The Valley City State University women's basketball team is headed to the conference championship for the fourth time in the past five seasons.
The Vikings led by as many as 20 points in the first half Saturday and never trailed in the second half as they defeated Mayville State 80-62 during the North Star Athletic Association semifinals in Valley City.
The Vikings improve to 22-8 overall and advance to the NSAA championship on Tuesday night at top seed University of Jamestown. Tip off is set for 5:30 p.m. at the Jamestown Civic Center.
On Saturday, Courtney Dixon scored 15 first-half points as the Vikings held a 42-30 lead after the first 20 minutes. The Vikings pushed their second-half lead out to 67-48 before the Comets responded with an 11-0 run to make it 67-59 with 4:42 to go. But Dixon scored six of the next seven points as the Vikings answered the Comet run with a 7-0 spurt to put the game away.
Dixon finished with a double-double of 21 points and 11 rebounds and shot 10-for-18 from the field. Georgia Williams poured in 22 points on 8-for-22 shooting, including a 4-for-14 night at the 3-point line. Tracie Boehmlehner gave the Vikings a huge boost off the bench, making two 3's in each half and finishing with 12 points on 4-for-6 3-point shooting.
Senior point guard Sadiqah Jihad shined in her final home game, dishing out seven assists, scoring six points and pulling down 13 rebounds – including six offensive rebounds. The Vikings pulled down 22 offensive rebounds and 59 total. Senior Steph Pedersen had nine rebounds and six points, and Lexi Lennon finished with eight points and four rebounds off the bench.
Andi Gayner and Liza Hoglo both posted monster double-doubles for the Comets. Gayner had 18 points and 13 rebounds in the first half, and finished with 22 points and 17 rebounds. Hoglo finished with 18 points and 17 rebounds. Joelle Ertl added nine points.
The Comets shot 27 percent overall (19-70), 7 percent on 3's (2-28) and 73 percent on free throws (22-30). The Vikings finished at 41 percent overall (32-79), including 46 percent in the first half. VCSU shot 32 percent on 3's (9-28) and 58 percent on free throws (7-12).
VCSU had 59 rebounds, 24 assists, 11 turnovers, three blocks and five steals. The Comets finished with 48 rebounds, five assists, 12 turnovers, two blocks and two steals.
Leading 14-10 with 14:39 to go in the first half, the Vikings ripped off a 12-0 run to build a 26-10 lead. They extended the lead to as many as 20 points, 36-16, after Tracie Boehmlehner knocked down a 3 with 5:47 to go. The Comets closed the half strong and cut the lead to 42-30 at the break.
VCSU's win Saturday avenges a 60-56 home loss to Mayville State back on Feb. 18. That is VCSU's only loss in the last 11 games.
Tuesday's NSAA championship game will be the fourth conference championship appearance for VCSU since the 2010-11 season, and the third time in the last five years they'll play Jamestown in the championship game.
VCSU defeated Jamestown 74-69 in the 2011 DAC Championship game in Valley City. VCSU lost to Cal State San Marcos 54-52 in the 2012 A.I.I. Championship. And the Vikings lost to Jamestown 69-52 in the 2013 A.I.I. Championship in Jamestown.
