YSU women can't hold early lead against CSU

By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
CLEVELAND -- Youngstown State's women's basketball team had two lulls in its game Saturday against Cleveland State.
Unfortunately, the first one lasted more than nine minutes and the second was the final 4 1/2 minutes of a 68-57 loss at the Wolstein Center.
YSU (7-18, 5-9 Horizon League) led 21-9 midway through the first half, then scored just two points over a nine-minute stretch to fall behind at the intermission.
In the second half, the Penguins held a 55-52 lead with 4:29 remaining, but didn't score another basket the rest of the contest.
"We just let this game get away from us," YSU coach Tisha Hill said. "There aren't any excuses -- we didn't shoot when we needed to and we didn't play very well defensively.
"We're no longer a young, inexperienced team. We should be playing better, shooting better than we are," Hill said.
Career high
The loss offset a career-high performance by sophomore guard Velissa Vaughn, who scored 27 points and was the only Penguin in double figures.
Vaughn hit 7-of-21 shots from the field (including 4-of-7 on 3-pointers) and 9-of-12 at the free-throw line.
Cleveland State (8-19, 5-9) was led by Chenara Wilson with 18 points, Brittany Korth with 14 and Robyn Hoying with 10.
YSU fell into a sixth-place tie in the Horizon standings with the Vikings and Loyola of Chicago. The Penguins have two games remaining, at Butler on Thursday and at Wright State on Saturday.
The Penguins, who trailed 30-25 at halftime, regained the lead 44-42 on a 3-point shot by Vaughn with 9:12 remaining.
After the lead changed hands four times, Vaughn hit another 3-pointer to put YSU up 49-48 and the Penguins held the lead until the 2:57 mark.
YSU led 55-52 with 4:29 remaining, but missed its last seven shots and committed two turnovers over that span. They didn't score again until Monique Godfrey made two free throws with 31.7 seconds remaining.
YSU shot just 31.5 percent (17 of 54) and were 17 of 24 at the foul line.
The Vikings hit 22 of 60 shots (36.7 percent) and 19 of 26 at the line.
Boards battle
The Vikings outrebounded the Penguins, 42-40, with Wilson completing the double-double with 10 boards.
Ashley Pendleton had eight rebounds to lead the Penguins.
The Penguins opened the game by making six of their first 11 shots for a 16-3 lead behind six points from Jessica Schloemp and five from Vaughn.
YSU led 21-9 with 9:55 remaining in the half, but over the next nine minutes the Penguins scored just one basket (by Monique Godfrey), committed eight turnovers and shot 1-of-7 from the field.
The Vikings went on a 19-2 run before Nikita LaFleur's basket got YSU to 30-25 at halftime.
mollica@vindy.com