Milwaukee shot 58 percent and hit seven 3-pointers in the opening period, and the Youngstown State women’s basketball team could never recover despite a strong second-half performance in an 81-66 loss at the Klotsche Center on Thursday.

UWM’s Sami Tucker scored 21 of her career-high 23 points in the first half as Milwaukee built a 51-28 halftime advantage. YSU trimmed the deficit to 15 several times midway through the second half and had the lead down to 68-54 with five minutes remaining. The Penguins never got closer than 14 points.

Brandi Brown finished with 19 points and a game-high 13 rebounds for Youngstown State, which recorded 16 steals. Tieara Jones added 15 points and nine rebounds, and Bojana Dimitrov scored all 10 of her points in the first half.

Tucker was 9-for-11 from the floor in the game and 8-for-9 in the first period. Lindsay Laur was an assist shy of a triple-double, finishing with 11 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.

Milwaukee cooled down in the second half, shooting 38 percent as the Penguins outscored UWM 38-30 in the final 20 minutes. YSU shot 34.3 percent for the game and was 7-for-26 from 3-point range.

Angela Rodriguez had 15 points behind 6-for-8 shooting, and Courtney Lindfors had 11 points for UWM. Milwaukee finished shooting 10-for-20 from 3-point range as Tucker and Rodriguez combined to go 7-for-9. The Panthers held a 40-32 rebounding advantage after owning a 26-10 edge on the glass in the first period.

YSU led 4-2 early, but two Lindfors free throws and the first of four treys in the period by Tucker gave the Panthers a lead they would never lose. Two more Lindfors free throws put UWM up 24-14 with 10:23 left.  YSU increased its pressure on the ball, and a series of Milwaukee turnovers helped the Penguins trim the deficit to 24-21 with 8:45 remaining. From that point, the Panthers closed out the half by outscoring the Penguins 27-7.

Youngstown State will travel to Green Bay on Saturday to play the first-place Phoenix. Tipoff at the Kress Center is set for 3 p.m. Eastern.