CROOKSTON, Minn. - University of Sioux Falls women's basketball led on the road for the majority of Friday's game at Minnesota Crookston, but a late run and clutch free throws overcame USF's lead and the Cougars dropped their first of four straight road games, 71-62. At 14-7 overall and 10-7 in the NSIC, Sioux Falls is now tied for fourth in the NSIC South Division.

Led by Sam Knecht and Taylor Varsho in the first half, USF built an eight-point lead at halftime and led for more than 30 minutes of the game and only trailed for the final 3:03. The Cougars remain in the hunt for the right to host a first-round game in the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament, but are now tied with Augustana for the No. 4 seed in the South Division.

Knecht's layup at 4:07 of the second half was her only two points of the second stanza and it was the last time the Cougars would lead, moving ahead the Golden Eagles at 53-52. Micaela Noga hit a three on the next possession and would connect on a jumper a minute later, scoring five of her 11 points in a crucial span of the game. One of the best free throw shooting teams in the NSIC and NCAA Division II, Minnesota Crookston went 12-for-12 from the line in the final minute and change of the game, securing the nine point win for UMC, which is in a position for a rematch with Sioux Falls in the conference tournament as they are fighting for a fringe host spot in the North Division.

Scoring easily in the paint gave the Cougars their lead initially as Knecht finished with 12 points, half of the Cougars points in the paint. Varsho added a pair of 3-pointers and Teagan Molden preceded a pair of Knecht Layups which gave USF a nine-point advantage, up 24-15. Alison Klostergaard was quick to move that to ten points after a UMC response, and the Cougars led 27-17 with eight minutes to play in the first half.

The Golden Eagles would scrap, and with the Cougars missing a handful of threes, UMC cut the lead to three points after Katrina Moenkedick connected on a layup, just two of her game-high 22 points. Knecht responded and Varsho scored USF's final five points to give USF their 36-28 advantage at intermission.

Sioux Falls nursed their lead in a slow open to the second half, scoring just four points in the opening six minutes. Seizing their opportunity, UMC used a pair of Moenkedick layups to get within one point at 12:47, down 42-41.

The Cougars took it as a wakeup call, and went on a 7-0 run, but Minnesota Crookston quickly countered and took their first lead since the 15:17 point of the first half. Ebony Livingston sank a pair of free throws at 4:24 to give UMC a 52-51 advantage. Knecht then hit her only field goal of the half and Noga hit her back-breaking 3-pointer for UMC to give them the lead for good. Alexa Thielman, who hit four three-point field goals and finished with 20 points, found Moenkedick under the basket for an easy bucket and USF would go empty on three-point tries the next possessions down four points.

Moenkedick and Livingston each hit all four of their free throws and Thielman and Noga went 2-for-2 each to ice the game. Molden hit her second 3-pointer of the game to cut it to five points late, but six of the 12 UMC free throws followed her miss to arrive at the 71-62 final score in favor of the home Golden Eagles.

The Cougars look to bounce back quickly with a trip to Bemidji, Minn. and a 4 p.m. date with Bemidji State tomorrow evening.