Trailing by three points with eight seconds remaining Nebraska Wesleyan missed a lay-up and failed to tie the game as Dakota Wesleyan held off the Prairie Wolves, 65-62, in GPAC women's basketball action on Sunday afternoon (Feb. 12) at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, S.D.

NWU made a fierce comeback as they trailed by as many as 16 points in the first half and 13 points at halftime with only 18 first half points (31-18).

The Prairie Wolves got to within four points twice within the second half then climbed to within one point. At the 4:05 mark a technical foul was called on the DWU coach and Shea Rasmussen stepped up to make two free throws to make the score 59-58.

After a layup by Dakota Wesleyan on the other end, Mallory Shanahan answered right back with an offensive putback to make the score 61-60. DWU converted two free throws to go back up by three points.

Neither team was able to score on the next two possessions as the game entered the final minute. With 13.6 seconds left Rasmussen drove the right side of the lane and hit a lay-up to make the score 63-62.

The Prairie Wolves immediately fouled and the Tigers converted both free throws.

NWU tried to setup two different plays but the only available shot was a drive to the basket that was missed as time expired.

Rasmussen led the Prairie Wolves with 18 points, scoring 16 in the second half. Shea moved up to 3rd on the NWU career scoring charts.

Payton Everett came off the bench to score 10 points with two 3-pointers and Melissa Bennett also had 10 for NWU.

Nebraska Wesleyan will close out the 2011-12 season on Wednesday night with a trip to Crete, Neb., to face Doane College.