Orem, Utah - For the second consecutive day sophomore forward Amber Hegge led the South Dakota women's basketball team in scoring, but this time the Coyotes lost a 70-60 game to No. 1 seed North Dakota in the semifinals of the Great West Conference Tournament on Friday in the McKay Center.

After trailing by double digits early in the second half, USD climbed within eight with under three minutes left, but free throws down the stretch by UND iced the game. USD ended the season 15-16 overall, while UND improved to 17-13.

"We just needed the ball to go in the basket [in the second half]," USD Head Coach Ryun Williams said. "We had some really good looks in the high post and had some corner threes. Give our kids credit for getting those shots, but in semifinal games like this those are shots you have to make."

Hegge (Crofton, Neb.) tweaked her ankle on the opening tip, but showed a gutty performance with a team-high 16 points, four rebounds and three blocks. Senior forward Kara Iverson (Yankton, S.D.) also played well for a second consecutive day with 13 points, including four threes, and five assists, while sophomore guard Annie Roche (Vermillion, S.D.) contributed 12 points. USD shot 36 percent (21-of-58) for the game, including 35 percent (10-of-29) for threes, while UND hit 38 percent (21-of-55) and 33 percent (10-of-30) beyond the arc. The Coyotes went 8-of-9 from the free-throw line and UND connected on 18-of-20 attempts.

"Stat-wise it was pretty even across the board," Williams said. "The foul line was an advantage for them because they were aggressive. They were the aggressor tonight and we played on our heels just a little too much."

North Dakota opened the game 4-of-5, including three treys, to open an 11-2 advantage through the first five minutes. The Coyotes battled back with five straight points from Hegge and a bucket from senior forward Jasmine Mosley (Bellevue, Neb.) to draw within two at 13-11 with 12:50 left, but UND drove the advantage back to seven. Both teams started to heat up late in the half, as junior guard Abby Kinder (Grainger, Ind.) and Iverson hit back-to-back treys before sophomore guard Jackie Hiebert (Maple Grove, Minn.) posted four straight points and junior guard Teresa Case (Sioux Falls, S.D.) hit a three of her own.

"I think the demeanor of our team changed a little bit during the first half until we kind of knew [Hegge] was going to be okay and we could play her," Williams said. "We just didn't get off to the greatest start. UND banged home a bunch of threes early and that just got us really tentative."

The Fighting Sioux were just as hot, though, with UND hitting four straight treys to extend its lead to 33-24 at the 4:19 mark. The squads exchanged shots from deep down the stretch, before North Dakota took a 39-30 advantage into halftime. Roche had seven points in the first half and Case chipped in six thanks to two treys. USD shot 39 percent (11-of-28) from the floor in the half and 38 percent (6-of-16) behind the arc, while UND connected on 50 percent (13-of-26) overall and 47 percent (9-of-19) of its threes.

UND strung the lead to 13 early in the second half, but the Coyotes hung tough. Hegge hit a bucket and Iverson knocked down back-to-back treys, before a Hiebert bucket closed the gap to 50-43 at the 13:12 mark. The Fighting Sioux crafted a 12-2 run over the next seven minutes to go up 62-45, but once again the Coyotes were able to claw back into the contest.

South Dakota put on the full court press and got big on the boards to step up the pressure on the defensive end. Hegge earned five straight points before a Mosley layup and Roche free throws to cut the lead to single digits at 62-54 with 2:57 left. That was as close as the Coyotes could get though, as UND hit free throws down the stretch to ice the game. USD held the Fighting Sioux to 1-of-11 beyond the arc in the second half.