The Youngstown State women's basketball team went ice cold over the final 16 minutes and fell 59-54 to Milwaukee at the Klotsche Center on Thursday evening.

The Penguins led the Panthers 44-32 with less than six minutes remaining in the third quarter, but they scored just 10 points over the final 16:09 of the game. Milwaukee got within 48-44 by the end of the third period and outscored YSU 15-6 in the fourth.

Chelsea Olson scored 15 of her 17 points in the first half, and she scored the Penguins' first eight points of the game. She was the only YSU player to finish in double figures, and she went over 900 career points in the game. Maddie Schires made two 3-pointers and two free throws to finish with eight points as the next-highest scorer.

Lizzie Odegard scored a game-high 19 points and was a big part of Milwaukee's second-half defense.

Milwaukee improved to 13-15 overall and 10-7 in Horizon League play, and the Panthers are now in sole possession of fifth place in the standings. Youngstown State dropped to 13-15 overall and 6-11 against the league.

Youngstown State rode Olson's hot start out to an 8-6 lead, and a Gabby Lupardus 3-pointer at the 3:59 mark of the opening quarter gave the Penguins a 16-11 advantage. YSU also led by five at 18-13 on two Emma VanZanten free throws, but Milwaukee scored the final six points of the period on back-to-back 3-pointers by Sydney Levy and Sydney Staver. The Panthers made eight of their last 10 field-goal attempts in the period to help offset seven turnovers that YSU's pressure defense forced.

Olson hit a pull-up jumper from the elbow at the 5:01 mark to put YSU up 28-25 to cap a stretch of four straight field goals, and she scored her 14th and 15th points of the first half when she threw an inbounds pass off Odegard's back for a layup. That sparked a 7-0 run for the Penguins to close out the half that put them ahead 35-31.

Youngstown State then scored nine of the first 10 points of the second half as part of an overall 17-1 run to take a 44-32 lead with 6:09 remaining in the third quarter. McKenah Peters scored five straight points during that run, and Ny'Dajah Jackson finished it with a jumper. The Penguins, though, didn't make another field goal until there was 6:30 left in the fourth period.

YSU was able to hold off the Panthers to maintain a 48-44 lead heading into the fourth, but an Odegard 3 and a Bre Cera jumper in the fourth gave Milwaukee its first lead of the second half at 49-48. Quinece Hatcher countered with a basket to put YSU back up 50-49, which ended up being its final lead.

Milwaukee slowed down and made just one field goal over the final 5:55, and YSU trailed just 53-52 when Peters made two free throws with 1:27 left. Odegard scored off her own miss with 57 seconds left to put the Panthers up three, and McKaela Schmelzer followed a YSU miss with two free throws to push the margin to five. Olson scored her first points of the second half with 14.1 seconds left to make it a one-possession game again at 57-54, but Schmelzer made two more free throws with 11.5 seconds on the clock for the final margin.

Youngstown State shot 41.7 percent, which was 0.5 percent better than Milwaukee, and the Penguins were 9-for-9 from the free-throw line. Milwaukee made one more field goal than YSU and held a three-point edge at the free-throw line. The Panthers also had a 12-4 advantage in second-chance points.

Youngstown State will try to finish the regular season off with a win as it takes on Green Bay on Saturday. Tipoff at the Kress Center will be at 3 p.m. Eastern, and the game will be broadcast live on 570 WKBN and ESPN3.