The University of Minnesota Duluth rallied in the third quarter but saw its offense go quiet in the fourth as St. Cloud State University edged the Bulldogs 65-53 in both teams' Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference opener at Romano Gym on Saturday afternoon.

UMD (0-4, 0-1 NSIC) outscored its conference rival 27-25 in the middle two quarters, trying to make up a halftime deficit in the third after St. Cloud State (1-3, 1-0 NSIC) dropped five three-pointers in the opening half. The Bulldog offense went quiet after 30 minutes, hitting just 2-of-11 shots in the fourth quarter, including 1-of-4 from beyond the three-point arc as the Huskies held off UMD down the stretch. Junior forward Kenzie Kane gave UMD a solid effort as the Bulldogs finally had nearly their entire expected roster available. Kane scored 22 points and grabbed five rebounds, all on the defensive end, hitting a trio of three-pointers and finishing 7-of-16 from the floor. Junior center Allyson Harris had 10 points and matched freshman point guard Samantha Kozlowski with a team-high six rebounds.

St. Cloud got a pair of threes from both Andrea Thomas and Betsy McDonald, two of five players to hit double digits scoring for the Huskies, led by Chelsea Nooker's 17 with a game-high 10 rebounds. SCSU out-rebounded the Bulldogs 44-31 overall, collecting 12 extra chances with offensive boards while UMD had just three on its offensive end. The Bulldogs limited their foul number while getting to the line 16 times on the afternoon, led by a 7-of-8 night from senior guard Taylor Dillinger at the charity stripe.

The Huskies shot just 40.6 percent on the night while holding UMD to 35.3 percent on the night. Sophmore forward Allison Olley made her Bulldog basketball debut, having competed the past two seasons for the UMD volleyball team as a middle blocker. She had three points, finishing the night 1-of-2 in nine minutes.

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The Bulldogs will be back at Romano Gym next weekend as the team starts its normal NSIC Friday-Saturday schedule. UMD hosts the University of Minnesota-Crookston on Friday night. Opening tip is set for 6:00 p.m.