RAPID CITY, S.D. – Minot State University never got the stop it needed down the stretch.

South Dakota Mines had all the answers in the second half and most of the time it was a 3-pointer. The Hardrockers hit 12 of 28 3s in the game in a 76-68 upset in Dakota Athletic Conference women's basketball play Friday at Goodell Gymnasium.

Tristan Burnett and Ariel Granillo hit key 3-pointers in the final three minutes to preserve the Hardrockers' lead after MSU missed on long range shots of its own.

The No. 17 ranked Beavers (3-3 DAC, 12-5 overall) kept cutting the Mines lead to a single possession, but couldn't get a big basket to fall or a stop on the defense end. MSU had two golden chances to tie the game with less than three minutes to play but missed on both shots. The Beavers were just 4 of 25 from beyond the arc and were outscored 36-12 on 3s.

“We need to be grittier on defense and play with an attitude,” said MSU head coach Sheila Green Gerding. “There are times when you offense might go stale, but you can always play defense and play hard.”

Mines wasn't very good in any other aspect of the game outside of 3-point shooting. The Hardrockers (3-3, 9-11) were outrebounded 52-37 and a whopping 25-8 on the offensive end, turned the ball over 16 times, and hit 14 of 25 free throws in the game. SDM, however, hit 6 of 6 in the final minute of the game.

MSU started fast, leading 9-1 on a Carly Boag (Fr., F, Tamworth, Australia) and 30-19 on a 3-pointer by Kelly Pankratz (G, Malta, Mont.). Pankratz tripled her season average in four superb minutes, scoring nine points during an 11-0 run to get to 30-19.

“We need to take away the positive and get better,” Green Gerding said.

But the Hardrockers battled back to trail just 35-31 at halftime and took a 44-37 lead on a 3-pointer by Hillary Hawkins four minutes into the second half.

Mines had balanced scoring as five players reached double figures. Granillo hit four 3s on her way to 19 points, Hawkins knocked down four 3s as well for 14 points, Jerika Ihnen added 14 and Burnett and Shalane Hampp added 10 each.

Sacarra Molina (So., G, Hinsdale, Mont.) led the Beavers with 16 points and added six rebounds. Boag scored 12 points and pulled down six rebounds, while Pankratz finished with 11 points, nine rebounds and three assists. MSU actually hit one more field goal than Mines, but knocked down just 26 of 75 field goals in the game.

“We had a tough time finding the basket and our defense didn't pull us through,” Green Gerding said.

MSU will have a difficult task of rebounding from the loss as it travels to Spearfish, S.D., for a top 25 matchup with No. 5 Black Hills State beginning at 4 p.m. (MT).