FORT COLLINS, Colo. - South Dakota State broke open tie game with three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning Saturday in softball action at the Colorado State Invitational and then held off Utah Valley for the 6-5 win.

The Wolverines plated a pair of runs in the seventh inning on an RBI double by Amanda Perez and an RBI single by Cherylyn McGraw to pull within a run, and had two runners on base when SDSU recorded the final out.

McGraw led the Wolverines with three hits and two RBIs, while Megan Gardner and Perez had two hits each. Perez and Mandy Tapia recorded RBIs.

In the first game of the day, the Wolverines trailed 10-0 after five innings before losing 12-6 to North Dakota State, a team that went to the NCAA Tournament last year.

Perez led off UVU's five-run sixth with her second homer of the season. After McGraw singled, Maggie Christianson walked and Samantha Telarroja singled, Megan Kisner recorded a three-run triple. Later in the frame, Tapia drove in a run with a single to center.

After NDSU plated two runs in the top of the seventh, Kisner drove in her fourth run of the game with a single to score Christianson, who reached on a fielder's choice.

Perez went 4-for-4 against the Bison, while McGraw, Telarroja and Kisner had two hits each.

"Like I said Friday, we need to do the small, basic things better. The higher level of competition we play the more significant the small things are. In our last game it was the difference between us winning and losing," UVU head coach Todd Fairbourne said. "We are hitting the ball better, but we need to improve in all phases of the game."

For the day, the Wolverines tallied 24 hits and defensively committed five errors.

The Wolverines (3-9) wrap up the CSU Invite Sunday with an 11 a.m. contest with North Dakota State.