Contact: Renee Adam
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CLEVELAND, Ohio - Despite a strong second half of play, the Cleveland State women's basketball team came up short against Youngstown State Thursday evening, falling to the Penguins, 72-63. The loss drops CSU to 10-8 on the season and 2-3 in league play, while YSU improves to 12-5 (2-2 HL).
For the 14th time this season Cleveland State had three players score in double-digits, led by Cori Coleman who had 16 on a 6-for-9 performance from the floor. Shalonda Winton and Kiersten Green each notched 14 points, while Winton added a team-high nine rebounds. Honesty King posted eight points and seven boards, while Haley Schmitt also tallied eight points on a 4-for-6 night from the field.
Youngstown State was able to get out to an early 11-1 lead at the 17:05 mark of the first half and never looked back, as they held the advantage for the entire contest and earned the 72-63 victory.
The Vikings were able to close the gap to single digits five times during the first half and multiple times during the second frame, including just a two-point deficit at the 58-56 mark on a Green jumper. Green's field goal came at the 6:46 mark and followed a Green three-pointer - her second of the contest. After outscoring the Penguins 11-7 over a span of 3:19 to cut the deficit to two points, YSU bounced back and went on a 7-0 run to regain control of the game.
With just 3:56 left to play, Youngstown State held a 65-56 lead and matched the Vikings basket-for-basket down the stretch to come away with the nine-point win.
The Vikings posted a .442 clip from the field (23-52) against Youngstown State, and forced the Penguins into 16 turnovers.
Cleveland State will continue league play next week, traveling to Detroit on Thursday (Jan. 31) and Valparaiso on Saturday (Feb. 2).