VERMILLION, S.D. -- The University of North Dakota women's basketball team dropped a 79-67 decision to South Dakota on Thursday evening from the Sanford Coyote Sports Complex in Vermillion, S.D. 

UND (9-5, 2-2 Summit League) saw the host Coyotes (8-8, 4-1 Summit League) explode for a 12-for-18 shooting attack from the field, including a 5-for-9 stretch from three, during the second quarter to finish with a 31-13 advantage in the frame to help South Dakota win its 14th straight over the Fighting Hawks. 

Kacie Borowicz paced NoDak on the offensive side once again, striking for 18 points on 6-of-18 from the field while matching the team lead with eight rebounds. It marks the 22nd straight game in double figures for the senior, who has now led the Fighting Hawks in scoring in every contest this season. 

Graduate student Juliet Gordon was on triple-double watch for the visitors, reaching double figures for the sixth time over her last nine games with 16 points thanks to a perfect 7-for-7 night at the charity stripe. Gordon also pulled down eight boards and dished out a career-high six assists to pace UND in 34 minutes of action. 

North Dakota got off to a bit of a slow start, but started to settle in with strong defense in the final minutes of the opening quarter. The visitors held USD to just 5-for-17 from the field in the opening 10 minutes while closing the stanza on an 8-0 run to grab the 21-17 advantage after one frame. Borowicz was huge during that run, scoring six of the team's eight to give UND its largest lead of the night. 

The Hawks wouldn't give the lead up until the final 3:51 of the first half, but South Dakota started to see every shot find the twine in the frame, as the hosts closed the period on a 14-0 run to turn a 34-34 score into a 48-34 halftime lead for the Coyotes. USD finished 12-for-18 from the field during those 10 minutes and held a 31-13 scoring advantage to build the 14-point lead at the intermission. 

After the lead extended to a game-high 16 early in the third, the remaining nine minutes of the stanza played out similarly to the first, with NoDak playing strong defense and knocking down 7-of-9 shots from the charity stripe to win the quarter by a 21-15 score and trim the USD lead down to just eight, 63-55, entering the fourth. 

Neither side made a field goal until the 4:10 mark of the final quarter, as North Dakota couldn't get the lead back under double digits to give USD the 79-67 victory. 

North Dakota closes out the tough, three-game stretch against South Dakota State on Saturday afternoon from Frost Arena in Brookings, S.D. 

Postgame Notes

• UND has now dropped 14 straight to South Dakota 
• The Hawks have lost back-to-back games for only the second time this year
• Grace Larkins (USD) led all scorers with 21 points 
• Borowicz has paced North Dakota in scoring in each game this season and has reached double figures in 22 straight
• Gordon dished out a career-high six assists and was two points shy of her career high with 16
• USD finished 26-of-58 (.448) from the field while UND was 23-of-56 (.411)
• Thursday marks only the fourth time this season UND has allowed a team to shoot .400 or better (1-3 record)
• UND drops to 1-5 on the road this year
• The Yotes knocked down 11 threes on 28 tries while the Hawks were 5-for-16
• USD won the rebounding battle, 36-34
• UND forced only 13 turnovers, the second-fewest this season (12 vs. Wyoming)

How It Happened

• Q1: UND 21, USD 17
• Q2: USD 48, UND 34
• Q3: USD 63, UND 55
• Q4: USD 79, UND 67