The Valley City State women's basketball team fell behind early and could never really recover Saturday as the Vikings lost at No. 10 University of Jamestown, 72-60.

A slow shooting start had the Vikings behind 14-6 after the first quarter and 33-19 at halftime. The Jimmies opened up a 61-34 lead early in the fourth quarter before the Vikings put together a 14-0 run to make with 61-48 with 6:27 remaining. VCSU could get no closer than 12 points the rest of the way.

VCSU drops to 14-5 overall and 5-1 in the North Star Athletic Association. The Vikings are receiving votes in the NAIA Top 25 Poll. Jamestown – ranked No. 10 in the poll – improves to 11-4 overall and takes over sole possession of first place in the NSAA standings with a 6-0 conference record.

Lexi Lennon scored a game-high 22 points to lead the Viking offense. Georgia Williams added 11 points and Hannah Schlecht posted seven.

VCSU shot 3-for-15 in the first quarter and 9-for-30 in the first half (30 percent). The Vikings finished the game at 40 percent overall (25-63) but were just 18 percent on 3's (3-17). VCSU went 7-for-10 at the free throw line.

Jamestown shot 43 percent overall (23-54), 35 percent on 3's (9-26) and 65 percent at the line (17-26). Jamestown held a big advantage at the free throw line, attempting 26 shots compared to just 10 free throw attempts for the Vikings.

Kyra Dewald had 17 points to lead Jamestown. She was the lone Jimmie to reach double figures.

Valley City State had 11 assists and 17 turnovers. The Jimmies finished with 17 assists and 14 turnovers.

Up next: Valley City State travels to Waldorf University for a doubleheader on Friday, Jan. 13.