Bucknell tops YSU women

Staff report

Lewisburg, Pa.

Youngstown State went scoreless for more than 11 minutes during the first half and never recovered in a 66-41 loss to Bucknell on Tuesday night at the Sojka Pavilion.

The scoring drought started less than 90 seconds into the game and lasted until there was 7:23 left in the first half. Bucknell scored 20 consecutive points during that stretch and led by double digits the rest of the contest.

YSU trimmed a 21-point deficit to 12 early in the second half, but Bucknell scored six straight points to go up 18 and added a 10-point run minutes later to extend its lead.

Heidi Schlegel led YSU with 15 points, and Latisha Walker had eight points and eight rebounds. That pair combined to go 8-for-28 from the field, and the Penguins shot 23.1 percent as a team.

Audrey Dotson had 22 points and 10 rebounds for Bucknell, which shot 39 percent.

The Penguins didn’t score from 18:37 to 7:23 in the first half, and Bucknell scored 20 straight points during that span to turn a 4-2 deficit into a 22-4 advantage. The Penguins missed 14 consecutive shots between buckets by Walker and Schlegel. YSU defended well the first couple minutes, but Bucknell started to get better looks once YSU’s offense sputtered.

Later in the half, Bucknell went without a field goal for nearly five minutes as YSU trimmed the deficit to 24-10 at the 4:49 mark. The Bison countered by scoring seven straight points in less than a minute to take their largest lead of the half 31-10 with 3:47 on the clock. YSU’s defense held Bucknell scoreless the remainder of the period, and Schlegel and Walker combined for six points down the stretch to cut the difference to 31-16 at halftime.

The Penguins were 7-for-33 shooting in the first half with many of those misses coming near the basket, and they were 0-for-7 from 3-point range. Schlegel had eight points at halftime with all of them coming in the final 7:30. Claire DeBoer and Dotson had 11 apiece for Bucknell.

YSU opens a five-game homestand Saturday against West Virginia. Tipoff against is set for 4:35 p.m. as part of a doubleheader with the YSU men’s team.