DUBUQUE, Iowa – The University of Dubuque women's basketball team tipped-off the 2020-21 season and the Justin Smith era on Sunday afternoon, where a furious, late rally came up just short as the Spartans fell to Edgewood, 74-69.

After an even first quarter of play that UD down 16-14 after a quarter, the Spartan offense went cold, shooting just 28.5% in the second and third quarters as the Eagles would outscore them 41-25 over that period to put the Spartans in a hole.

An Edgewood layup with 6:35 left in the game put Edgewood up 22 points and looked to have seal a lopsided win for the Eagles, However the Spartans had other plans. The UD defense cranked up the intensity and started stringing together stops and the offense began clicking for the first time since the first quarter and the Spartans were suddenly within 10 points with 2:45.

UD pulled within five with 42 seconds to play and had a chance to get within one score but splitting a pair of free throws with 17 seconds got them within four points, the closest they would get. Sophomore Tabria Thomas led the offensive charge with a game-high 26 points on an efficient 10-14 shooting from the field.

After Thomas' 26 points, Miah Smith, Kathleen Mathias and Jordan Fischer all followed up with eight points each. Miah Smith just missed out on a double-double as she hauled in a game-high 13 rebounds to go with her eight points.

The Spartans return to action with a 2:00 tip off on Wednesday against Northwestern (MN).