Macey Nortey's 3-pointer attempt at the buzzer sailed wide as the Youngstown State women's basketball team came up just short falling 64-61 to Wright State on Thursday night at the Beeghly Center.

Brandi Brown scored a game-high 23 points, including YSU's final eight of the contest, but Wright State grabbed a 61-59 lead with just under three minutes remaining and the Penguins could not rally.

Youngstown State (3-15 overall and 1-6 in the HL) led 51-45 following two Brown free throws with 10:35 remaining and had a chance to push the advantage to nine. Kenya Middlebrooks' 3-pointer was off the mark and momentum quickly swung to the Raiders, who scored the next seven points to take a 52-51 lead with 8:31 left.

The seventh tie of the night came when Brown connected on a 14-footer to knot the contest at 59 with with 3:08 remaining. Unfortunately for YSU, the 13th and final lead change of the game came in favor of the Raiders.

LaShawna Thomas knocked down two free throws with 2:55 left to put WSU (11-6, 4-2) on top for good at 61-59. YSU missed it next two shots and turnoved the ball over twice before Thomas canned a jumper with 1:58 left to extend the advantage to 63-59.

Maryum Jenkins' 3-pointer rimmed out, but Brown followed with a putback to get the Guins within 63-61 with 1:34 left. YSU forced a travelling call on Thomas, but Brown was stripped going to the bucket with 48 ticks left.

Thomas made the second of two free-throw attempts with 21.3 seconds left keeping it a one-possession contest.

Brown's try at tying the game missed, but a good hustle play by Tieara Jones and Middlebrooks gave the ball to YSU with six seconds left. The inbounds pass came into to Nortey, who was looking for a teammate to spring open on the wing, but she had to settle for an off-balanced jumper that glanced off the right side of the rim at the buzzer.

For the game, YSU shot 41.4 percent making 24-of-58 shots while the Raiders were 25-of-47 (53.2 percent). The Penguins forced WSU into 26 turnovers and committed just 14. However, the Raiders had a 37-20 advantage on the boards.

Middlebrooks added 14 points for the Penguins and Brown finished with eight rebounds. Leading the way for Wright State was Molly Fox and Thomas, who both finished with 17.

The Penguins did a good job turning solid defense into offense in the first half.

YSU forced 14 Raiders turnovers and held an impressive 17-5 advantage in points off miscues.

Wright State built a 13-7 lead six minutes into the contest before the Penguins battled back to go in front 19-17 on a 3-pointer by Middlebrooks at the 9:14 mark. YSU extended its lead to 24-19, its biggest advantage of the first half, when Brown connected on a 3-pointer with 5:58 left.

The Penguins maintained the lead until LaShawna Thomas tied the ballgame at 29 with 1:34 left before halftime. The Raiders went up three on a triple by Courtney Boyd, but Tieara Jones answered with a jumper just before halftime trimming the deficit at the break to 32-31.

Brown and Middlebrooks each scored nine points to lead the offensive effort for YSU, which played just seven players in the first 20 minutes. Brown and Tieara Jones played the entire 20 minutes while Nortey saw 19 minutes of action.

The Penguins shot 39.3 percent (11-of-28) from the field while the Raiders were a shade under 50 percent making 14-of-29 attempts (48.3 percent officially). The Guins had to withstand Wright State on the boards as they trailed in 23-12 in rebounds and 8-0 in second-chance points.

YSU returns to action on Saturday when it plays host to Detroit. Tipoff at the Beeghly Center is set for 4:35 p.m. and is the front end of a men's and women's doubleheader. The contest will air on 570 WKBN.