FARGO, N.D. – The North Dakota State women's basketball team (9-14, 5-6 Summit League) outscored the Summit League-leading South Dakota Coyotes (19-5, 9-2 Summit League), 50-38, in the second half, but fell short of claiming victory, falling to USD on Sunday, Feb. 8, in the Katherine Burgum Classic, 83-79, at the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse.

Brooke LeMar led three Bison in double figures with 27 points on 9-for-17 shooting.

Liz Keena tallied a career-high 22 points on a career-best 9-for-11 shooting. Keena, who was named the Katherine Burgum Classic MVP for the Bison, also established a new career-high for steals with a game-high five takeaways and led the Bison in rebounding, snagging seven boards.

Taylor Thunstedt rounded out the Bison in double figures, tallying 13 points, respectively.

North Dakota State shot 46 percent from the field for the game, going 28-for-61, but were just 5-for-18 from three-point range for 28 percent and 18-for-23 at the free-throw line for 78 percent.

The Bison outrebounded South Dakota in the game, 35-34.

South Dakota was paced by Nicole Seekamp, who was selected as the Katherine Burgum Classic MVP for the Coyotes, with 21 points on 7-for-13 shooting to go along with a game-high five assists.

The Coyotes shot 49 percent from the field in the contest, going 29-for-59, and were 6-for-16 from beyond-the-arc for 38 percent. USD went 19-for-28 from the foul line for 68 percent.

Trailing by as much as 16 in the second half, the Bison mounted a furious comeback from 16:21 to 11:13 in the stanza that saw them trim the South Dakota lead to 58-52 after a layup from Emily Spier.

South Dakota eased its lead back to eight at the 10:39 mark, but the Bison responded with a 4-0 run that cut the USD lead to 60-56 with 9:49 to go after jump shots from Holly Johnson and Thunstedt.

The Bison trimmed the deficit to just two, 77-75, after a pair of free-throws from Keena with 2:16 remaining in the stanza, but South Dakota made key free throws in the final two minutes of the contest to thwart the NDSU comeback effort.

North Dakota State is scheduled to return to action on Wednesday, Feb. 11, when it travels to Tulsa, Okla., for a midweek Summit League contest against Oral Roberts. Tip-off from the Mabee Center is scheduled for 7 p.m.