MOORHEAD, Minn. - University of Sioux Falls Women's Basketball suffered a hard-fought 53-52 loss at MSU Moorhead on Friday night, despite a double-double by Taylor Varsho. The Cougars fall to 13-4 on the season with a 7-4 record in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference competition.

Alison Klostergaard hit a 3-pointer from the right wing to break a tie and give USF a 53-50 lead after trailing for more than 26 minutes of the game. MSU Moorhead (11-3, 8-3 NSIC) got a jumper from Heather Strese to cut their deficit to one and Morgan Banasik hit a jumper with 1:35 to play, that proved to be the game-winner.

On the final possession, Varsho's corner three came up short and after corralling her own rebound, her last-second attempt fell suffered the same fate, glancing off the front of the win. Varsho notched her first double-double of the season, fourth of her career, leading USF with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

After falling behind in the opening minutes, Varsho knocked down two of her three 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to provide USF with a 6-5 lead. Amber Paden's and-one layup and free throw pushed the lead to four, and after MSUM cut their deficit to one point, Alison Klostergaard connected on a layup to put USF up three. The Dragons then finished the first quarter on a 6-2 run to hold a 14-13 lead after the first 10 minutes.

Sam Knecht and Teagan Molden answered a quarter-opening 3-pointer from MSUM with a layup and three-point field goal, respectively, the Cougars held a one-point lead. The Dragons responded with six straight points to hold a 23-18 lead and would hold off Sioux Falls's charges for a 29-23 lead at halftime.

Klostergaard was the first to strike for the Cougars with a layup a minute into the third quarter then USF scored on two of their next three possessions to trim the MSUM lead, 30-29. Two 3-pointers from the Dragons gave them an eight-point lead before Madi Robson and Varsho hit consecutive threes to get back within reach.

Another burst by MSU Moorhead pushed their lead to six points, but USF would put together their own run. Klostergaard converted a layup and free throw before she assisted on the final two USF buckets. She set up Knecht with an easy layup then found Varsho on the fast break for a layup, which gave USF a 42-41 lead entering the fourth quarter.

A defensive-minded fourth quarter saw neither team able to grab a lead larger than three points. The two teams traded buckets to open the quarter and Banasik hit a three for a two-point MSUM lead. Robson tied the game at 46-46 a minute later with a layup and Paden's free throw put USF up one.

Cassidy Thorson hit a three to put MSU Moorhead two points, but Varsho answered. Klostergaard hit her go-ahead three on the next possession, but the Cougars couldn't score in the final 3:10 of the game as Strese and Banasik hit their jumpers that provided the Dragons with the win.

Sioux Falls closes their weekend road trip with a 4 p.m. game at Northern State tomorrow, Jan. 16, in Aberdeen, S.D.