BEMIDJI, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris women's basketball team fought hard with NCAA Division II foe Bemidji State University until the fourth quarter in a 71-50 loss to the Beavers on Saturday afternoon.

Bemidji State opened up a 10-point lead after the first quarter as they looked to put the Cougars away early. Minnesota Morris knotted the score up at 7-7 on a Malory Anderson steal and layup, but the Beavers responded with a 6-0 run and went up by as many as 13 points before a Maddy Grove and-one layup in the final 30 seconds of the quarter.

Midway through the second quarter, six straight points from Grace Perry brought Minnesota Morris all the way back to knot the score up at 32-32. Later on, a Lexus Redthunder three-pointer got the Cougars to within a point before Bemidji State went to the break holding a 41-36 advantage.

In the opening two minutes of the third quarter, buckets from Grove and Redthunder pulled Minnesota Morris back within a point at 41-40. The Beavers rose to the occasion with a 7-0 run to keep the Cougars at bay and took a 55-47 lead into the final quarter.

The offense went missing for the Cougars in the final 10 minutes as Bemidji State outscored Minnesota Morris, 16-3, in the fourth quarter. It wasn't until the last two minutes that the Cougars got on the board with Alice Wilkinson hitting a jumper and later adding a free throw for their scoring output in the frame.

Grove was the lone double-figure scorer for Minnesota Morris with 14. Anderson and Claire Stark each finished with seven rebounds. Redthunder had seven points and a pair of blocks.

Minnesota Morris heads back on the road on Tuesday night with a trip to Mayville State University for a 5:30 p.m. start.