SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Junior forward Avery Koenen netted a game-high 26 points as the North Dakota State women's basketball team fell short against Nebraska, 82-70, on Sunday afternoon at the Sanford Pentagon in front of 1,685 fans.

Koenen posted a season-high 26 points after connecting on a season-best 11 field goals on 15 attempts. The Montevideo, Minn., native also hauled in a game-best nine rebounds over a season-high 35 minutes of action. Karrington Asp added in 14 points with six rebounds off the bench, while Jocelyn Schiller reached double digits in the scoring column with 10 points.

As a team, the Bison (2-2) shot 46.7 percent (28-60) from the field and 68.8 percent (11-16) from the free throw line. NDSU scored 46 points in the paint and 19 points off of turnovers.

After Nebraska (4-0) opened up a six-point lead at the half, 42-34, the Huskers pushed their lead into double figures with a fastbreak layup from Eliza Maupin at the 7:52 mark of the third quarter. The Bison responded to close the frame on an 8-2 run to trim the deficit back down to six, 61-55, after Koenen drained a fastbreak layup with two seconds to play in the quarter.

Nebraska started the fourth frame putting together a key 8-0 run to increase its lead to 70-57 with a triple from Jessica Petrie at the 7:05 mark. The Huskers then started to pull away building their largest lead of the game, 78-61, with a free throw from Claire Johnson with 3:18 remaining. Nebraska went on to hold off NDSU the rest of the way for the 82-70 victory.

The Bison will be back in action hosting Tulane on Friday. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m., inside the Scheels Center at the Sanford Health Athletic Complex.