YSU women rally to defeat Valparaiso 92-79 on road

It was the Penguins first Horizon League road win of the year.

VALPARAISO, Ind. — The Youngstown State women’s basketball team put four players in double figures and overcame a nine-point second half deficit to turn back Valparaiso 92-79 in a Horizon League contest here Thursday night.

It was YSU’s first league road win of the season.

Senior Heather Karner tossed in 21 points, while junior Tiara Scott added 20 points and nine rebounds to lead the way. Senior Jessica Schloemp scored 12 points and 14 rebounds and junior Velissa Vaughn added 16 points.

The Penguins (10-9, 5-3 Horizon) shot 45.7 percent from the field, made 14 of 32 3-point goals and outrebounded the Crusaders 46-40.

Senior Lauren Branson finished with a game-high seven assists.

The Penguins trailed by as many as eight points midway through the first half 25-17, but battled back in the final 10 minutes and only trailed 46-44 at intermission.

YSU fell behind again early in the second half as Valparaiso took a 58-49 lead with just over 16 minutes remaining, but again the Penguins bounced back.

They took the lead for keeps with 13:30 remaining on a steal and fast break layup by Branson and then just pulled away from the Crusaders (9-10, 4-4).

Trailing 80-70 with 6:19 remaining the Crusaders made one last run at the Penguins closing the gap to 80-77, but the Penguins took control again in the final minutes.

Agnieszka Kulaga led the Crusaders with 19 points, while Aimee Litka had a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds.

The Penguins will be in action on Saturday afternoon with a 2 p.m. tip-off at Butler.