January 10, 2020
Photos credit by VCSU Sports Information
VALLEY CITY, N.D. – Valley City State (N.D.) took advantage of going to the free-throw line 33 times – with 23-of-28 free-throws coming in the second-half – and held off Dakota State (S.D.) 82-72 Friday evening in the North Star Athletic Association Women's Basketball conference contest at W.E. Osmon Fieldhouse.
Dakota State, despite shooting 48.1 percent in the game, fell to 5-11 overall record and 0-2 NSAA conference record. Valley City State improved to 4-8 overall record and remained undefeated in conference play with a 2-0 record.
The Trojans continue their NSAA conference action Saturday afternoon, visiting Dickinson State (N.D.) at Scott Gymnasium in Dickinson, N.D. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. (Central Time)/3 p.m. (Mountain Time). VCSU hosts Bellevue (Neb.) on the same day at 3 p.m.
Valley City State (N.D.) 82, Dakota State (S.D.) 72 – FINAL
- Dakota State and Valley City State went through a tie and two lead changes early in the game before the Vikings made a scoring run for the first double-digit lead of the game.
- Leading 9-7, VCSU went on a 13-1 scoring run by five different scorers (Adriana Torres, Emily Schafer, Alexis Bentz, Mackenzie Huber and Macey Kvilvang) to balloon their lead to 20-8 with two minutes left in the first period.
- Ashlyn Macdonald and Jessi Giles each nailed down a pair of free-throws as DSU cut VCSU's lead to 20-12 by the end of the first quarter.
- The Vikings kept their lead between 6- and 8-point through out the first four minutes of the second period. Giles hit a basket, followed by Riley Peters' 3-pointer helped Trojans cut VCSU's lead to 26-25 with 5:03 to go before intermission.
- Sidney Fick made a field goal (assisted by Shaylee DeBeer) as DSU knotted the game for the second time at 31-31 with less than two minutes left in the second.
- Torres and Huber hit back-to-back baskets as the Vikings extended their lead to 35-31 by halftime.
- DSU was 10-of-21 from the field (47.6 percent) compared to VCSU 15-of-40 field goals (37.5 percent) in the first-half.
- After a free-throw by DSU's Lindsey Vogl (VCSU led 40-38), the Vikings stormed with an 11-0 run to regain their double-digit lead at 51-38 with 4:21 left.
- Valley City State outscored Dakota State 23-14 in the third quarter to widen their lead to 58-45.
- The Trojans could get no closer than nine points after a field goal by Savannah Walsdorf, trailing 60-51 with 8:18 remaining.
- DSU outscored VCSU 27-24 in the final ten minutes of the game.
- Dakota State shot 48.4 percent in the second-half (15-of-31) compared to Valley City State 40.7 percent (11-of-27).
- Giles paced the Trojans with 19 points on her 6-of-10 field goals and made all five free-throw attempts. She stole the ball three times. Morgan Koepsell added 15 points (6-of-8 field goals) and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. Walsdorf tallied 13 points (5-of-8 field goals).
- Peters scored nine points off the bench for Dakota State. Walsdorf earned seven rebounds. Olivia Breske had two blocked shots. DeBeer produced two assists.
- Huber poured in 26 points (10-of-15 field goals and 6-of-7 free-throws) for the Vikings. Nelson scored 13 points and dished out four assists off the bench. Kvilvang had 12 points, five assists and three steals.
- Allie Critchley had seven points and three steals for VCSU. Torres scored nine points.
- Dakota State shot better in the game, converting 25-of-5 field goals. Valley City State was held to 38.8 percent (26-of-67 field goals). The Trojans were 6-of-22 from the 3-point arc, while the Vikings were 4-of-18 3-pointers.
- VCSU hit 26-of-33 free-throws (78.8 percent) compared to DSU 18-of-23 free-throws (78.3 percent). A total of 52 fouls combined were committed in the game.
- The Vikings outrebounded the Trojans 39-33 in the game. VCSU outscored DSU 30-15 in points off turnovers, and 14-8 in second-chance points. Dakota State outscored Valley City State 8-2 in transition points and 46-32 inside the paint.
Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director
