GUNNISON, Colo. --- The Western Colorado women's basketball team suffered its first loss of the season, falling to South Dakota Mines 72-68 on Tuesday at Paul Wright Gym.

The Mountaineers were off to their best start in program history at 5-0 - including a win Monday over the Hardrockers in a non-conference game.

Western (5-1 overall, 4-1 RMAC) found itself down 33-24 at the half after being outscored 19-11 in the second quarter and trailed 50-43 heading into the fourth quarter.

But the Mountaineers - who dressed only eight players - rallied as a 3-pointer by Samantha Coleman and a jumper by Mikaela Parker in the first minute of the fourth quarter quickly cut it to 50-48. Western eventually tied the game at 52-52 before a layup by Jessie Erickson in the paint with 5:05 left in the game gave the Mountaineers a 56-55 advantage.

Western led 58-57 before a 6-0 run capped by a Naomi Hidalgo 3-pointer made it 63-58 Mines (3-5, 3-4) with 3:16 left in the contest.

The Mountaineers cut the deficit to one at 69-68 with 17 seconds left and trailed by three with 14 seconds left with a chance to tie, but the game-tying 3-point attempt was off and the Mountaineers eventually fell by four.

Coleman led Western with 19 points, going 4-for-8 from 3-point range. Parker had 14 points, seven rebounds and two blocks, Erickson had 12 points and five assists while Hannah Cooper finished with 11 points, six assists and two steals.

Michaela Shaklee led Mines with 24 points, going 5-for-7 from 3-point range.

Western looks to bounce back as it hosts Colorado Christian 5 p.m. Saturday.