BIRMINGHAM, Ala.— After battling back with a third-quarter surge, Northern Colorado saw a last-second game-tying 3-pointer bounce off the rim as Samford defended its home court with a 69-66 win over Northern Colorado on Wednesday. 

The contest closes out the non-conference portion of the schedule for Northern Colorado (7-4). The Bears will start Big Sky play the next time they take the court with Weber State arriving in Greeley for a Dec. 29 clash inside the Bank of Colorado Arena. 

UNC jumped out to an early lead by doubling up the Bulldogs 14-7 thanks to 3-pointers by Gabi Fields and Delaynie Byrne. 

Moments later, Samford (5-9) returned with a spree of its own and eventually created a 35-26 lead heading into the final moments of the half. In the final possession before the break, Hannah Simental converted from beyond the arc to pull the Bears to within six. 

With 28 points in the third, the Bears nearly equaled its first-half point total to retake the lead at 51-50 following another big Simental 3-pointer. 

A layup by Fields and a pair of Simental free throws extended the UNC edge to 57-50. From there, however, the Bulldogs clamped down on defense to hold UNC to a single basket over the final four minutes of play to reverse the lead and hold off the road team in the final seconds. 

Simental closed out the game with a team-high 16 points while Averee Kleinhans contributed with 15 points, six rebounds, and five assists. Byrne and Aniah Hall grabbed six rebounds each to help the Bears to a 32-31 advantage on the glass.