RAPID CITY - Pierre overcame a late Rapid City Stevens lead to post a 65-61 non-conference girls basketball win over the Raiders on Saturday at Carold Heier Gymnasium.

Pierre had to dig deep after Stevens led 61-55 with 2:11 left.

"We were getting beat. Stevens deserved to win more than we did," said Pierre coach Lisa Kannegieter.

But the Lady Govs, helped by three costly Raider turnovers, responded with a 10-0 run of their own to deny Stevens its first win in six starts.

"That gave our kids the challenge to rise up, and they really responded well over the last two minutes of the game," Kannegieter said.

Pierre's Steph Paluch scored 10 of her team-leading 16 points in the fourth quarter. Alexa Berg added eight of her 14 points in the final quarter to help seal the deal for the Lady Gov's.

Pierre's mid-court steal of an inbounds pass and two Stevens traveling calls blunted the Raiders' chances to respond in the final 22 seconds after the Lady Gov's had knotted the score at 61.

Turnovers also hurt the Raiders in the first quarter leading to a 14-5 Pierre lead.

Berg, Paluch and Tristan Rogers, also in double-figures with 12 points, were also effective on open looks from just inside the three-point arc.

"Early on we got great shots and knocked those down. After that we got great shots but couldn't knock them down. That's going to happen," Kannegieter said.

Stevens regained some ball control and also tightened its defense to climb back into the contest.

Sophomore Kaitlyn Wright gave the Raiders a short-lived first lead, 44-43, on a baseline drive to the hoop with 1:07 left in the third quarter.

The Raiders' only other glimpse of the lead until the final minutes came at the start of the fourth quarter on a basket by Amy Sykora.

The 5-foot-6 guard, one of just three seniors on the roster, led the Raiders with 20 points. Sophomore Justine Blade added nine. Junior Calli Bechtel tossed in eight points and grabbed eight rebounds to pace Stevens' 37-24 rebounding advantage.

"I'm really happy with the girls' performance and perseverance," said Raider coach Michelle Klapprodt. "The team I saw today was a complete different team."

"At 0-6, we could just roll over, but we keep getting stronger every game," she said.

The Raiders return to play at Sioux Falls Lincoln and Sioux Falls Washington next weekend.