VALLEY CITY – Adriana Torres led a 12-4 fourth quarter run that fell just short in the Valley City State women's basketball team's NSAA Quarterfinal Wednesday night, ending with a 61-52 loss to Bellevue University.
Torres scored eight points in the comeback effort – including a pair of 3-point plays – to trail by just four points late in the game, but time ran out as five Bellevue free throws helped put it away for the Bruins.
Bellevue was the No. 6 seed heading into the conference tournament but was just a game back of the No. 3 seed VCSU. Bellevue advances to the NSAA Final Four and will face No. 2 seed Mayville State in the semifinals on Saturday at 3 p.m.
Valley City State ends its season with a 10-15 overall record and went 7-7 in conference play. Bellevue improves to a 14-16 record overall heading into the NSAA's Final Four.
Bellevue used an 11-point run in the first quarter to jump out to an early 18-5 lead. Despite a pair of Emma Nielsen 3-pointers to open the second quarter, Bellevue held on to a 35-25 lead at the break.
The Vikings closed the gap to just four points in the fourth quarter but eight of Bellevue's 10 fourth quarter points came at the free throw line.
Torres scored a team-high 12 points and grabbed five rebounds Wednesday. Nielsen added 11 points and three 3's, while Allie Critchley and Taryn Dieterle each chipped in seven points. Dieterle grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds for the Vikings while Ashlyn Diemert dished out a game-high five assists and added two steals.
The Vikings shot 34 percent on field goals (18-53), 23 percent from 3-point range (6-26) and 63 percent on free throws (10-16). Bellevue shot 37 percent from the field (20-54), 33 percent on 3's (7-21) and 52 percent from the charity stripe (14-27).
The Bruins held a narrow 40-38 rebounding advantage Wednesday. The Vikings finished with 12 assists and 15 turnovers while Bellevue totaled 11 assists and just nine turnovers in the game.
Faith Ross led the Bruins with three 3-pointers and 13 points, and Elexis Martinez added 12 points and a pair of blocked shots. Asha Scott scored eight of Bellevue's 21 bench points and grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds including five on the offensive glass.
