The University of Minnesota Duluth women's s team basketball fell victim to the University of Sioux Falls defense in a  66-47 loss Saturday afternoon.

The  47 points was a 2016-17 season low for the Bulldogs, who fell to 4-4 overall and 3-2 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. ougars (8-1; 4-1 N) defense. 

UMD managed to score just 20 points in the first half of the game on a combined 9-30 shooting (30 percent). The Cougars (8-1; 4-1) ended the first quarter on an 11-2 run in the final 3:00 to take a 17-10 lead. The 66 points were the least USF has scored in a win this season, as it managed just  60 points in its only loss so far in 2016-17 against Winona State.

Senior guard Brooke Smith led all players with 26 points on a cool 9-15 shooting. Smith went 3-4 from three-point range and 5-7 at the free-throw line. USF outrebounded UMD 42-32 and got a major boost from its bench that scored 33 points, compared to the UMD bench that scored eight points.

Senior forward Allyson Harris led the way for the Bulldogs, scoring 14 points on 5-12 shooting and accumulating a team-high six rebounds. UMD shooters combined for 18-57 shooting (31.6%) and went 3-19 (15.8%) from beyond the arc. Freshman forward Josie Buckley's streak of scoring at least one point in a game ended at seven, after she finished the night 0-3 in 11 minutes of work. Buckley ranks third on the team in points-per-game with 7.5

UMD will start a four-game home series against St. Cloud State University next Saturday (Dec. 17).