The Viking women poured it on early and often Wednesday night as they rolled to an 88-60 victory in the quarterfinals of the NSAA Women's Basketball Tournament.
Valley City State scored 31 first-quarter points and shot 68 percent in the first half as they downed No. 6 seed Presentation College in Valley City.
VCSU – which is seeded No. 3 – advances to the NSAA semifinals on Friday night and will play at No. 2 seed Dickinson State. Game time is set for 6 p.m. Mountain Time/7 p.m. Central Time. Dickinson State defeated No. 7 Viterbo by a score of 83-49 on Wednesday.
Presentation College had its season come to an end with the loss in Valley City. The Saints finish with a 6-20 overall record.
VCSU (18-9, 10-3 NSAA) built a 22-4 lead midway through the first quarter and led 31-19 after a scintillating first 10 minutes in which they went 11-for-15 from the field.
Presentation College scored the first eight points of the second quarter to cut the deficit to 31-28. Viking senior Courtney Dixon had the answer though, stopping the rally with a top of the key 3 and sparking a 22-4 Viking run to end the first half. VCSU led 53-32 at halftime after going 19-for-28 from the field and 6-for-8 from 3-point range.
The Vikings led by as many as 30 points in the third quarter and outscored the Saints 35-28 in the second half to seal the victory. It is VCSU's fifth straight win.
VCSU finished the game at 58 percent shooting overall (28-48), 60 percent on 3's (9-15) and 92 percent at the free throw line (23-25).
Georgia Williams made three 3's and led the Vikings with 23 points. Lexi Lennon knocked down a pair of 3's and finished with 14 points and five assists. Dixon had a near double-double of 11 points and nine rebounds. Alli Vandal added nine points and both Sara Schwanke and Mackenzie Huber finished with seven. Eleven different Vikings scored in the game.
The Saints were led by 15 points by Klarissa Ayala, who hit three 3's in the game. Cora Lopez finished with 13 points and seven rebounds.
Presentation College shot 40 percent from the field (26-65), 35 percent on 3's (7-20) and went 1-for-1 at the free throw line.
In other quarterfinal games Wednesday, top seed University of Jamestown rolled to an 88-49 win over Waldorf College, and No. 4 seed Mayville State won 88-79 over No. 5 Dakota State. Mayville will play at Jamestown in a semifinal on Friday.
Up next: Valley City State (18-9) will play in the NSAA semifinals on Friday at Dickinson State. Game time is set for 6 p.m. Mountain Time/7 p.m. Central Time.
