Riverside—The UC Riverside Women's Basketball Team's fourth quarter rally came up short, as they fell, 61-55, to South Dakota Friday evening at the SRC Arena.

Réjane Vérin led UCR with a season-high 23 points, 14 of which came in the first half. Allison Arens paced the Coyotes with 16 points on 6-9 shooting in staking South Dakota to a, 35-32, advantage at the break.

The third period saw the visitors outscore the blue and gold 13-4 over the first four plus minutes. Still trailing by 12 with the score 53-41, the Highlanders would hold the Coyotes scoreless for the remainder of the quarter, however UC Riverside tallied just three points to close the gap to nine—a free-throw from Michelle Curry and a layup from Clémence Lefebvre.

To start the fourth and final stanza, Vérin outscored South Dakota 5-0 to make a four-point game, 53-49. The Yotes' cold shooting continued as they failed to scratch until the 3:42 mark, which ended the drought that lasted over nine minutes of game time going back to the third.

UC Riverside trailed 57-50 with 3:08 to play, when they got a jumper from Vérin and an old-fashion three-point play from Simone DeCoud to make it two-point game.

That would be the final bucket for the Highlanders, who would hold South Dakota to just eight points in the period, but missed their final five attempts down the stretch in falling 61-55.

UC Riverside was out-rebounded, 43-27, for the game, 11-7 on the offensive glass. Neither team shot well from distance, as the Highlanders were 3-16, and the Coyotes were 5-22.

Skyler Lewis pulled down eight boards in 15 minutes of action, and Curry dished six assists, while DeCoud finished with nine points in the loss.

Arens would finish with a game-high 27 to lead Coyotes, who also got 13 points from Jaycee Bradley as well as 10 rebounds apiece from Bridget Arens and Ciara Duffy.

The Highlanders will be back in action Tuesday, when they host Grand Canyon University at 7 pm.