VALLEY CITY,N.D. (VCSUVikings.com) – Valley City State used a 12-0 third-quarter run to pull away Friday night as the Vikings scored a season-high 88 points and downed Dakota State University 88-73 in a North Star Athletic Association contest.
The lead changed hands 10 times through the first 24 minutes of play, but the Vikings created some separation late in the third quarter. Hannah Schlecht’s pull-up 3-pointer from the right wing capped a 12-0 Viking run as they opened up a 58-44 advantage with 2:15 left in the third quarter. The Trojans would get no closer than 10 points the rest of the way as the Vikings totaled 49 points in the second half.
“We started attacking more instead of sitting on our heels,” VCSU head coach Vanessa Keeler-Johnson said about VCSU’s second-half offensive performance. Ever since conference play started, we’ve been talking that we need to be in attack mode offensively, take shots earlier in the shot clock and look to score more. We did a good job of that in the second half.”
Valley City State improves to 6-9 overall and 3-1 in the North Star Athletic Association. Dakota State drops to 2-14 overall and 1-3 in the NSAA. The Vikings will host No. 24-ranked Bellevue University for a big match up Sunday at 1 p.m. The Bruins are currently 3-1 in the conference after losing to Mayville State University on Friday night. Valley City State, Bellevue, Mayville and Presentation College are all currently tied for the conference lead with a 3-1 record.
Six Vikings scored in double figures Friday night, including a game-high 16 points from Dierra Diegel. The Viking senior made four 3-pointers in the contest, highlighting Valley City State’s balanced attack. Hannah Schlecht and Mackenzie Huber each poured in 13 points, and Huber added 13 rebounds for a big double-double. Alexis Bentz and Alli Vandal scored 12 points each, and Gabby Martin added 10 points for the Vikings. Annie Swenson had eight points and four assists off the bench.
Viking senior center Kaitlin Connor totaled three blocks on Friday as she tied the VCSU career record of 96 blocks held by Loni Hall. Connor added seven rebounds and four points.
The Trojans also employed a balanced attack Friday with five players scoring in double figures. McKenzie Hermanson led the way with 15 points, all of which came on 3-pointers. Cassie Hand made three 3-pointers and added 14 points off the bench. Dakota State kept itself in the game with hot 3-point shooting. The Trojans made eight of their first 17 3-point attempts and finished the game shooting 12-for-29 from deep.
Taylor Volesky scored 12 points for the Trojans, and both Alexis Robson and Alexi Evans had 10 points each.
The teams went back-and-forth throughout an entertaining first half that featured eight ties and eight lead changes. Dakota State made three first-quarter 3’s as they led 21-17 after the first 10 minutes of play. The teams traded leads throughout most of the second quarter before the Vikings closed the half with a 9-2 run and took a 39-36 lead into the locker room.
Dakota State made six first-half 3’s and sank two more early in the third quarter, going 8-for-17 from 3-point range through the first 22 minutes of play. Valley City State ended the third quarter with a 60-49 advantage, outscoring Dakota State 21-13 in the quarter.
“In the second half, we definitely picked it up on the defensive end,” said Keeler-Johnson. “That’s the type of defensive momentum that we need to take into Sunday’s game.”
Valley City State shot 47 percent overall (32-69), 33 percent on 3’s (7-21) and 85 percent at the free throw line (17-20). Dakota State finished the game at 39 percent overall (24-61), 41 percent on 3’s (12-29) and 72 percent on free throws (13-18).
The Vikings held a 42-30 rebounding advantage, including a 14-7 edge in offensive rebounds. The Vikings had 12 assists, six steals and 14 turnovers. Dakota State totaled 15 assists, five steals and 15 turnovers.
Up next: Valley City State hosts No. 24-ranked Bellevue University on Sunday at 1 p.m. Dakota State travels to Mayville State for a 3 p.m. game on Saturday.