Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes. YSU fifth year senior Shay-Lee Kirby steps back for a shot attempt during the first half in Tuesday's home loss to Cleveland State. Kirby led the Penguins with 14 points.

YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State threw everything it had at Horizon League-leading Cleveland State, but the Vikings showcased their championship pedigree Tuesday.

Malia Magestro’s would-be game-tying three bounced off the rim at the buzzer, as the Penguins fell 56-53 in a gritty, physical fight with the defending conference champions.

“I was proud of how hard we played defensively,” interim head coach John Nicolais said. “I think our ladies have bought into the fact that we’ve got enough pieces to the puzzle that we can do some things in late February and early March. Cleveland State’s a really good team. It’s been a minute since somebody held them to 21 points at the half like that. Our defense really was outstanding. Ball didn’t bounce our way on a few possessions, but I’m disappointed in the loss.”

After Haley Thierry had drawn an offensive foul against CSU’s Colbi Maples on the Vikings’ final offensive possession, YSU had a chance to tie the game with 11.4 seconds left.

Out of a timeout, the Penguins rotated the ball around the perimeter to try to find some space to get a shot off, but struggled to find space against Cleveland State’s zone. With the clock ticking down, YSU had to get a shot off, so Magestro pulled the trigger. It just didn’t drop.

“It didn’t look like what we drew up,” Nicolais said. “We’re going to have to rep a little more late-game situations because we were trying to get a quick pass in, return pass, stop, flash, throw it in and skip opposite, but we panicked a little bit. That’s a little disappointing, but we’ll have to fix that pretty quick.”

Despite the loss, Tuesday’s performance was an indication of just how far the Penguins have come during the back half of the season.

In the first meeting on Jan. 6, the Vikings crushed YSU by 42 points at the Wolstein Center in Cleveland. Since then, the Penguins have won six of their last nine. Two of those losses came against the top two teams in the league — Cleveland State on Tuesday night and Green Bay on Feb. 17. In that stretch, YSU has also won its last four road games.

“I told them in the locker room, we’re not big on moral victories this late in the year, but it’s a night-and-day difference from when we played Cleveland State the first go around,” Nicolais said.

YSU was near the bottom of the conference the first time it faced Cleveland State. Now, it sits tied for fifth, with an outside chance of finishing in the top four heading into the conference tournament.

“The February team that we have right now is the team that the Penguins can be for years to come,” Dena Jarrells said. “John Nicolais has done a great job with us. We were 1-7 or 1-8 on the road, and obviously we didn’t start off great. We’ve all transitioned and we’ve bought into everything that he’s (done) with us. I think that we’re playing at a high level, and I think that anyone that plays against us, they’re worried because we’re a completely different team than the first time around.”

Just like it has all season, YSU’s defense paved the way for the Penguins. Cleveland State’s 56 points equaled the Vikings’ lowest point total of the season, and YSU limited them to 29.3% shooting from the floor.

Even though they still combined for 32 points thanks to 12 made free throws, YSU held Cleveland State’s two leading scorers — Maples and Mckayla Perdue — to 9-for-36 shooting.

“In conference play, they’ve shot 400 free throws. So obviously they like to drive in and pray they get a foul, to be honest with you, and we knew that,” Jarrells said. “This is what they like to do, and they’re good at it. They get the calls, so we decided that we were just going to back off and dare them to shoot those shots. If they make a three in our face, then by all means, keep shooting. I feel like that worked for the most part. They hit a couple and it was some momentum boosters, but we hit some too.”

Offensively, the Penguins shot 35.0% against the Vikings long, rangy zone defense. Despite the low shooting percentage, YSU was able to hit timely shots all game to keep itself alive and prevent the Vikings from running away with the game, like they did the first time around in January.

“(We) rose to the occasion for sure,” Nicolais said. “Cleveland State is very prolific offensively. They can put runs together real quick and get separation on you. So when they pushed it to six or eight, it was a little bit worrisome. But to our kids’ credit, we went back down and found a way to get a couple possessions with scores to tighten it back up.”

Jarrells finished with 13 points and Magestro scored 10, while Shay-Lee Kirby led the Penguins with 14, which included her drilling a desperation heave from halfcourt at the third-quarter buzzer which gave YSU a one-point lead heading into the fourth.

“We don’t really work on it (much), but we do shoot halfcourt shots, so that does play a part in it,” Kirby said with a chuckle. “It’s not like I go into practice and say I’m going to stay after and shoot halfcourt shots, but we do shoot them. … My teammates said they knew it was going in, and it did. So it felt good.”

YSU wraps up the regular season Saturday on the road at Purdue Fort Wayne at 3 p.m. Then the Horizon League tournament begins Tuesday, March 5.

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