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CITY, N.D.(NewDakota.com) The Vikings men’s and women’s basketball teams returned to W.E. Osmon Fieldhouse on Wednesday night for a North Star Athletic Association match up with Dakota State.
In the women’s game the Vikings picked up their second straight win 62-45. The Vikings men would drop their third straight North Star game to the Trojans 73-61.
Women: Valley City State 62 Dakota State 45
The Vikings got out to slow start going into the half time break trailing to Dakota State by three points. However, in the second half Valley City outscored the Trojans 36-22 to claim a dominating victory. In the second half, the Vikings shot 41 percent from the field after hitting just 30 percent of their shots in the opening period.
The Vikings were led by Steph Pedersen who tallied 12 points and had 3 steals in the game. Coming off the bench, freshmen Lexi Lennon posted eight points for the Vikings. While the Lady T’s have found strong success in the post, Valley City held the Trojans leading scorers to just 16 point combined.
The Win advances Valley City State to 14-7 over all with a 2-1 record in the conference.
Men: Valley City State 61 Dakota State 73
The Vikings Men struggled to finish all night hitting just 38 percent of their shots from the field. The Trojans took advantage of the Vikings problems cashing in on just over 45 percent of their shots.
Despite the loss, the Vikings got a strong performance from sophomore Ellwood Ellenson who posted a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds. Dakota States Adam Hofer led all players in the game with 19 points.
The Vikings loss drops the men to 10-12 on the season. They are now 0-3 in the eastern Dakota Conference. Dakota State is now tied with Jamestown for the conference lead at 3-0 in the league.
The Vikings are back at W.E. Osmon Fieldhouse on Saturday when they host Dickinson State. The women open up play at 4:00pm with the men’s game to follow. You can hear both games on 1490 KOVC.