YSU women stumble again at Butler, 84-50

After falling behind 42-14, even a solid second half couldn’t save the Penguins.

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — A solid second half was overshadowed by a cold-shooting first half for the Youngstown State women’s basketball team as it fell 84-50 in a Horizon League contest at Butler on Monday evening.

The Penguins shot 39.4 percent in the second half, but were outshot 51.4 percent to 20.7 percent in the first half as it trailed 42-14 at halftime.

The Penguins (2-11, 0-2) lost for the third straight game and second straight in league play, while the Bulldogs improved to 2-0 in league play and 7-6 on the year.

YSU forced Butler into 21 turnovers, which was nearly six more than its average coming in. The Penguins had eight steals in the game and have had at least six steals in six straight games. But the Penguins also committed 22 turnovers and were outrebounded 45-31.

Nikita LaFleur scored a game-high 14 points for YSU in 23 minutes. Indianapolis native Kelsey Gurganus added nine points in front of a large gathering of friends and family, and Jaquetta Westley also scored nine.

Lade Akande had 13 points to lead Butler and moved into second place on Butler’s all-time scoring list in the contest with her first basket at the 15:56 mark. She now has 1,530 points in her four years. Brittany Bowen added 12 for the Bulldogs.

Butler outscored YSU 33-15 off turnovers despite committing one more turnover. The Bulldogs also had a 44-30 edge in the paint and also had a big edge in bench points outscoring the Penguins, 37-10.

The Penguins shot 20.7 percent in the first half while Butler shot 51.4 percent en route to building a 42-14 lead. After Gurganus’ basket tied the score at 2-2 with 19:21 remaining, YSU went scoreless for more than nine minutes as Butler scored 17 straight points.

LaFleur’s bucket at the 10:10 mark ended the run, but Butler scored the next seven points and never led by less than 20 the rest of the way.

Chloe Hamilton and Akande scored seven points apiece in the first half to lead Butler.

Youngstown State opens up a three-game homestand against Milwaukee on Thursday at 5:15 p.m.. The game will be part of a doubleheader with the YSU men’s team which will meet UIC in the nightcap at 7:35.