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FARGO, N.D. – The North Dakota State women's basketball team (3-4) erased a 16 point second half deficit to force overtime against North Dakota (7-1), but came up just short, falling to UND, 90-87, on Saturday, Dec. 6, at Scheels Arena in front 1,469 spectators.

NDSU senior Brooke LeMar posted a game-high 33 points on 13-for-29 shooting, matching her career-high, and dished out seven assists, while junior Holly Johnson added 17 points and went 6-for-8 from the field, including a perfect 2-for-2 from three-point range and 3-for-3 from the free-throw line to go along with a team-high seven rebounds. Freshman Taylor Thunstedt went 4-for-9 from the field, scoring a new career-high 12 points, and junior Marena Whittle tallied 11 points to round out the double-figure scoring for NDSU.

Trailing 70-54 with 9:31 remaining in the second half, the Bison used a 19-8 run to cut the UND lead to 78-73 with 3:46 on the clock, before LeMar scored seven straight points on a pair of layups and a three-pointer to extend the run to 26-8, and give NDSU an 80-78 lead with 1:34 to go. It was the first lead for the Bison since a 25-24 advantage with 8:38 to go in the opening stanza.

North Dakota tied the game at 80 after a pair of free throws from Leah Szabla with 31 seconds to go in the half, and Thunstedt's three at the buzzer fell short, sending the game into overtime.

After UND raced out to an 84-80 lead to start overtime, NDSU was able to tie the game with 1:56 remaining on a pair of LeMar free throws and a Liz Keena jumper. North Dakota regained the lead, 86-84, with 1:44 to go on a Kelsey Knox layup.

LeMar put the Bison back on top, 87-86, when she drilled a three with 26 seconds on the clock, but North Dakota's Makailah Dyer was able to convert a layup with 13 seconds to go to give UND the lead again, 88-87.

North Dakota's Emily Evers was fouled with 1.5 seconds remaining and made both free throws to extend the UND lead to 90-87. The Bison had one more chance to tie the contest, but Kahla Becken's three with less than a second to go was off target. ,

The Bison shot 40 percent from the field in the game, going 32-for-81, and were 35 percent from beyond-the-arc, making nine of 26 attempts. NDSU went 14-for-17 at the charity stripe for 82 percent.

North Dakota, paced by Mia Loyd with a team-high 22 points and 13 rebounds, shot 51 percent from the field in the contest, going 26-for-71, but failed to make a three-pointer, going 0-for-7. UND made 18-of-24 attempts from the free-throw line for 75 percent.

UND finished the game with 47-36 rebounding advantage over NDSU, and scored 62 points in the paint, compared to 36 for the Bison.

North Dakota State returns to the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse on Monday, Dec. 8, for a non-conference game against Mayville State. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.