Penguins top Cleveland State to end skid, get first loop win

By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Youngstown State women's basketball team finally shot the ball well, rebounded very well and played good defense all in the same game.
As a result, the Penguins earned their first victory in the Horizon League by posting a 68-56 win over Cleveland State on Thursday at Beeghly Center.
The Penguins (5-12, 1-5 Horizon League) snapped a five-game losing streak.
YSU, sparked by the efforts of junior Kristy Gaudiose and sophomore Jessica Schloemp, shot a season best 60.7 percent from the field in the first half and finished at 48.1 percent for the game.
Ties school record
Gaudiose tied a school record with seven 3-point goals, all of them in the first half when she scored 21 of her game-high 23 points.
Schloemp finished with a double-double, scoring 20 points and pulling down 19 rebounds. She had the double-double at halftime when she had 10 points and 12 rebounds.
"I'm just ecstatic about the way we shot the basketball tonight," said YSU head coach Tisha Hill. "I was so pleased with the overall effort."
YSU had 23 turnovers
Still, the Penguins committed 23 turnovers and struggled at times against the Vikings' full-court pressure defense.
"We got off to a fast start, a hot start, and it was fun to watch," added Hill. "I was happy with the poise this team showed tonight especially when [Cleveland State] came back at us in the first half."
Gaudiose joined Barb Fabianova (2005), Devin Novak (2003), Leslie Majewski (1999, 2000), Caroline McCombs (1997) and Shannon Beach (1997) as the only YSU players with seven 3-pointers in a game.
She said she felt good from the start.
"I really felt good about my shot in warm-ups and I've been working hard with the coaches on my shooting," Gaudiose said. "The way Jessica was rebounding, I didn't worry about missing because she was getting everything tonight."
Gaudiose was 7-of-9 from 3-point range in the first half and finished 7-of-12.
Martin leads Vikings
Cleveland State (3-14, 1-5) was led by Canfield native Erin Martin, who came off the bench to score 17 points for the Vikings. The senior guard also had a game-high eight assists and five steals.
Gaudiose hit her first 3-pointer on the game's first shot and the Penguins quickly jumped out to a 15-2 advantage thanks to six Vikings turnovers in the first five minutes and three steals by freshman Velissa Vaughn, who scored twice on easy lay-ups.
The Penguins were cruising to a 21-6 advantage with 12:25 remaining in the half when the Vikings started to come back.
Vikings rally to tie
Cleveland State tied the contest 29-29 with 4:05 remaining in the half, but YSU, led by three long range shots from Gaudiose, went on a 15-2 run and took a 44-31 lead at intermission.
Cleveland State never got within double figures of the Penguins in the second half as YSU increased its lead to 20 points (59-39) with 9:41 remaining. Its biggest lead was 23 points, 66-43, with 5:24 left in the game.
The Penguins finished the four-game home stand 1-3 and now must go on the road for the next three games beginning Saturday when they meet Detroit for the second time this year in a 1:30 p.m. tip-off at Calihan Hall.
The Titans defeated the Penguins 77-48 in their first meeting on Jan. 7 at Beeghly.