The Valley City State women's basketball team used a decisive 17-2 run in the second quarter Wednesday night as the Vikings rolled to a 75-65 victory over No. 20-ranked Dickinson State University.
Tied at 19-19 after the first quarter, Sara Schwanke and Courtney Dixon quickly hit back-to-back 3's as VCSU scored the first eight points of the second quarter and 17 of the first 19 to build a commanding 36-21 lead. Dickinson State would get no closer than 10 points the rest of the way as the Vikings picked the North Star Athletic Association victory.
Valley City State improves to 14-9 overall and 7-3 in the North Star Athletic Association. Dickinson State drops to 19-6 overall and 7-2 in conference play.
Sara Schwanke scored a season-high 18 points to lead VCSU. The junior from Maddock, N.D., went 8-for-10 from the field, 2-for-3 on 3's and added four rebounds and three assists. She scored nine of her points in the second quarter as VCSU outscored Dickinson 23-8 in the period.
Courtney Dixon hit two 3's and finished with 15 points and eight rebounds. Mackenzie Huber also poured in 15 points and pulled down five rebounds for the Vikings. Georgia Williams added nine points and Nya Chakin chipped in eight.
The Vikings went 7-for-21 from 3-point range, including a 5-for-11 first half that helped VCSU to a 42-27 halftime lead. Overall, VCSU shot 52 percent in the first half and 48 percent overall (31-65). The Vikings recorded assists on 21 of their 31 made field goals, including five assists each by Lexi Lennon and Georgia Williams.
Janniqua Thomas led the Blue Hawks with 16 points off the bench. Megan Klein finished with 13 points and seven rebounds, which was far different from her 19-point, 20-rebound performance against VCSU on Jan. 30. Lorna Shepherd added 10 points.
Dickinson State shot 42 percent overall (25-59), 33 percent from 3-point range (5-15) and 59 percent at the free throw line (10-17).
VCSU committed just six turnovers in the game, while the Blue Hawks had only nine turnovers.
Up next: Valley City State (14-9, 7-3 NSAA) plays at Dakota State on Saturday at 4 p.m. Dickinson State (19-6, 7-2 NSAA) hosts University of Jamestown on Saturday at 5 p.m.
