Box Score (PDF)

FARGO, N.D. – An 8-0 run to begin the fourth quarter helped the Grand Canyon Antelopes defeat the North Dakota State women's basketball team, 76-67, in front of 416 spectators inside the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse on Tuesday, Dec. 8.

Sophomore guard Taylor Thunstedt scored a career-high 24 points on 50 percent shooting from the field and dished out five assists to lead the Bison (2-6 overall), while freshman Kennedy Childers matched her career-high with 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Junior forward Brianna Jones tallied a game-high 13 rebounds to pace NDSU on the glass.

After the Bison gained a 52-50 lead on a pair of made free-throws by Thunstedt with eight seconds to go in the third quarter, Grand Canyon's Courtney Hayes hit a layup at the buzzer to tie the contest at 52 heading to the fourth quarter.

The Lopes (4-6 overall) opened up a 60-52 lead when Dana Jones converted a layup with 7:48 to go in the fourth. The Bison cut the deficit to one, 60-59, after a Thunstedt layup capped a 7-0 NDSU run with 5:23 remaining in the stanza, but the Lopes' Jones made a jumper less than a minute later to push the deficit back to three.

NDSU pulled within one again after a Thunstedt jumper with a little over five minutes to go, but the Antelopes answered with a 4-0 spurt to push their advantage to 66-61 with 3:39 on the clock.

Marena Whittle hit a jumper to trim the GCU lead to 66-64 with 1:58 remaining, but the Lopes made eight free throws in the final minute to secure the victory.

North Dakota State shot 40 percent from the field and 39 percent from three-point range in the contest, but struggled from the free-throw line, making only 16 of 28 attempts for 57 percent.

Jessica Gajewski tallied a game-high 28 points on 12-of-24 shooting from the field to lead the Lopes.

The Bison and Antelopes each pulled down 41 rebounds in the game, but NDSU committed 14 turnovers compared to only nine for GCU.

North Dakota State is scheduled to return to the court on Saturday, Dec. 12, when it travels to Grand Forks to take on North Dakota. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.