Youngstown -- The Youngstown State women's basketball team put forth a solid all-around effort but came up just short in a 63-59 loss to Loyola on Thursday night at the Beeghly Center. YSU had four chances late to overcome a two-point deficit, but misfired each time in a 16-second span.

Loyola's Elyse VanBogaert broke a 59-59 tie with 31 seconds remaining on her sixth bucket of the second half, and Maggie McCloskey made two free throws with six seconds left for the final margin.

Four Penguins scored in double figures, highlighted by Rachael Manuel's first career double-double. The senior forward scored 12 points and grabbed 10 rebounds while making 4-for-9 from the field. Freshman Brandi Brown also had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, marking her 10th double-double of the year.

Bojana Dimitrov led YSU with 14 points in her return from a knee injury, and Kenya Middlebrooks added 11.

Loyola led by as many as eight in the second half at 38-30 when McCloskey hit a triple with 19:01 left. Two Manuel free throws tied the score for the first time in the half, and the Penguins would end up knotting the score four times in the half.

Macey Nortey capped a 6-0 run to tie the score at 53 with 6:50 remaining, and Brown's jumper in the key tied the score at 59-59 with 2:32 left. The Guins missed their last seven shots of the contest, including three that would have given them the lead.

VanBogaert's go-ahead bucket with 31 seconds remaining came after two Loyola offensive rebounds. YSU got offensive rebounds on three of its next shots, but Nortey's tying effort was forced into a jump ball by Monica Albano, and McCloskey was fouled on the in-bounds pass.

VanBogaert led all scorers with 18 points, and AAlbano added 15. McCloskey added 10 points and nine assists. VanBogaert was 6-for-9 in the second half.

The two teams played a back-and-forth first half that featured six lead changes.

Loyola scored the first five points of the contest before the Penguins regrouped scoring nine of the games next 11 points. YSU took its biggest lead of the midpoint of the first half at 13-10 on a Brown layup.

The Guins led 15-14, but a seven-point spurt by the Ramblers gave them a 21-15 lead at the 6:11 mark on a three-point play by Keisha Collins.

YSU quickly cut the deficit to 21-20 on two Kaitlyn March free throws before Loyola used a 9-0 run to build it biggest lead of the half at 31-21 on a Brittany Boeke jumper at the 2:05 mark.

The Penguins scored seven of the final nine points in stanza to trail just 33-28 at the break.

For the first half, YSU shot 41.7 percent (10-of-24) while Loyola hit at a 51.7 percent clip (15-of-29)

The Penguins return to action on Saturday when they play host to UIC. Tipoff for the contest is set for 2 p.m. Against the Flames, YSU will be participating in the WBCA Pink Zone to help raise awareness and donations for the fight against breast cancer. All fans are encouraged to wear Pink to the Beeghly Center.