Youngstown, Ohio — IU Indianapolis made three 3-pointers in the final 30 seconds of regulation to force overtime, and Youngstown State's women's basketball team fell 73-68 to the Jaguars on Saturday afternoon at Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center.
Malia Magestro scored 22 points for Youngstown State, and she delivered the best single-game performance at the free throw line in school history by going 14-for-14. She broke the previous record of 12-for-12 that was done three times, most recently by Brandi Brown in 2011. Magestro is also the first Division I player in the country this season to go at least 14-for-14 from the free-throw line.
Sophia Gregory posted her third double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Jewel Watkins scored 14 points.
Katie Davidson scored a game-high 29 points to lead IU Indy.
Youngstown State led 55-51 with 1:30 left after Gregory scored on an offensive rebound, and Magestro went 2-for-2 from the free-throw line with 32.6 seconds left to push the advantage to 57-51. IU Indy was 3-for-20 from 3-point range at that point, and the Jaguars made three of their final four attempts in regulation and their only try from long distance in overtime.
Navaeh Foster hit the first one off an inbounds pass with 27.8 seconds remaining, and Magestro was fouled and made both charity tosses after 0.6 seconds came off the clock. Davidson then hit a 3 following an offensive rebound with 18.8 seconds left to get the Jaguars within two at 59-57. Watkins split two free throws at 16.4 seconds remaining to push the margin to 60-57. Foster then hit the game-tying 3-pointer from about 26 feet away with 1.6 seconds left.
Gregory had an attempt near the right block on the inbounds pass at the buzzer go off the rim.
Magestro's 13th and 14th free throws put the Penguins up 65-62 with 3:37 left in overtime, but they went scoreless for almost three minutes as IU Indy went ahead 69-65. Gregory's three-point play with 48.5 seconds left brought YSU within one at 69-68, and the Penguins got a stop on their next possession. Gregory's number was called again, but her attempt was blocked by Faith Stinson, and replay ruled that IU Indy got the ball out of bounds on a deflection. Shania Nichols-Vannett made two free throws to push the lead to 71-68, and Magestro's 3-point attempt on YSU's next possession was off the mark. Nichols-Vannett added two free throws for the final margin.
IU Indy finished the game 22-for-23 from the free-throw line, while YSU was 19-for-28.
The Penguins scored nine of the first 11 points of the game, and Magestro had five points during that early burst. Davidson then helped IU Indy go on a 9-0 run that put the Jaguars ahead 11-9, and YSU led 15-13 at the end of the quarter.
Youngstown State led for more than seven minutes in the second quarter despite Magestro picking up her second foul, and Gregory's 3-pointer with just under a minute left tied the score at 24.
The teams remained deadlocked at the break, and IU Indy scored the first five points of the third quarter to go up 29-24. The Jaguars maintained that five-point advantage at 34-29, but the Penguins surged ahead 39-38 on a 3-pointer by Magestro with 1:03 left. Davidson scored on IU Indy's final possession of the quarter to give it a 40-39 lead.
Haley Thierry scored five points in a 20-second stretch early in the fourth quarter to put the Penguins up 46-42 and force a Jaguars timeout, and IU Indy's only miss at the free-throw line in the game came on the next possession with 7:16 left. The margin was within a possession until Gregory's bucket gave YSU its 55-51 lead with 1:30 on the clock.
Youngstown State will play its next three games on the road, starting with a two-game trip to Michigan next week. Its first game in the stretch will be at Detroit Mercy on Thursday at 7 p.m.
