Kenya Middlebrooks ties record in YSU loss

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Photo by: javogel

YSU women's guard Kenya Middlebrook

Staff report

CHICAGO

Kenya Middlebrooks tied a Youngstown State women’s basketball record with seven 3-pointers, but the Penguins fell victim to a devastating scoring run by Illinois-Chicago in a 74-61 defeat on Sunday.

Middlebrooks finished with a career-high 22 points — she was averaging only 6.9 per game before Sunday — but UIC scored the final 20 points of the first half to take a 41-27 lead into the break.

Shameia Green scored 14 of her 22 first-half points during that run for UIC (7-6, 2-0 Horizon League) that consumed the final five minutes of the period.

YSU (2-11, 0-2) led 27-21 prior to that after Monica Touvelle made YSU’s seventh 3-pointer of the half.

Middlebrooks was 7-for-10 from 3-point range and 1-for-2 at the free throw line. She joined eight other players who have made seven 3-pointers in a game.

Brandi Brown finished with her second straight double-double for the Penguins, posting 17 points and 15 rebounds.

Green finished with a game-high 32 points to lead four Flames in double figures.

UIC led by as many as 20 points in the second half, going ahead 52-32 on a Green basket.

The Penguins started chipping away at the deficit and cut the margin to 55-45 on Middlebrooks’ free throw with 8:34 to play.

Later, the Penguins went on a 7-0 run to get to within 64-55, their smallest margin since 36-27.

But UIC scored 10 of the game’s final 14 points, all of which came at the free-throw line.

Briana Hinkle added 13 points for UIC, which shot 50 percent (27 of 54) from the field. Taylor Foulks and Jasmine Bailry added 11 points apiece, and Cree Nix had 10 rebounds.

YSU shot 35.7 percent overall and was 10-for-30 from behind the 3-point arc.