Youngstown – Senior Kenya Middlebrooks set a school single-game record with eight 3-pointers and scored a career-high 30 points and led the Youngstown State women's basketball team to an 80-67 win over Detroit on Thursday evening at the Beeghly Center.
Middlebrooks is the first player to score 30 points since Brandi Brown posted 35 against UIC on March 3, 2011.
The Guins also tied a school record with 15 3-pointers, which was last set in 2005 against IPFW.
Sophomore Melissa Thompson scored a career high with 14 points and junior Brandi Brown added 16 points.
With the win, the Guins improve to 9-10 overall and 3-5 in the Horizon League while the Titans fall to 9-11 overall and 5-3 in the league.
The Guins, who played most of the second half without Brown due to foul trouble, shot an impressive 62.5 percent after halftime and 57.1 percent overall.
Leading the Titans by just five, 41-36, with 15:18 to go, Middlebrooks, who made 6-of-7 3-pointers in the second half, made three triples in the span of 2:39 to build a 10-point edge for the Guins, 50-40, at the 12:39 mark.
The Titans were able to whittle the Guins lead down to eight points four different times before 3-pointers by Monica Touvelle and Middlebrooks put the Guins back up 14, 63-49, with 8:19 remaining.
Middlebrooks' record-tying 3-pointer put the Guins up by 18, 70-52, with 5:40 to go and her record-breaking eighth triple gave the Guins a 75-56 advantage with 3:57 left.
The Guins took command of the game early on making three of their first four 3-point attempts to build a 9-3 advantage at the 17:33 mark. Brown, Middlebrooks and Thompson each connected from downtown to spur the Guins' quick start.
The Guins, who shot 52 percent in the first half, made five of their first seven 3-pointers and made 6-of-11 (54.5 percent) for the half.
Detroit continued to battle and cut the Guins lead down to two, 9-7, and trailed by four, 17-13, before the Guins scored nine straight points - keyed by 3-pointers by Thompson and Middlebrooks - to take a 26-13 lead with 7:24 left remaining.
Detroit's Senee Shearer made consecutive 3-pointers, Detroit first two of the game, to cut the Guins lead down to seven, 26-19, at the 5:34 mark.
After a basket by Brown, Shearer nailed her third triple in two minutes to bring the Titans within six, 28-22, with 5:03 to go.
A jumper and free throw by Heidi Schlegel , a layup by Macey Nortey and a jumper by Brown extended the Guins lead back to 12, 35-23, with 1:39 left.
UDM's Chanti Putnam hit a 3-pointer at the 1:10 mark to end the first half scoring and cut the lead down to 35-26 at halftime.
Courtesy: YSU Sports Information
