RAPID CITY, S.D. – Mikylah Espinosa drained a clutch, go-ahead  3-pointer with 10 seconds to go, but MSU Denver was called for a foul with four seconds left and South Dakota Mines sank two free throws to beat the Roadrunners 63-62 Saturday in women's college basketball.
 
MSU Denver shot 60 percent from the field in the second half, including 10 of 11 for 90.9 percent in the third quarter as guards Espinosa, Mariana Silva Pereira and Brooklynn Jones slicked their way through the lane for layups, while getting inside support from Brianna Sealy, Amanda Byrnes and Jackie Pippett.
 
But in the end the Roadrunners were unable to pick up the road victory.
 
MSU Denver dropped to 2-7 overall and 1-3 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, while South Dakota Mines improved to 1-8 and 1-3.
 
"It shouldn't have come down to the last play like that," MSU Denver coach Tanya Haave said. "But we didn't want to foul there and we picked them up tighter than we had wanted."
 
Espinosa led the Roadrunners with 13 points, while Sealy had 12 points and six rebounds and Silva Pereira and Jones each scored 10.
 
"Mikylah really came through in the second half for us," Haave said. "She started taking good shots, and as a result she didn't miss many."
 
Though making just 23.5 percent from 3-point range (4 of 17), the Roadrunners were 20 for 34 (58.8 percent) inside the arc.
 
Despite outshooting South Dakota Mines, the Roadrunners had 18 turnovers that led to 18 points and allowed 13 offensive rebounds that the Hardrockers turned into 16 second-half points.
 
"We started slow (trailing 12-2 early), gave up too many second-chance points and had too many unforced turnovers, all things you can't do on the road," Haave said. "When we were running and moving the ball and picking and choosing what we wanted, taking our time, we were getting good shots. But we're having some of the same turnovers again and again and we have to improve on that."