DENVER – The North Dakota State women's basketball team held off Denver, 64-59, on Thursday night at Hamilton Gymnasium.

The Bison (17-9, 9-4 Summit) led by as many as 14 points in the fourth quarter before the Pioneers (8-18, 1-12 Summit) used a late 8-0 run in the fourth frame to cut the edge down to 61-59 with a triple from Coryn Watts with 35 seconds to play. Abbie Draper answered for the Bison with a layup and free throw with four seconds remaining to seal the 64-59 road win.

Draper reached the 20-point mark for the second time this season with a game-high 28 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the field and 9-of-11 from the free throw line. She also hauled in a career-best 14 rebounds for her third double-double of the season. Miriley Simon netted nine points off the bench with four rebounds, while Abby Schulte contributed eight points with a game-high five steals.

As a team, NDSU shot 41.1 percent (23-56) from the field and 78.9 percent (15-19) from the free throw line. The Bison grabbed a season-high 44 rebounds with nine different players contributing at least one.

NDSU will be back in action at Oral Roberts on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 12:00 p.m.