The Youngstown State women's basketball team didn't have its best on either end of the floor and suffered a 64-61 defeat to IUPUI as a result on Monday evening at Beeghly Center.
The Penguins, who came into the night a half-game out of first place in the Horizon League standings, saw their four-game winning streak snapped. YSU is now 12-5 overall and 6-2 in conference play, while IUPUI improved to 9-8 overall and 5-3 against the league.
Lilly Ritz collected her 10th double-double of the season with 15 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, but she struggled to find her shooting touch and was held to 6-for-20 from the field. The Penguins compensated by going 8-for-20 from 3-point range, including 5-for-12 in the second half, but they also went 11-for-18 from the free-throw line. Megan Callahan added 13 points, and Malia Magestro scored 11 while matching her career high with five assists.
Destiny Perkins scored a game-high 18 points for IUPUI, and three of her teammates complimented her with either nine or 10 points.
Youngstown State played from behind most of the night, trailing for 30:44 and leading for just 4:25.
YSU's first lead came when Callahan's 3-pointer at the 2:36 mark of the opening quarter put it ahead 10-9, and the Penguins held the upper hand the rest of the quarter.
The margin was 15-14 at the end of the first period, and YSU's largest lead came 40 seconds into the second when Ritz scored to make the difference 18-14. IUPUI went on an 11-2 run that Perkins capped with a 3-pointer at the 6:16 mark. Jen Wendler's three-point play cut YSU's deficit to 25-23 on the next possession, and Magestro scored nine points in the final five minutes of the half to help the Penguins tie the score at 32 at halftime.
Callahan's second 3 of the night got YSU within 42-41 midway through the third quarter, but IUPUI scored 10 of the next 12 points to take its largest lead of the game at 52-43 with 1:19 on the clock. Shay-Lee Kirby hit a 3 to trim the deficit to 52-46 heading into the fourth, and the Penguins held IUPUI without a field goal for more than five minutes in the final period to make a charge.
After Rachel Kent's 3-pointer made the score 57-50 at the 8:28 mark, YSU went on a 10-2 run and took the lead when Magestro put back her own miss at the end of the shot clock with 3:49 remaining. That was the Penguins' only advantage of the second half, and it accounted for YSU's final field goal of the game. Jazmyn Turner rebounded her own miss on IUPUI's next possession to put the Jaguars back on top 61-60, and Turner found Natalie Anderson for a 3-pointer with 1:28 on the clock to push the margin to 64-60.
Paige Shy went 1-for-2 at the free-throw line with 1:10 remaining, and that accounted for the final points of the night. YSU got a stop on defense as IUPUI took the full shot clock, but the Penguins went long into their ensuing possession and had a turnover. IUPUI turned the ball over with 5.4 seconds left to give the Penguins a shot to tie, but Callahan missed a contested 3 at the buzzer.
Youngstown State shot 38.9% from the field for the game, and it was 13-for-34 inside the arc. IUPUI shot 46.2%, the second-highest percentage by an opponent this season.
The Penguins will play at Green Bay on Friday at 8 p.m. Eastern.
