YSU women’s rally falls short at Toledo

TOLEDO — Youngstown State scored 22 points in the final 41‚Ñ2 minutes to cut a 22-point deficit to six, but the Penguins came up just short in falling 69-61 at Toledo on Tuesday at Savage Arena.

The Penguins trailed 61-39 with 4:55 remaining before outscoring the Rockets 22-8 the rest of the way.

Jaquetta Westley scored a career-high and game-high 20 points to lead the Penguins. Kelsey Gurganus scored seven of her nine during the rally, and Nikita LaFleur notched her third double-double of the year with 11 points and 12 rebounds.

YSU went on two 6-0 runs and an 8-0 run during the rally and got within 65-59 on LaFleur’s put-back with 52 seconds remaining.

Naama Shafir hit two free throws for Toledo to up the margin to eight, and LaFleur’s bucket with 24 seconds left got the difference back to 67-61. The Rockets hit two more free throws with five seconds remaining for the final tally.

“We’re very happy with our effort tonight,” YSU coach Cindy Martin said. “We left every ounce of our energy today on the court, and I’ve never seen a team look so happy in the locker room after a loss. We’re not happy that we lost, but we’re happy about how far we came in the game and how far we’ve come overall. I think our team is ready for conference play.”

Shafir was one of four Rockets in double figures, scoring 11 points to go along with her seven assists. Allie Clifton had 15 to lead Toledo, and Tanika Mays had 10 points and 11 rebounds.