LA CROSSE, WIS. – The Valley City State women's basketball team pulled away in the final minutes Saturday afternoon as the Vikings earned a much-needed road victory at Viterbo University, 69-61.

Coming off a loss Friday night at Waldorf, the Vikings bounced back with the conference win Saturday in Wisconsin. VCSU is now 5-9 overall and 2-1 in the North Star Athletic Association. Viterbo University drops to 7-9 overall and 0-3 in the NSAA.

The Vikings led 49-48 after three quarters against the V-Hawks and were clinging to a 60-58 lead with four minutes remaining. VCSU closed strong though, ending the game with a 9-3 run to pull away. Mackenzie Huber scored inside to make it 62-58, and then Emily Schafer nailed the dagger – a 3-pointer with 2:09 remaining that put the Vikings ahead 65-58. VCSU made enough free throws in the final minute to ice the victory.

Saturday's game featured 10 ties and 13 lead changes, including eight lead changes in a back-and-forth third quarter. Dierra Diegel's two free throws with 16 seconds left in the third quarter put the Vikings ahead 49-48, and VCSU led the rest of the way.

"I am proud of our team for battling through adversity and finding a way to win against a good Viterbo team," said VCSU head coach Vanessa Keeler-Johnson. "We have areas we need to clean up and address, but overall I'm proud of this group for gutting out a win."

Huber went 7-for-9 from the field and finished with a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds to pace the Vikings. Schafer was a major spark off with bench for VCSU, making three 3-pointers and finished with 13 points and four rebounds. Alli Vandal also reached double figures with 11 points, while Kaitlin Connor had eight points and two blocks off the bench and Gabby Martin posted seven points and three assists. Annie Swenson nailed two 3-pointers and finished with six points.

Valley City State held a 42-27 rebounding advantage. The Vikings committed 24 turnovers and had 15 assists. Viterbo turned it over 15 times and had 10 assists.

The Vikings shot 47 percent overall (23-49), 31 percent on 3's (5-16), and 75 percent at the line (18-24). Viterbo finished at 39 percent overall (23-59), 29 percent on 3's (8-28) and 54 percent on free throws (7-13).

Alyssa Nilssen led the V-Hawks with 13 points and five rebounds, and Ambree Schlosser scored 12 points for the V-Hawks.

Up next: Valley City State (5-9, 2-1 NSAA) hosts Dakota State University on Friday, Jan. 11, for a women's and men's doubleheader at 5:30/7:30 p.m.