ABERDEEN, S.D. – The Valley City State women's basketball team put together an explosive 53-point second half Friday night, defeating Presentation College by a final score of 75-57.
Ashlyn Diemert scored 19 second-half points and totaled a career-best 22 points in the game. She was 6-for-9 from the field, 3-for-3 from beyond the arc and 7-for-7 on free throws to round out a new career high. She added four rebounds, two steals and an assist in the game.
"We showed some fight in the second half that we haven't shown early in games and I'm hoping we can find some more consistency with that," said head coach Vanessa Johnson. "Overall, I'm very proud of us for finding ways to win down the stretch."
The Vikings improve to 11-8 overall and 4-2 in NSAA play while Presentation drops to 1-16 on the season and 0-6 in the conference.
Nek Newell scored 15 points in the first half to help Presentation to a 27-22 lead at halftime, but the Vikings came back with an explosive second half while shooting 60 percent from the field. Out of the locker room, VCSU took a 15-3 run including 10 straight points from Diemert to hold a 37-30 advantage.
VCSU's fourth quarter opened all Taryn Dieterle as she scored 12 points over the first five minutes en route to the double-figure win.
Dieterle finished the game with 19 points and five rebounds while Adriana Torres chipped in 11 points and Katie Johnson scored 10.
VCSU shot 77 percent in the fourth quarter (10-13) and 49 percent in the game (26-53). The Vikings also shot 35 percent from 3-point range (7-20) and 67 percent on free throws (16-24). Presentation shot 33 percent from the field (19-58), 10 percent on 3's (1-10) and 75 percent from the line (18-24).
Presentation led the rebounding effort 36-31 and scored 16 second chance points. Each team tallied 10 steals and 13 points off turnovers.
The Saints had three players score in double figures, led by Nek Newell with 21 points, eight rebounds and four steals.
UP NEXT: VCSU travels to Mayville State on Saturday for a conference doubleheader. The women will tip at 3 p.m. followed by the men at 5 p.m.
