Akron gets off to fast start, beats YSU by 12

The Zips handed the Penguins their eighth straight defeat.

staff report

AKRON — Akron scored the first nine points of the game and withstood several runs by Youngstown State to defeat the Penguins, 75-63, Saturday at James A. Rhodes Arena.

YSU freshman Brandi Brown posted her third career double-double, scoring a career-high 24 points and grabbing 14 rebounds. She accounted for 10 of the Penguins’ 22 field goals.

The Zips (4-4) defeated YSU (0-8) for just the third time in the last 14 meetings.

Akron went on runs of 9-0 and 10-1 in the first half and a 6-0 run in the second half that gave the Zips a 14-point lead, 50-36, with 14:01 to play. Akron went up by as many as 17 with just under five minutes to play, but YSU battled its way back and trailed just 71-63 with 1:12 left.

Kenya Middlebrooks missed a 3-point attempt that would have cut the margin to five for the first time since the first half, and Akron scored the final four points for the final margin.

Brown was 10-for-17 from the floor and 4-for-5 from the charity stripe to lead YSU. Macey Nortey played the entire game and scored 14 points to go along with six assists. Middlebrooks added 14 points and was 5-for-5 from the free-throw line.

YSU was 18-for-23 (78.3 percent) from the free-throw line, which was a big improvement from the 53 percent it was shooting entering the game. The Penguins, though, went 1-for-15 from 3-point range after shooting 35 percent through their first seven contests.

Kara Murphy scored 11 of her 16 points in the second half to lead Akron, and Rachel Tecca had 13 points on 6-for-9 shooting.

Akron scored the first nine points of the game and led 15-4 on a Kara Murphy free throw with 14:09 remaining. The Zips led 19-8 when Youngstown State went on an 8-2 run to get within five on Kenya Middlebrooks’ 3-pointer at the 9:47 mark.

Akron scored the next four points out of a timeout, and Rachael Manuel’s jumper with 8:27 remaining made the score 25-18. That was the Penguins’ last field goal of the opening half as their final eight points came from the free throw line. YSU made 11-of-14 from the stripe in the period, but Akron closed out the half on a 10-1 run after the Penguins cut the margin to 30-25.

Kyle Baumgartner had 11 points and seven rebounds in the half, making made 4-of-5 from the floor and both of her free-throw attempts. Brown led YSU with 12 points and six rebounds, and she had nine of the Penguins’ first 13 points in the first 10 minutes.

Youngstown State is off for the next eight days for final exams. The Penguins’ next contest will be Dec. 13 at Buffalo.