GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- North Dakota scored 14 unanswered points in the second half, pulling away from the University of South Dakota 27-12 at the Alerus Center here Saturday.

The victory in the home opener for the Fighting Sioux spoiled a record-setting day for South Dakota quarterback Noah Shepard.

Shepard, a senior from Thornton, Colo., became USD's career touchdown pass leader with a nine-yard strike to Ben Oberle early in the second quarter. Shepard now has 65 touchdown passes, one more than Wesley Beschorner, now the Coyotes' offensive coordinator.

North Dakota, now 2-2 overall, clung to a 13-12 halftime lead in the Great West Conference opener for both teams. The Fighting Sioux, though, opened the second half with a 12-play 80-yard drive that took 5:44 and ended with a 12-yard touchdown pass from Jake Landry to Mitch Sutton.

The Coyotes then drove to the North Dakota 29 but Shepard was intercepted and it led to the final touchdown, a one-yard run by Mitch Sutton. USD had one last gasp, driving inside the Fighting Sioux one-yard line before Shepard was unable to get the ball into the end zone on three straight attempts and turned it over on downs.

Shepard was 14-for-27 for 173 yards while Isaac Newton rushed for 74 yards and a touchdown and Chris Ganious had 58 rushing yards. Tom Flanagan was USD's leading receiver with five catches for 61 yards.

North Dakota's Landry was 16-for-25 for 270 yards while Sutton caught two touchdown passes and ran for another.

The loss left South Dakota with a 3-2 overall mark.

North Dakota and South Dakota have met 90 times since 1903, including every year since 1946. USD's last victory here came during the 1985 season.

The Fighting Sioux returned home after losses at Texas Tech (38-13) and Stephen F. Austin (65-31), sandwiched around a 27-20 win at Northwestern State.

South Dakota resumes Great West Conference action on Saturday, hosting UC Davis for Dakota Days.

N. Dakota 27, South Dakota 12

South Dakota 6 6 0 0 - 12

North Dakota 7 6 7 7 - 27

First Quarter

USD: Isaac Newton 1 run (kick failed) 5:00

UND: Mitch Sutton 2 run (Brandon Hellevang kick) 3:39

Second Quarter

USD: Ben Oberle 9 pass from Noah Shepard (kick failed) 14:55

UND: Jarrel Davis 13 pass from Jake Landry (run failed) 11:07

Third Quarter

UND: Mitch Sutton 12 pass from Landry (Hellevang kick) 9:16

Fourth Quarter

UND: Sutton 1 run (Hellevang kick) 9:43

TEAM STATISTICS

USD UND

First downs 20 22

Rushes-yards 37-201 38-184

Passing yards 173 270

Passes 14-27-1 16-25-0

Total plays-yards 64-374 63-454

Punts-average 3-41.0 2-36.5

Fumbles-lost 1-0 0-0

Penalties-yards 7-64 9-68

Possession time 30:45 29:15

3rd down conversions 6-12 8-12

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: South Dakota - Isaac Newton 11-74, Chris Ganious 13-58, Noah Shepard 12-47, Tom Flanagan 1-22. North Dakota - Mitch Sutton 29-190, Team 1-(-1), Jarrel Davis 5-(-1), Jake Landry 3-(-4).

PASSING: South Dakota - Noah Shepard 14-27-1-173. North Dakota - Jake Landry 16-25-0-270.

RECEIVING: South Dakota - Tom Flanagan 5-61, Ben Oberle 2-53, London Landry 2-25, Chris Ganious 2-17, Mitch Mohr 1-10, Will Powell 1-8, Erik Helland 1-(-1). North Dakota - Ismael Bamba 6-141, Ryan Konrath 6-77, Noah Dombrovski 1-17, Jarrel Davis 1-13, Ryan Dressler 1-10.