YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State changed things up a bit defensively on Tuesday night. With Toledo’s athleticism and the fact that the Rockets are shooting just 20% from beyond the arc this season, YSU sat in zone for almost the entirety of the game.

However, Toledo, which is only averaging four made threes per game, knocked down seven to hand the Penguins their second loss of the season 69-65.

“Just watching them on film, matchups, their size, their physicality — obviously also wanted to get the zone on film because we’re going to need that in conference play. So I thought this was a good opportunity to do that,” head coach Melissa Jackson said. “We have worked on it in the preseason, not nearly as much as our man-to-man, but spent the last two days on it.

“For the first time in-game, against a really good opponent, I thought our kids really battled and did a good job with it. We’ll go back and watch the film. There were some coverages that we didn’t cover correctly, but that’ll come and we’ll continue to grow.”

Things were tight down the stretch, just as they were for most of the night. But Toledo made a couple key baskets over the final few minutes, knocking down a pair of corner threes and a few baskets in open spots in YSU’s zone.

Patricia Anumgba and Alexa Hocevar combined for six of the Rockets’ made 3-pointers, as Anumgba led Toledo with a game-high 18 points.

“I give Toledo a lot of credit. I thought they did some big-time shots at crucial moments down the stretch there,” Jackson said. “I thought we executed and got the shots that we wanted, we just didn’t make them. We just didn’t finish. It’s early in non-conference, and we’ve been in a couple games where we’ve executed and we’ve made those shots. Just on the other side of it tonight.”

Five stoppages in the first minute of play due to malfunctioning shot clocks resulted in a 20-minute delay to start things off. Zidian Family Arena’s primary shot clocks above each basket were turned off for the duration of the contest and backup mobile shot clocks were wheeled out onto the floor.

YSU looked out of sorts on both ends of the floor during the opening period after the unusual start to the game. Players were out of position, mishandling the ball and missing on passes.

But after trailing 22-14 at the end of the first quarter, the Penguins opened the second period on a 9-0 run to take their first lead of the night.

With 3:32 left in the first half, YSU tied things up at 26 off a three-point play by Paulina Hernandez. The Rockets, however, proceeded to close the half on an 8-2 run to take a 34-28 lead at the break.

The Penguins have been a third-quarter team this season, and Tuesday was no different, as YSU opened the second half on a 14-2 run and held a slim 46-44 advantage by the end of the frame.

“Coming out at halftime, we make it a point to really focus on what we’re doing wrong or what’s not working,” YSU forward Sophia Gregory said. “Then we all come together, make sure we’re all on the same page.”

Toledo put the finishing touches on its victory by outscoring YSU 25-19 in the fourth quarter.

“In the final few minutes, our defense almost slacked off a little bit,” Gregory said. “They were really hitting our weak spots and they were able to score off that.”

Gregory led the Penguins with a season-high 16 points on 8-of-9 shooting. She also finished with eight rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks.

Sarah Baker added 14 points in the post, while Casey Santoro and Erica King also scored in double figures with 15 and 11 points, respectively.

YSU now heads back on the road to face Akron on Sunday at noon.