YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Youngstown State University used its highest scoring first half in 13 years to fuel an 87-64 victory over the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women's basketball team Saturday afternoon at the Beeghly Center.
 
An evenly-played matchup in the second half, the Penguins (15-5, 4-3 Horizon League) started early and never let the Panthers (7-13, 3-5 Horizon League) back in the game after intermission. They finished with a season high in points scored while shooting over 60 percent from the floor up until the final minute of the contest. The victory improved YSU to 8-1 at home this season.
 
"I just really don't think that we executed our game plan defensively or offensively in the first half," Milwaukee head coach Kyle Rechlicz said. "We have to understand that if we want to play with the top teams in the Horizon League, we have to play very disciplined. From the jump, we just weren't there."
 
Senior Ashley Green finished with 13 points and seven rebounds to lead the offense. Junior Jordyn Swan added 11, sinking three three-pointers.
 
"It took a halftime speech to realize that we are better than the way we were playing," Rechlicz said. "I felt like our team came out focused and on a mission in the second half. We knew it would be tough to come back against a team like this in the second half, but our goal was to show that we could play with the top teams in our league and I think we did that."
 
Freshmen Kelsey Cunningham and Cree Hammond each chipped in with career highs in points. Cunningham netted 11, grabbing three boards and adding two steals and two assists. Hammond also finished with 11, adding four rebounds in just 13 minutes on the court.
 
"Kelsey was a factor the entire game and is really starting to come into her own," Rechlicz said. "I think that she is playing with confidence, getting to the rim and knocking down open shots. Cree is a shooter who is still getting comfortable coming back from an injury and understanding what we need from her. She was huge today."
 
Heidi Schlegel paced YSU with a near double-double of 24 points and nine rebounds. Indiya Benjamin added 18 and the team held a 36-19 advantage on the boards.
 
Youngstown State held a 22-point lead at halftime and never let Milwaukee back into the game in the second half. Its 51 points in the opening 20 minutes marked the most in a first half for YSU since February of 2002.
 
The Penguins took control early, draining four three-pointers in the first five minutes to build a quick 18-12 advantage.
 
The Panthers battled back, trimming it back to one at 20-19 on a pair of Cunningham free throws at the 12:10 mark.
 
From there it was all YSU. The Penguins went on a pair of scoring spurts that extended their lead. The first was a 14-3 stretch that gave them their first double-digit advantage in growing to 34-22.
 
Following a three-pointer by Swan, Youngstown State was at it again, scoring 15 of the next 17 points to take a 49-27 lead in the final minute before intermission.
 
Up next, Milwaukee is off until Friday, welcoming Oakland to the Klotsche Center for the second annual "School Day with the Panthers". Tip off is set for 11 a.m. as UWM hosts over 2,000 students from area schools.