DULUTH, MINN. -- A late rally by the 14th-ranked South Dakota Women's Basketball Team (14-4, 1-3 NCC) came up short as Minnesota-Duluth (13-7, 4-2 NCC) captured a 76-71 North Central Conference victory on Thursday night at Romano Gym in Duluth, Minn.

UMD ended a two-game losing streak to USD and won its second straight NCC game and sixth straight home game. The Coyotes fell to 1-3 in the NCC and 14-4 overall this season.

South Dakota was led in scoring by junior forward Ashley Robinette (South Sioux City, Neb.), who had a season-high 20 points. Robinette hit 5-of-7 field goals, including 2-of-2 from three-point range. Robinette, who made all eight of her free throws, reached double figures for the 35th time in her career and eighth time this season. In addition, she scored 20 points for the 11th time in her career. Robinette also had five rebounds and two assists. Junior guard Jeana Hoffman (Mitchell, S.D.) added 14 points, including 4-of-10 from three-point range. Sophomore forward Bridget Yoerger (Hinton, Iowa) provided eight points and a team-high nine rebounds. Junior guard Shannon Daly (Groton, S.D.) had eight points, six assists and four rebounds.

The Coyotes hit 50 percent from the field on 26-of-52 shooting, including 8-of-24 (33.3 percent) from three-point range. USD was 11-of-14 from the free throw line for 78.6 percent.

Katie Winkelman paced UMD with a game-high 24 points and 10 rebounds. Katy Freeman added 15 points and Justine Axtell had 14 points. UMD hit 44.2 percent from the field on 23-of-52 shooting. The Bulldogs made 4-of-14 from three-point range for 28.6 percent and 26-of-34 from the foul line for 76.5 percent. UMD held a 34-29 rebound advantage.

The Coyotes cut a nine-point deficit (70-61, 2:33, 2nd half) to three points (74-71) with seven seconds to play but UMD's Allison Paully sank a pair of free throws to quell USD's rally.

The Bulldogs jumped to a 15-2 lead as USD was able to score just two points in the first 6:10 of the game. The Coyotes pulled within 19-9 at the 10:15 mark when Jenna Hoffman (Mitchell, S.D.) hit a basket. Later, Yoerger scored inside at the 4:42 mark to reduce the deficit to 25-17. The Bulldogs were able to maintain the seven-point advantage and took a 31-24 lead at the halftime break.

The Coyotes roared out of the halftime break on an 11-4 run and Robinette's three-point basket tied the game at 35-35 at the 15:57 mark. However, the Coyotes were unable to take the lead and UMD answered with a 22-15 run over the next seven minutes to take a 57-50 lead with 8:34 to play in the game. From there, USD played catch-up the rest of the game. A basket by Jenna Hoffman, who scored eight points and had five rebounds, kept the margin at seven points (64-57) with 5:07 to play. Two foul shots by Winkelman provided UMD with a 70-61 lead with 2:33 left in the game. With 50 seconds left, Jasmine Mosley (Bellevue, Neb.) scored a basket to cut the deficit to 74-69. Then, Robinette scored inside with seven seconds to play as USD trimmed the margin to three points at 74-71. However, Paully hit two free throws and USD ran out of time.

Next for the Coyotes is a NCC road game against Minnesota State (13-7, 1-4 NCC) on Saturday at the Taylor Center in Mankato, Minn., with game time set for 6 p.m. MSU dropped a 76-68 decision on Thursday to top-ranked North Dakota (21-1, 5-0 NCC).