The Viking women's basketball team won its third straight game Monday night, rolling to an 83-30 victory over Crown College at the W.E. Osmon Fieldhouse.
The Vikings rode a strong defensive effort to the victory, as they forced 46 turnovers and held the Storm to just eight points in the second half.
Valley City State's third straight victory moved the Vikings two games above .500 at 6-4. The Vikings face a much stiffer test Wednesday night when they travel to Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn.
After Crown College cut an early Viking lead to 20-17, VCSU closed the first half on a 16-5 run to take a 36-22 edge. Georgia Williams poured in 15 first-half points and Sierra Even scored 11 in the first half to fuel the Vikings' offense.
VCSU outscored Crown College 47-8 in the second half to run away with the victory. The Vikings recorded 28 steals, led six from Steph Pedersen.
Williams finished with 17 points on 7-for-11 shooting, and Even had 15 points on 7-for-9 shooting.
Steph Pedersen added 11 points and freshman Paige Meyer came off the bench to reach double-figures with 10 points. Starting point guard Sadiqah Jihad did not score in the game, but dished out eight assists and had four steals. Her eight assists give Jihad 329 in her career, which sets a new record at VCSU and breaks the old career assist mark of 324 held by Caitlyn Wojahn.
VCSU shot 47 percent from the field (33-71), 24 percent on 3's (5-21) and 67 percent on free throws (12-18). Crown College shot 33 percent overall (13-40), 20 percent on 3's (2-10) and were a perfect 2-for-2 at the free throw line.
Up next: Valley City State (6-4) travels to Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn., for a 7 p.m. game Wednesday night. The game will be broadcast live on KOVC 1490-AM in Valley City.
