CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Cleveland State women's basketball team played its first overtime contest of the season Friday evening, dropping a 77-69 contest against Youngstown State. With the loss, the Vikings are now 15-5 overall this season and 10-4 in Horizon League play.

Game Stats
· The Viking offense was led by the duo of Destiny Leo with 18 points and Nadia Dumas with 14 points.
· Amele Ngwafang grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds, while Brittni Moore recorded six boards.
· As a team, the Vikings finished with 12 assists on the game, including three from Barbara Zieniewska and Gabriella Smith.
· Cleveland State finished the game with a 28-14 advantage in bench points, while also holding a 14-7 edge in fast break points.

Game Notes
· With her 12 rebounds, Amele Ngwafang has now recorded double-digit rebounds in three straight games.
· After posting 18 points against the Penguins, Destiny Leo has now recorded 15+ points in 14 games this season.
· Friday's game marked the first overtime contest of the season for the Vikings.  

The Game
After heading into the halftime break trailing by four points at the 38-34 mark, the Vikings withstood an early run from the Penguins over the opening minutes of the third quarter, posting 11 straight points to gain a 45-43 lead on a Brittni Moore offensive rebound and put-back at the 3:19 mark.

The Penguins answered with baskets on their next two possessions to regain the advantage at the 48-45 mark, but a three-pointer from Moore tied the game at 48-48 with just under two minutes left in the quarter.

The two teams then traded baskets over the final minutes of the frame, with Youngstown State taking a slight 50-49 advantage into the fourth quarter.

Over the opening minutes of the fourth quarter the Penguins were able to hold their slight advantage, until a 6-0 run put the lead back into the Vikings' favor, with a Moore steal and layup putting the Vikings up by four points at 57-53.

Although YSU stopped the CSU scoring run on the next trip down the floor, CSU responded with back-to-back layups from Amele Ngwafang to put the score at 61-55 CSU with 4:24 left on the clock.

YSU was then able to post the final two baskets of regulation to knot the score at 61-61, forcing the game into overtime.

The Penguins carried this momentum into the opening minutes of overtime then, as baskets on their first two possessions gave them a 66-61 lead – a lead that they would go on to hold for the entire overtime period.

YSU outscored the Vikings 16-8 during the final five minutes, pulling away with the 77-69 overtime victory.

Up Next
The Vikings will close out the weekend on Sunday, February 13, hosting Robert Morris at 2:00 p.m.