Charae Richardson (Lafayette, Ind./Jefferson [Vincennes]) had her best offensive output since Dec. 1st, but Youngstown State drained a season-best 13 three-pointers in an 84-56 win over the Brown and Gold at the Beeghly Center in Ohio.
The fifth-year senior matched a season-high nine field goals as her 19 points paced the Crusader offense. Richardson also recorded two steals to extend her steal streak to 13 games.
Youngstown State (11-12, 7-3 Horizon) extended a one-possession lead to nine points on back-to-back triples from Monica Touvelle. Abby Dean (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) and Sharon Karungi (Kampala, Uganda/[Northern Oklahoma College]) knocked down jumpers on consecutive trips down the court to cut Valpo's deficit to five at 18-13.
Liz Hornberger scored the next five YSU points as the Penguins enjoyed their first double-digit lead with eight and a half minutes to play in the first half.
Richardson trimmed it to eight right out of the under 8:00 media timeout with a layup, but Youngstown responded with a 13-2 run to move comfortably ahead 36-17 going into the final media break of the half.
A Lexi Miller (Caledonia, Mich./Caledonia) lay-in moved Valpo to within 12 points with 18 seconds on the clock. YSU's Hornberger put the finishing touches on a fine first half with a deep three at the buzzer to give the Penguins a 42-27 halftime lead.
Hornberger was 4-for-4 from beyond the arc as her 14 points led all scorers at the break. Overall, Youngstown State shot 9-of-15 from three-point range in the first half.
A 15-3 Penguin push over the final six and a half minutes blew the game wide open as YSU capitalized on a 19-1 free throw advantage.
Karungi finished with twelve points for the Crusaders, as the junior has now tallied doubled figures in back-to-back-to-back games for the first time since December 6th-13th.
Liz Horton (Cannelburg, Ind./Barr-Reeve) missed her first game of the season with a back injury. The senior is considered day-to-day.
Valpo matched a season-best in offensive rebounds allowed with six. The Crusaders committed just 14 turnovers for the second straight game.
The Penguin bench outscored Valpo's 32-5 in Saturday's win. Touvelle made four of her seven attempts from outside to register 14 points.
Valparaiso (3-21, 1-10 Horizon) will have a week off before it returns to the court to host Oakland (11-13, 6-5 Horizon) at the ARC in a 7:05 tip.
Next Saturday will serve as Valpo's Play 4 Kay/Pink Zone game as well as the Father-Daughter Game. Survivors will be honored prior to the game with a presentation of the game ball and t-shirts signifying their biggest defeat of all: cancer. Furthermore, each pair of father/daughter(s) that attend the game will receive a replica jersey and team-autographed poster for each daughter. The cost is $10 for each father/daughter pair and $4 for each additional daughter.
Links to the audio, video, and live stats will be available at valpoathletics.com.
