Milwaukee — Malia Magestro scored 24 points and made five 3-pointers for Youngstown State's women's basketball team as the Penguins fell 61-56 at Milwaukee on Saturday afternoon.
Magestro led all scorers with her 24 points, which was one shy of her career high. Jewel Watkins added 13 points, and Sophia Gregory scored 10 points in the second half after battling foul trouble in the first. Gregory and Watkins both had three blocks, and YSU recorded nine blocks as a team.
Anna Lutz scored 20 points to lead Milwaukee, which got 25 points from its bench and had more balance in the scoring column. YSU's leading trio combined for 47 of the team's 56 points, while the Panthers had five players score at least eight points.
Milwaukee missed 11 straight field-goal attempts in the first quarter, and the Penguins led 11-7 after Magestro's second 3 of the period at the 3:19 mark. YSU held a 13-11 advantage after 10 minutes despite Gregory committing two fouls in just over three minutes of action.
The Penguins then opened up a 25-16 lead at the 6:23 mark of the second quarter on a Magestro bucket. That capped a 14-5 burst for Youngstown State going back to its final possession of the first period. YSU missed its last nine attempts from the field and went scoreless for the rest of the half after the Magestro jumper, and Milwaukee scored the final 11 points to take a 27-25 lead.
Lutz scored 14 points for Milwaukee while Gregory went 5-for-6 from the field to score 10 points for Youngstown State as both teams scored 16 points in the third, and the Panthers held on through six lead changes in the fourth.
YSU forced a shot clock violation on its first defensive possession of the final period, and a Watkins 3-pointer put the Penguins ahead for the first time in the second half at 44-43 with 8:47 on the clock. Kacee Baumhower and Magestro then traded 3s after offensive rebounds on the next two possessions, and Kamy Peppler's jumper with 7:01 remaining put Milwaukee ahead 48-47.
Magestro's fifth 3 of the day 1:15 later gave Youngstown State a 50-49 lead, and Watkins split two free-throw attempts at the 4:38 mark to give the Penguins what was their final advantage of the afternoon at 51-49.
Forwards Lutz and Jorey Buwalda scored on back-to-back possessions for Milwaukee to put the Panthers ahead 53-51, and Magestro's long two with 3:03 on the clock tied the score for the last time at 53. The Penguins went scoreless for two-and-a-half minutes until Haley Thierry's 3-pointer with 34 seconds left got them within three at 59-56, and Milwaukee made two free throws and had a strong defensive stand to finish the victory.
Youngstown State shot 36.5% overall while going 8-for-26 from 3-point range, and it scored 54 of its 56 points from the field. The Penguins were 2-for-3 from the free-throw line, while the Panthers made 12 of their 14 attempts.
YSU will play two home games next week, starting with a contest on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. against IU Indy. It will be National Girls & Women in Sports Day at Zidian Family Arena at Beeghly Center, and there will also be a t-shirt giveaway and free Little Caesars pizza for the first 100 YSU students.
