CROOKSTON, Minn. -- The Minnesota State University Moorhead women's basketball team cut a 19-point deficit to five in the final three minutes but came up short in its comeback effort in a 79-71 loss to Minnesota Crookston on Saturday night in Crookston, Minn.

MSUM ends the regular season at 15-11 overall and 14-8 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference while the Golden Eagles improved to 13-13 overall and 12-10 in the league. Despite the loss, MSUM is the No. 2 seed out of the north division and will host Upper Iowa at 6 p.m. on Wednesday night to open the tournament.

Junior forward Heather Strese had 18 points and nine rebounds for MSUM while sophomore guard Natalie Van Wyhe had a career-high 16 points to go with four assists. Redshirt freshman forward Drew Sannes had eight points and nine rebounds.

MSUM shot 41.1 percent (23-of-56) for the game compared to 38.7 percent (24-of-62) for the Golden Eagles. UMC hit 21-of-24 free throws (87.5 percent) compared to 15-of-20 (75 percent) for MSUM. The teams were even in rebounding at 37 apiece.

The Dragons were down 61-42 with 12:18 left in the game but fought their way back over the next nine minutes with a 24-10 run to cut the lead to 71-66. Four different players scored points during that run: Van Wyhe (nine points), Strese (six), sophomore guard Morgan Banasik (five) and Sannes (four).  Banasik hit a pair of free throws with 2:42 left to bring MSUM within five.

MSUM got no closer, however as the Golden Eagles iced the game from the foul line in the final minute.

Facing a 15-10 deficit in the first half, MSUM outscored UMC 21-4 over the next six minutes to surge into a 31-19 lead with 5:09 left in the first half. Strese sparked the Dragons with eight points during that stretch while Van Wyhe and freshman forward Cassidy Thorson had five each.

The Golden Eagles responded with an 18-0 run of their own to close the half and take a 37-31 lead into the break. MSUM cut the lead to four early in the second half but the Golden Eagles pulled away, building a 61-42 lead before the Dragons started their comeback.

Junior guard Meghan Roehrich had nine points for MSUM while Thorson had eight.

MSUM hosts Upper Iowa at 6 p.m. on Wednesday at Nemzek Fieldhouse to open the NSIC/Sanford Health tournament.

Steve d'Eustachio Stat of the Game: Tonight marks only the third time in the past 23 meetings that the Dragons have lost to the Golden Eagles dating back to their 69-56 loss in Crookston on Jan. 6, 2004.