The Youngstown State’s women’s basketball team survived to earn a gritty 69-65 victory at IU Indy on Sunday.

The Penguins earned their ninth road victory of the season and snapped an eight-game slide at The Jungle, improving to 19-8 overall and 12-5 in Horizon League play. YSU fought off the Jaguars, who won earlier this season in Youngstown, to remain in second place in the conference standings with three games left in the regular season. Youngstown State is one-and-a-half games ahead of next week’s two opponents, Northern Kentucky and Purdue Fort Wayne.

Casey Santoro led the Penguins with 17 points, nine of which came in the first quarter as Youngstown State went 11-for-13 from the field and outscored the Jaguars 26-18. Erica King scored 10 of her 15 points in the opening quarter, and Hernandez anchored the back of the game by scoring seven of her 12 points in the fourth.

Sophia Gregory and Sarah Baker scored nine points apiece and helped seal the win in the final 10 seconds. With the Penguins up 67-65, Baker walled up in the paint to force a miss by IU Indy’s Olivia Smith. Danielle Cameron grabbed the rebound and called timeout with 6.4 seconds left, and YSU advanced the ball to the frontcourt. Cameron inbounded the ball to Gregory, who was fouled with 4.8 seconds remaining. Gregory calmly swished both of her free-throw attempts to seal the victory, YSU’s first at The Jungle since Feb. 8, 2018.

The Penguins finished shooting 48.1% from the field overall, and they were 6-for-14 from 3-point range and 11-for-12 at the free-throw line. IU Indy shot 41.5%, matching the Penguins with six 3s. Nevaeh Foster led the Jaguars with a game-high 20 points, and four IU Indy players reached double figures.