On a night Youngstown State was mostly able to hold serve with a Big Ten opponent, turnovers proved to be the Penguins’ undoing.

YSU committed 26 giveaways, sinking an upset bid of Penn State in a 77-63 loss that was closer than the score indicates.

“They were really long, athletic, fast, quick and forced us into a bunch of turnovers,” said YSU coach John Barnes. “We shot 50 percent from the field and 35.7 percent from three. That’s plenty good to win the game, but when you have 26 turnovers, you’re not going to beat anybody doing that.”

YSU (1-1), which hadn’t played since its season opener against Wofford on Nov. 7, battled throughout the night, and in fact led 41-35 at the 8:33 mark of the third quarter after beginning the second half on a 9-2 run keyed by 3-pointers from Paige Shy, Megan Callahan and Mady Aulbach.

Shy had a career-high 19 points to go with four rebounds and three assists, while Lilly Ritz had 12 points and six boards. Aulbach and Malia Magestro each added eight points for YSU, which shot 25-of-50 from the field and 10-of-28 from 3-point range.

But Penn State (3-0) answered that spurt with one of its own, an 11-0 run that gave the Lady Lions the lead for good.

Leilani Kapinus began the PSU rally with a jumper, and then a Makenna Marisa free throw drew Penn State to within 41-38.

Taniyah Thompson added a jumper, and Kapinus sank a layup to push Penn State in front 42-41, and then Marisa hit back-to-back jumpers to cap things off with 4:13 left in the quarter. During that stretch, YSU went 0-for-5 from the field and had three turnovers.

Penn State also made good on fast break opportunities, outscoring Youngstown State 17-2 in transition. The Lions also had an advantage in the paint, 38-28.

Ironically, Youngstown State scored 27 points off turnovers to Penn State’s 17, but PSU racked up 10 offensive rebounds and had seven second-chance points off extended possessions.

“It all came down to taking care of the ball, and we just didn’t do it,” Barnes said. “We knew that (coming into the game). … In their first two games, they forced a ton. So we kind of knew what we needed to do, and we worked on it for the last five, six days, but we just can’t mimic their pressure in practice. We tried the best we could, but we just turned it over.”

YSU got back to within two, 48-46, after an Aulbach trey, but got no closer than that the rest of the evening. The Penguins were as close as six a handful of times in the fourth quarter before having to foul to put Penn State at the charity stripe to extend the game.

The Penguins also were hampered by first half foul troubles, particularly for Ritz and fellow forward Emily Saunders. Both picked up two fouls by the midway point of the second quarter, which sent Jen Wendler into the game. To her credit, Wendler held her own during that span and notched two points and two rebounds as YSU trailed just 33-32 at the break.

The Penguins continue their campaign Friday at Akron.

Of the things YSU takes from its trip to State College to build on, Barnes said, “I think our offense — shooting 50 percent, shooting good from three — we attacked when we took care of it. We attacked well and got great looks. And I think playing against a Big Ten team who’s long, athletic, all of the above is going to help us for anybody we play after this.”