GRAND FORKS, N.D. - The Mavericks' winning streak was cut short Thursday night when they lost a 63-65 nail biter to North Dakota in the first game of their three-game road trip. 

Omaha had won three consecutive games heading into tonight, but now they dip to 8-8 on the season and 3-2 in Summit League play, while the Fighting Hawks improve to 10-6 overall and 3-3 in the conference. 

Leaders For Omaha 
For the second time this season, Kennedi Grant was Omaha's leading scorer with 12 points. She also led the team with five assists and was also tied with Grace Cave for the team lead in rebounds with seven. 

As for Cave, she is now only 11 points away from setting a new career-high in single-season points with 160 after scoring four points tonight. She also recorded a steal and two assists to set new career-highs in both with 31 and 46, respectively.

Aaliyah Stanley became the first Maverick of the season to top 200 points as she turned in another double-digit performance as she scored 11 points, shooting 3-for-5 from behind the arc. In her last four games, Stanley has scored 86 points and picked up 21 rebounds.

In addition to pacing the Mavericks with six defensive rebounds, Elena Pilakouta is on the verge of reaching 200 points as well after scoring 11 tonight, shooting 5-for-8 (.625) to give her 192 on the year. This is the 12th time this season she has scored double-digits. Perhaps more importantly, though, is that Pilakouta now has 969 points in her career, putting her on a direct course to become the 27th Maverick in history and fourth in the Division I era to join the 1000 point club.

Leaders for North Dakota
The Fighting Hawks were led by Kacie Borowicz tonight, who scored 18 points and had six assists. Rakiyah Beal also reached double-digits with 10 points and led the team with seven total rebounds.

Team Stats 
The Mavericks firmly outshot the Fighting Hawks in every category, besting them in FG% (37.9%, 22-for-58 vs. 34.8%, 24-for-69), 3-PT FG% (35.0%, 7-for-20 vs. 26.1%, 6-for-23), and FT% (75.0%, 12-for-16 vs. 61.1%, 11-for-18). 

Where North Dakota held the edge was in rebounds, topping Omaha 44-42, and steals, leading nine to four.

Inside the First Quarter 
As has happened many times as of late, the Mavericks started off a bit slow to begin the first quarter, only to get hot and take control of the court towards the middle. Down 8-4 after the first four minutes, Stanley sparked a 5-0 scoring run with her first three of the day on the inbound from Cave at 5:45. Morgann Gardner then had her first bucket of the day to make it 9-8.

After the Fighting Hawks got back on the board, Gardner responded for Omaha with two more field goals, showing off her vertical skill when she jumped above two UND defenders to tip in a missed shot from Grant at 3:51. Grant would later give the Mavericks an 18-14 lead, making two from the line before driving in a layup with just under a minute left.

Inside the Second Quarter 
Stanley kicked off the second period with a huge three-pointer that she managed to just arc over the outstretched arms of a leaping Maggie Manson. Pilakouta followed up with three points of her own on a layup and a free throw to make it 24-18 Mavericks. Omaha's defense was superb through the first four minutes, blanking the Fighting Hawks with Grant pulling down two defensive boards and picking up a steal during this time.

Things flipped over the next three minutes, however, as North Dakota went on a 6-0 run leading in the media timeout and later retaking the lead 27-25 on a 3-PT FG from Rakiyah Beal. 

Over the final three minutes, though, fortunes would reverse once again as the Mavericks nailed three shots in a row from behind the arc to make it 34-36 to close out the half. Jaylen Townsend jump started the rally with her first three-pointer of the day with 3:13 remaining, followed by two from Akili Felici in just 40 seconds.

Inside the Third Quarter 
Polina Nikulochkina had an incredibly gutsy basket to open up scoring for the Mavericks when she drove through the lane and threw herself past multiple defenders towards the net, somehow managing to get the ball in as she fell to the ground. Cave later tied up the game 38-38 with her first basket of the day at 7:49.

After the Fighting Hawks came back out front, Grant got Omaha within one after draining a shot from deep and nailing a pair of free throws to make it 44-45 with 2:12 on the clock. Though North Dakota tried to pull away, the Mavericks were not going to let them as Nikulochkina kept it a one-point game with another miraculous basket after spontaneously flinging one in from the key with just 12 seconds left.

Inside the Fourth Quarter 
Nikulochkina would carry her momentum into the final quarter as she quickly gave Omaha back the lead on another aggressive layup to make it 50-49. From there, both teams would trade leads as Pilakouta made it 54-52 a couple minutes later, only for North Dakota to pull back ahead just a minute after that.

Following the final media timeout, Pilakouta gave Omaha a 58-56 advantage on back-to-back buckets. Just like before, though, UND tied immediately tied it 58-58, which was superseded by Stanley's third three-pointer of the night to put the Mavericks ahead yet again. After a clutch steal by Grant with 20 seconds left, it seemed like the game was all but over. However, a late out of bounds call on Stanley gave the Fighting Hawks the ball back with 15 seconds left, allowing them to score the game winning basket.

Next Up 
The Mavericks continue their road trip this Saturday when they take the short drive down to Fargo for a 1 p.m. game with North Dakota State.