High Point got off to a fast start offensively, and YSU never found its shooting stroke as the Panthers defeated the Penguins 73-50 on Saturday at Elon University's Alumni Gym.
High Point cooled down after starting 11-for-17 but still shot 46.4 percent for the game. YSU was held to 25 percent from the floor and 18-for-38 (47.4 percent) from the free throw line.
YSU freshman Brandi Brown recorded her first career double-double, finishing with a team-high 14 points and 11 rebounds. Fellow post Rachael Manuel scored a career-high 11 points, nine of which came from the free-throw line.
Bojana Dimitrov finished with nine points to go with her 21 from Friday's contest against Elon. She was named to the all-tournament team for her efforts.
High Point's all-tournament team selection Mackenzie Maier scored 16 points on 6-for-11 shooting. Shamia Brown added 15 points, and Jurica Hargraves had 10.
YSU drops to 0-2 on the season while High Point evens its record at 1-1.
High Point hit 11 of its first 17 shots and led 25-5 at the 11:39 mark of the first half. YSU started 1-for-14 as High Point scored the first 10 points and 18 of the first 21. Brown had the only YSU field goal in the first nine minutes until Dimitrov hit a bucket with 11:29 left.
Six of YSU's first 13 points came from the free throw line as High Point had 10 fouls in the first 12 minutes.
After High Point's quick start, the Panthers slowed down and made five of their next 16 shots. However, YSU was only able to cut the margin to 15, and High Point made its last two buckets of the half to take a 42-23 lead into the locker room.
Manuel had six of her points in the first half, four of which came from the charity stripe, while Brown and Middlebrooks had five apiece. YSU shot just 22.6 percent in the first half while High Point countered with a 51.4 percentage. Maier was 6-for-9 in the first half for 14 points.
After Middlebrooks hit a free throw at the 17:27 mark to make the score 45-27, High Point scored the next four points as part of a 15-6 run to go up 27. The score was not closer than 23 the rest of the way.
After the initial 25-5 outburst by High Point, the score was 48-45 the rest of the game. The game featured 43 fouls and 61 free throws.
Youngstown State opens the home portion of its schedule on Wednesday against Kent State. The game, which will be the front end of a doubleheader with the YSU men's basketball team, will begin at 5:15 p.m.
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