SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.-- Host San Francisco used a 17-4 start to the ballgame to lead throughout in a 74-57 win over North Dakota Wednesday evening in non-conference play. The Fighting Hawks battled back with a 33-point fourth quarter led by senior Mia Loyd's 10 points in that frame alone but the Dons held off for the win.

"As a program we're at an intriguing part of growth, because it's going to be painful until we get to that concept of understanding how important it is to play as one," UND head coach Travis Brewster said. "It's something I have seen in these women that can be done, but it comes down to can we have the will as one to have the success we need to grow this program, because we have had success early, but we are stuck now looking back and you cannot look back to move forward."

USF (3-2) took advantage of a sluggish start to roll up a 17-4 first-quarter edge. Going into halftime, San Francisco had a 27-15 edge but turned the ball over 10 times in the opening half.

Senior Mia Loyd played just five minutes in the opening 20 minutes with a pair of personal fouls but her work in the fourth helped the fourth-quarter rally.

After UND had fallen down by as many as 32 points, Loyd and North Dakota pieced together a solid final five minutes that saw the visitors out-score the Dons, 25-10. In that spurt, a Loyd putback started the run then traditional three-point plays from Leah Szabla and Lexi Klabo kept the run rolling.

Fallyn Freije nailed a long three from the right wing followed and UND got it back to a respectable 16 but time would run out on a comeback. The 33 points were easily a new program best for a single quarter as Dyer (11) and Loyd (10) each finished the night in double figures scoring.

Dyer's point total made her the Fighting Hawks' leading scorer for the fourth straight game while Lexi Klabo added a career-high nine points for the Fighting Hawks.

North Dakota (1-4) will look for its first road win when it travels to Oregon (4-0) Saturday afternoon. Tip is slated for 4:00 p.m. Central.