VALLEY CITY, N.D. - Minnesota Morris' comeback effort came up one point short as the Cougars fell, 65-64, in a women's basketball non-conference tilt at Valley City State Saturday.

The Cougars entered the fourth quarter trailing by 5 at 50-45. Over three minutes into the final stanza, that lead grew to 9 at 59-50 before the Cougars staged their comeback. Elli Stevenson started a Cougar 10-0 run with a jumper in the paint. Baskets from Bailey Miller and Kendra Raths cut the deficit to 3 then back-to-back buckets from Stevenson gave the Cougars a 60-59 lead with 2:28 remaining. It turned into a free throw shooting contest over the final two minutes as all the remaining points came from the foul line. The last two free throws came from VCSU's Lexi Lennon who gave the Vikings a 65-64 lead with 15 seconds left. UMM had a chance to win in the closing seconds, but a go-ahead jumper was no good and the Vikings held on for the win.

Raths had a near double-double with 22 points and nine rebounds. Mauren Thiesen scored 19 points and Stevenson added 10.

Minnesota Morris (0-7) kicks off the conference portion of their schedule Wednesday against Crown at Jim Gremmels Court at 7:30 p.m.