The University of Minnesota women’s basketball team came back to tie the game after trailing for most of the afternoon, but fell 72-69 at San Diego on Sunday. The Gophers (9-2) had multiple 3-point attempts to tie the game near the end, but could not get them to fall.

Kenisha Bell led the Gophers with 20 points and Gadiva Hubbard added 19. Carlie Wagner had 14 points, and Annalese Lamke contributed a career-high eight. Taiye Bello grabbed 12 rebounds.

The Toreros (6-4) shot 49.2 percent to the Gophers’ 43.3, going 6-for-15 behind the 3-point line compared to Minnesota’s 2-for-15. Sydney Williams had 25 points and seven rebounds to lead the way for the home team. Both teams had 36 rebounds.

Hubbard and Bell combined for all the Gophers’ points in the first quarter as they fell behind 19-13. The Toreros had eight second-chance points and led by as much as eight.

Wagner got on the scoreboard with a layup following a Bell steal. Minnesota’s next basket came at the 7:31 mark when Hubbard scored off a baseline out-of-bounds play to make it 22-17. San Diego went up 10, 27-17, after that. The Gophers ended the half on a 10-4 run. Lamke scored to make it 31-26, and Wagner went 1-of-2 from the line to make it 31-27 going into halftime. The Toreros outshot the Gophers 45.2 percent to 35.5 percent in the half.

The Gophers cut the deficit to two points a few times early in the third. Bell scored 10 points in the quarter. Minnesota fell behind by eight again, but cut it to 46-42 heading into the fourth. Bello came up with four points and four rebounds in the quarter.

Hubbard scored Minnesota’s first four points, then Lamke scored on consecutive possessions, including a reverse layup off a rebound. Wagner scored the team’s next four points to tie the game at 54 halfway through the quarter. The Toreros took back the lead, but the Gophers hung around. Wagner answered a Williams 3-point with one of her own to make it 66-63, USD, with 2:10 to go. But Williams made another on the next trip down the court.

Layups by Bell and Hubbard got the Gophers within one with 24 seconds left. Caroline Buhr made a pair of free throws to make it 72-69. The Gophers missed three 3-point tries, and the final few seconds ran out on the other end of the floor after a San Diego timeout.