The Youngstown State women’s basketball team played the 11th-ranked team in the country to within 15 points in the first 30 minutes before Green Bay pulled away to win 75-50 on Thursday evening at the Kress Events Center.  YSU trailed just 53-38 at the 9:56 mark, but the Phoenix went on a 20-5 run over the next 6:46 to separate itself from the Penguins.

YSU’s Brandi Brown led all scorers with 21 points and finished with 10 rebounds.   Kelsea Fickiesen, making her second career start, was next in line with nine points. She also had nine of YSU’s 28 turnovers, which Green Bay translated into a 33-5 edge in points off turnovers.

Lydia Bauer finished with 19 points, and Adrian Ritchie scored 17 points while making three of Green Bay’s eight triples.  YSU shot 45.2 percent overall, and Green Bay shot 49 percent. The Phoenix went 19-for-28 from the free-throw line while YSU was just 6-for-10.

The Penguins opened the second half on an 8-3 run to make the score 39-28 and force Green Bay to call an early time out. YSU still trailed just 56-40 with nine minutes left following a Brown bucket, but the Penguins scored just three points in the next six-and-a-half minutes. By that time, the Phoenix had built a 73-43 advantage.

Youngstown State will play at Milwaukee on Saturday at 3 p.m. Eastern. The game will be broadcast live on 570 WKBN.