VALLEY CITY, ND  (Ryan Cunningham, NewsDakota.com)  The latest Viking road trip to Montana netted an impressive win for the Viking women Saturday.

Valley City State had an explosive first quarter, scoring 26 points, then shook off a tough third to rally for a 78-74 win over the Lights in Havre Saturday afternoon.  The Vikings topped a team receiving votes in the latest poll.

JayCee Richter delivered a career day in a Viking uniform, scoring 24 points, leading three Vikings in double figures.  Ellie Braaten scored 15, hitting four three-point shots, and Olivia Backus added 15 as well.

The win kept the Vikings in the running for a conference tournament berth.  They trail Bismarck State by a game for the final position, with a matchup in Bismarck set for Saturday.

Valley City State had just one bad quarter for the weekend, but it was enough to take them out of the running for a sweep Friday.  The Vikings fell behind 23-6 after a quarter at Providence Friday, and could not recover in a 77-66 loss.  Tiyana Schwinghammer scored 23 to lead the Vikings in the loss.  Richter had 14, and Braaten knocked in 10.

The Viking men had their best chance at a win Friday, but gave up 56 second-half points in a 90-89 loss.  Five Providence players scored in double figures, undoing J. R. Cison’s 23 points that lead VCSU.  Joel Nelson added 17.

Cison scored 24 additional points Saturday, but the Vikings were beaten 91-56 by MSU-Northern.  Valley City State trailed by 19 at the half, and were outshot 52% to 29.7% from the floor in the loss.