Youngstown State sophomore forward Brandi Brown scored 24 points and had seven rebounds, but Cleveland State shot 54.2 percent from the field and used a big second-half effort to hand the Penguins an 86-65 loss on Saturday afternoon at the Beeghly Center.

With the win, Cleveland State improves to 12-8 overall and 4-4 in the Horizon League. The Penguins are now 3-17 and 1-8.

On the heels of her peformance, Brown has now scored 707 points while grabbing 503 rebounds in her 50-game Penguins career. She is the just the third player in school history to score 700 points and grab 500 rebounds during her sophomore campaign.  Also for the Penguins, Kenya Middlebrooks scored 16 points, 15 of which came in the first half while Bojana Dimitrov had 13.

Both teams had an impressive first half offensively.  YSU shot 53.8 percent making 14-of-26 from the field while connecting on 7-of-16 (43.8 percent) 3-point attempts. CSU made 18-of-34 attempts (52.9 percent), most coming from inside the paint.

The Vikings scored 30 of their 47 points in the paint and held an 8-0 advantage in second-chance points. On the other hand, the Penguins scored 21 points from behind the 3-point arc compared to just six from deep by CSU.  Both teams combined to go 16-19 from the free-throw line as well.

YSU scored the first four points of the game, but following a 8-0 run by the Vikings had to play catch up the remainder of the half. The Guins cut the deficit to 8-7 on a three-point play by Bojana Dimitrov before the Vikings scored the next five to go on top 13-7.  The Penguins tied the game at 13 scoring the next six points, but CSU scored 11 of the next 14 points grabbing a 24-16 advantage at the midway point of the half.

With 5:07 left before halftime, the Guins pulled within 31-29 on a Middlebrooks 3-pointer.

The Vikings scored 30 of their 47 points in the paint and held an 8-0 advantage in second-chance points. On the other hand, the Penguins scored 21 points from behind the 3-point arc compared to just six from deep by CSU.

YSU cut the deficit to 37-36 on a Brown putback at 3:08 and was within 42-39 on a triple by Middlebrooks with a minute to go. The Vikings scored the next five points, but Middlebrooks drained another three just before the buzzer to pull YSU within 47-42 at halftime.

The Vikings scored the first 11 points of the second half and the Penguins could not get back in the game. After falling behind 58-42, YSU was only able to get within 14, at 60-46 on a 3-pointer by Brown at the 16:16 mark.

The Penguins return to the road on Thursday when they visit Milwaukee. Tipoff for the contest between YSU and the Panthers is set for 8 p.m.