman Lauren Branson posted a career-high 12 points, but the Penguins (6-6) dropped a 67-57 decision to Xavier (6-4).
Trailing 33-23 at the half, the Penguins used a 19-10 run to start the second half and sliced the Xavier advantage to 43-42 with 11:36 to go. Perugini paced the Penguins during that run with a 3-pointer and three jumpers.
The Musketeers, who made 10 3-pointers, pushed their advantage back to five points, but Cathy Hanek, who finished with 10 points, drilled a 3-pointer at the 9:28 mark to slice the lead to back to two, 47-45.
Xavier, however, buried four 3-pointers and outscored YSU 20-10 down the stretch to finish off the Penguins.
The Musketeers held a 25-6 edge in second-chance points. They had 20 offensive rebounds and held a 43-29 overall edge on the boards.
"We did a good job with the effort we put forth on the floor," said YSU coach Tisha Hill.
"We stepped up in the second half and executed well. When you play good teams you need to eliminate what they're good at and that's rebounding, and we were not able to keep them off the boards," Hill said.
Xavier's run
In the first half, Youngstown State jumped out to a 7-4 lead with 14:40 remaining after a 3-pointer by Hanek and jumpers by Perugini and Tara Fleming. Xavier, though, scored the next six points on 3-pointers by Suntana Granderson and Miranda Green to take a 10-7 advantage with 14:10 left.
After Branson's layup cut the deficit to 10-9 at the 13:40 mark, Xavier used an 11-0 to take a commanding 21-9 lead with 10:46 remaining.
The Penguins outscored the Musketeers 14-12 to close out the half with a 10-point deficit, 33-23. Fabianova drained two 3-pointers and a jumper while Perugini posted six points during that span on two baskets and two free throws.
Xavier used 11 offensive rebounds, which translated into 16 second-chance points for the Muskateers compared with YSU's two.
The Penguins return to Horizon League play at Illinois-Chicago Thursday at 8 p.m.