The Youngstown State women's basketball team battled Horizon League-leading IUPUI but fell 77-69 to the Jaguars at The Jungle on Saturday afternoon.

The Penguins trailed by as much as 18 in the third period, but they clawed their way back to within four points with less than five minutes remaining in the game. YSU missed a 3-pointer that would have cut the margin to one, and IUPUI got back-to-back 3-pointers from Natalie Andersen and Holly Hoopingarner to move the advantage back to double digits at 69-59 with 2:52 left. The Penguins got no closer than seven the rest of the way.

Junior Chelsea Olson had team-high totals of 21 points, eight rebounds and four assists, and the 21 points were also a season high. McKenah Peters, who was back in the starting lineup after missing five games last month, scored 12 points, and Ny'Dajah Jackson added 11.

Preseason Horizon League Player of the Year Macee Williams took advantage of size mismatches and scored 25 points while adding 15 rebounds. She was 9-of-11 from the field, and eight of her rebounds were on the offensive end. She helped the Jaguars to an 11-4 advantage in second-chance points, and IUPUI also had a big 26-11 edge in points off turnovers.

Hoopingarner and Rachel McLimore also had 13 points apiece, and Anderson finished with 11 off the bench for the Jaguars, who have won 10 straight games. IUPUI is now 10-1 in Horizon League play and holds a three-game lead in the conference standings with four weeks remaining in the season. The Jaguars' lone loss in Horizon League play was to Youngstown State in the conference opener on Dec. 28.

IUPUI led 15-5 less than four minutes into the game as it started hot offensively, but YSU was able to make enough shots to stay within seven at 24-17 at the end of the first period. The margin reached 15 midway through the second period before YSU went on a 10-3 run to get within 39-31 at the 2:42 mark. The difference was eight again at 41-33 before IUPUI scored the final five points of the period to go up 46-33 at halftime.

The Jaguars then scored the first five points of the second half to increase their lead to 51-33 on a Williams basket at the seven-minute mark. Mady Aulbach's 3-pointer 11 seconds later gave YSU its first points of the second half, and the Penguins got within a dozen twice in the period.

IUPUI led 61-47 heading into the fourth, but a Peters basket and a three-point play by Olson cut the margin to 61-52 90 seconds into the period. The Penguins then scored seven straight points as part of an overall 12-2 run to start the period to get within four points at 63-59 when Olson scored with 4:59 remaining.

Maddie Schires then got a steal on defense to give the Penguins an opportunity to get within a possession, but YSU missed a 3-point try and Andersen and Hoopingarner followed with their back-to-back triples to push the IUPUI lead to 69-59 with 3:54 remaining.

Youngstown State shot 43.9 percent from the field and made seven 3-pointers, and the Penguins were also 12-for-15 from the free-throw line. IUPUI shot 50 percent overall, went 8-for-21 from 3-point range and made 15 of its 24 free-throw attempts.

Youngstown State will begin a five-game homestand that will stretch the next three weeks when it hosts Wright State on Thursday. Tipoff against the Raiders at Beeghly Center will be at 7 p.m, and the game will be broadcast live on 570 WKBN and ESPN+