It took the full forty minutes to decide a winner between the University of Minnesota Duluth and Minot State University as both tussled back and forth in the closing moments of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference action on Sunday afternoon. The Beavers turned the ball over in a 67-67 tie game with under a minute left to give the Bulldogs an opportunity to kill most the clock and attempt one of the last shots in regulation. However, the shot fell short and UMD committed a loose ball foul on the ensuing rebound with six seconds remaining, giving Minot State a chance to break the tie at the line. The Beavers hit both free throws and the Bulldogs were called for an offensive foul on the next possession to give the MiSU a 71-67 win over UMD. 

The Beavers move to 6-6 overall and 3-5 in the NSIC. The Bulldogs (7-4, 4-3 NSIC) dropped consecutive games for the first time all season 

UMD trailed for most of the day before they crawled back to tie it on a free throw from sophomore forward Katie Stark with 44 seconds to go. MiSU led for over 29 minutes of the game while the Bulldogs led for just under four minutes as it was in catch-up mode. Despite playing from behind, it was another tightly contested match as the lead changed hands eight times and no team led by more than four in the second half.

Minot State shot 47. 2 percent from the floor. UMD shot 39.7 percent but hit on the long range shot to stay close.

The Beavers went out to an eight -point lead in the first quarter before freshman guard Ann Simonet knocked in a pair of threes. Simonet went on to score 13 points, one short of her career high. Simonet did give UMD a lead early in the fourth quarter on a great dish by freshman forward Payton Kahl to find the open Simonet. The Beavers used a 10-5 run to gain a 60-56 lead before head coach Mandy Pearson called timeout. Junior forward Emma Boehm laid in a bucket off a Simonet steal then hit the bottom of the net from long range to flip the lead in the Bulldogs' favor. Stark would go on to score the next six points including the game-tying free throw before MiSU pulled away.

Forward Holly Johnson led all scorers with 26 points for the Beavers. Kristal Flowers gave UMD a hard time also underneath as she tallied 10 points and 14 boards including eight on the offensive end.

Boehm carried UMD again on the offensive end for a third straight night, hitting 6 of her 13 attempts for 15 points. Stark had 14 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Freshman Sarah Grow had an efficient game in the post knocking down 75 percent of her looks for 12 points and added a pair of blocks. Junior guard Sammy Kozlowski had five assists to lead all players. Kozlowski, the NSIC leader in assists per game, has had at least three assists in every game this season including five or more in the last three outings. 

The Bulldogs will travel home to ring in the new year at Romano Gymnasium next weekend. UMD will wrap up the season series with the University of Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State University, first starting with the Golden Eagles on Friday, Jan. 5 at 6:00 p.m. The Bulldogs won both road games earlier this season against UMC and BSU.