Senior Taylor Mann (Castle Dale, Utah/Emery) scored a season-high 16 points to lead three Storm players in double-figures, but Dixie State could not overcome a big Western State Colorado fourth-quarter rally in dropping a 68-59 decision Friday afternoon in the opening game of the Colorado Mesa-hosted Holiday Inn Airport Thanksgiving Classic in Grand Junction, Colo.

The Storm (0-4) led 34-32 at the half after freshman guard Tramina Jordan (Las Vegas, Nev./Centennial) nailed a 3-pointer just before the horn. DSU held a 12-7 lead in the first quarter, using a 10-2 run to erase an early 5-2 deficit. The Mountaineers (1-0) came back with five-straight points and took a slim 18-17 at the end of the stanza. Mann tallied six points of her 10 points first-half points in a closely-contested second quarter, which featured three ties and five lead changes.

Dixie State extended its lead to 38-33 early in the third period on an Ashlee Burge (Riverton, Utah/Herriman) jumper and a pair of Mann free throws, but the Mountaineers came back with five unanswered points to knot the score at 38-38 as Western State held the Storm scoreless for nearly four minutes.

Junior guard Aliya Davis (Everett, Wash./Woodcreek) broke the Storm's drought with trey at the three-minute mark of the frame, while Chermayne Moore (Pinole, Calif./Hercules) and Mann added a pair of lay-ins, and the Storm headed to the fourth quarter with a 45-41 advantage.

DSU then started to pull away as Moore opened the final period with consecutive 3-pointers to give the Storm a double-digit lead at 51-41 with 8:27 to play. Following a timeout, the Mountaineers mounted their final charge, outscoring DSU 14-1 over the span of five minutes to reclaim the lead at 55-52. WSCU forced two DSU miscues while the Storm missed six shots over that span.

Mann finally ended the dry spell with a jumper at the 2:59 mark to pull DSU to within 55-54, but Western State answered with eight-straight points to push the lead to 63-54 with 46 seconds to play. WSCU then hit 5-of-8 free throws down the stretch in closing the game with a decisive 27-8 run to clinch the win.

"We've got to learn how to close out games," DSU Head Coach Jenny Thigpin said. "We need to get stops when we need them, then capitalize on the the other end. Turnovers are continuing to hurt us and are taking us out of the game in the fourth quarter."

Mann hit 6-of-11 from the field and co-led the Storm six rebounds before fouling out in the final moments, while Moore poured in 11 points and Davis finished with 10. After shooting 40 percent in the opening half, DSU hit just 8-of-31 (.258) from the field in the second half to finish the game at 32.1 percent (18-of-56). DSU was outrebounded 45-38, including a 12-8 clip on the offensive glass, and was done in by 24 turnovers.

Taylor Long scored 15 of her game-high 25 points during Western State's decisive fourth-quarter run, including a pair of back-breaking treys that sparked the Mountaineer rally. WCSU hit on 36.1 percent of its shots (22-of-61).

Dixie State will close out play at the Classic Saturday with a match-up against the host Colorado Mesa Mavericks at 5 p.m (MT).