Staff photo / Neel Madhavan. YSU fifth-year Malia Magestro drives downhill against IU Indy's Shania Nicholls-Vannett in Saturday's overtime loss to IU Indy. Magestro led the Penguins with 22 points, which included going 14-for-14 at the free-throw line.

YOUNGSTOWN — Saturday was a day of missed opportunities for Youngstown State.

With their defense leading the way, the Penguins had chances to build their lead in the second quarter and put the game away after taking a six-point lead at the end of regulation.

But after a furious late rally by IU Indy, in which the Jaguars made three 3-pointers in the final 30 seconds of the fourth quarter, YSU let one get away, falling to IU Indy 73-68 in overtime for the second straight game at Zidian Family Arena.

“Besides me and maybe a couple other girls, we are a pretty young team, and we haven’t really been in these types of situations yet,” fifth-year guard Malia Magestro said. “I think it’s just really a learning process for us. We just gotta be better in those situations, and as we keep having tight, close games, we will be better making those reads and what we need to do — foul, not foul, things like that. It’s just tough because we haven’t been in it yet besides this week. So I think it’s good learning for us.”

After taking an early two-point lead at the end of the first quarter, YSU had plenty of opportunities to build on that lead before halftime, but it couldn’t capitalize. The Penguins shot 4-for-17 from the floor in the second quarter and went into the break tied at 24.

“They really sagged off our fives, and they really sagged off our fours,” head coach Melissa Jackson said. “They clogged the paint a lot, so you saw us get a little three happy, especially early on. We talked about that at halftime, not settling coming off those screens, not settling even for your pull up. Give them a little hesi(tation) and get to the rim.”

The contest stayed tight in the second half, as the Jaguars tied the game at 51 with 3:16 left in regulation after a pair of Azyah Newson-Cole free throws.

Then, Jewel Watkins knocked down a mid-range jumper, Sophia Gregory scored on a put-back layup and Malia Magestro buried a pair at the line to give the Penguins a six-point lead with 32 seconds to go.

But IU Indy wasn’t done yet, as Nevaeh Foster immediately drilled a deep three from the top of the key just a few seconds later.

After Magestro knocked down another two free throws, the Penguins forced a deep miss from Foster. But Alexa Hocevar collected the offensive rebound and found Katie Davidson on the wing, who drained her only three of the afternoon.

“We went to the zone — saw how much time they took off the clock there, so they weren’t expecting that. It froze them a little bit,” Jackson said. “Then we chose to stay in the zone. Katie Davidson was cooking with 29 points, a really good player. I thought they would go to her really quick and try to draw a foul, so that’s why we stayed in the zone out of the sideline.”

Watkins then went 1-for-2 at the line, and the Jaguars finally had their opening. With 1.6 seconds left, Foster drilled her fifth three of the game to tie things up at 60.

“If I had to redo everything over again, I would have fouled when we were up three and (IU Indy head coach) Kate (Bruce) had no more timeouts,” Jackson said. “End of game situation, we really want to get the ball to Malia for free throws. So we draw up a play with two options, and she’s the No. 1 option. Haley (Thierry) saw Jewel wide open and went there, so I can’t fault her for that. Jewel is a really good free-throw shooter too, but our No. 1 option is always Malia.

“We gotta know where those shooters are. But also credit to them, they made big shots — NBA threes. So sometimes the ball just doesn’t bounce your way.”

Even with only 1.6 seconds to go, YSU still had a chance at the end of regulation. Jackson drew up a long sideline out of bounds pass to Gregory near the basket, but her shot fell off the rim as the buzzer sounded.

Overtime mirrored the Penguins’ extra session on Thursday against Wright State.

YSU took an early lead in overtime, but then the Jaguars took control with another three and closed things out by going 8-for-8 at the charity stripe.

Down three with 13.5 seconds left, the Penguins had one more chance. They got Magestro a look at a three, but it was off balance and fell well short of the rim.

“I wanted a three. We only had one timeout,” Jackson said. “That was a play we ran in shootaround, executed great in shootaround — the screen wasn’t where it needed to be, but wanted Erica (King) getting downhill and Malia coming off with a chance to tie it up.”

Gregory picked up her third double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Magestro led the Penguins with 22 points, which included going 14-for-14 at the free-throw line.

Her performance at the charity stripe was a school record for most consecutive made free throws in a game and most free throws without a miss. It was also the best single-game performance at the line in DIvision I so far this season.

“I think they were getting pretty physical with me,” Magestro said. “We were in the bonus a lot, so if they were holding me, I was trying to make sure the refs knew they were holding me. I think that was part of it. Then I just knew I wanted to do whatever it takes for us to win, just because I’ve been in these close games and you want to win these close ones.”

The Penguins now prepare for their Michigan road swing week, which begins at Detroit Mercy on Thursday at 7 p.m., before a visit to Oakland on Feb. 22 at 2 p.m.