Correspondent photo / David Dermer. The Youngstown State women's basketball team walks off the floor after its loss to Green Bay on Saturday at Zidian Family Arena.

YOUNGSTOWN — Two months ago, the Youngstown State women’s basketball team suffered a tough loss to Green Bay in its annual Wisconsin road trip. A lifetime has passed since that contest and the Penguins have made plenty of strides and gains since that time.

YSU displayed that growth on Saturday in its home clash with the Phoenix. In a matchup between the two top teams in the Horizon League standings, the Penguins gave Green Bay a fight down to the wire, but the Phoenix’s championship mettle won out in the end as they handed YSU a 54-51 defeat to tip off a mens-womens doubleheader at Zidian Family Arena.

“We’re definitely disappointed. Literally two months ago, we played them up at their place, and I think I (said) how disappointed but encouraged I was after that meeting because we were neck-and-neck with them, but in that second half, we folded up there,” YSU head coach Melissa Jackson said. “There were multiple opportunities today where our team could have folded, but we have grown so much in two months.

“Their fight today, wow, I’m really proud of them. … I just leave today very proud of our team. As I told them at shootaround, we don’t win a Horizon League championship today. This is just one step, one step in our process, in our journey that I think will really help us hopefully going forward.”

With 3:21 left, the Penguins found themselves in a position they weren’t in during the first meeting with the Phoenix — leading late in the game.

However, although YSU led by five, it would not score again the rest of the day.

During that final stretch, Green Bay’s Jenna Guyer almost singlehandedly willed the Phoenix to victory, showing why she’s the favorite to be named Horizon League Player of the Year.

“I don’t necessarily think we let it slip away, I think she just hit big-time shots because she’s a big-time player,” redshirt freshman Sarah Baker said. “I think this is definitely something that we’ll review and we’ll look back on so this doesn’t happen again if we’re in another tight situation like this.”

Immediately after YSU extended its lead to five on a baseline jumper from Baker, Guyer knocked down a three. On Green Bay’s next possession, she rebounded her own miss and put it back to tie things up.

On an ensuing possession, she blocked Baker down low on what would’ve been a go-ahead shot for the Penguins.

Then, with the game tied, Guyer drilled the go-ahead and game-winning three from the top of the key with 14 seconds left. She led Green Bay with 16 points.

“She’s really good. She’s really poised in those moments,” Jackson said of Guyer. “She’s been in a lot of basketball games and she’s been in a lot of big-time basketball games. Obviously played a lot of them last year on a really good team and has been in those moments. So I’m not surprised she’s the one that hit the shot, she’s the one that came up with the block. Would definitely have my vote for Horizon League Player of the Year at this point.”

YSU had opportunities to build on its lead or take advantage during one of the game’s six ties, but couldn’t capitalize.

Against Green Bay’s second-ranked scoring defense, the Penguins shot 36.7% overall and 17.2% from beyond the arc. Baker paced YSU with 18 points, her eighth straight game in double figures, while Erica King finished with 12 points.

“They really just crowd the paint a lot, and I think that made it difficult for us to get post touches that we’re used to,” Baker said. “But I think our guards were definitely ready to shoot it. But I feel like we got a little bit streaky there at the end. I don’t know, there’s really nothing you can do about that, but their defense is really suffocating, especially at the end.”

After Guyer’s go-ahead basket, the Penguins had two possessions to try to get a game-tying shot.

On the first, the Phoenix had fouls to give and forced a turnover on YSU’s third inbound attempt. Then after Guyer missed two free throws, YSU had one last chance with about four seconds left.

King got a look from the wing, but her contested three fell off the back of the rim at the buzzer.

“We were going to go for the three there,” Jackson said of YSU’s first possession. “As you know, Green Bay’s defense is really, really tough. They’re going to give you some threes, although they guarded us probably the tightest I’ve ever seen them guard people. … We’ve run that play pretty much every single day in shootaround for three months now. I told them, this is the moment. But again, smart on (Green Bay’s) part — they had fouls to give.”

Next up, YSU finishes off its three-game homestand on Wednesday against Robert Morris at 6:30 p.m. at the Beeghly Center.