DICKINSON, N.D. – The Valley City State women's basketball team fell 82-61 to (RV) Rocky Mountain College Saturday at the Dickinson State Thanksgiving Classic.
The Vikings held close with the Battlin' Bears through three quarters of play, but Rocky pulled away in the final 10 minutes, outscoring VCSU 18-6, to take the double-figure win. VCSU drops to 7-4 on the season while Rocky improves to 6-2.
After trailing 14-7 early, VCSU finished the final 2:38 of the first quarter with a 7-4 run to trail 18-14 at the end of the first frame. The Vikings opened the second quarter with a 19-8 run capped by a a 3-pointer by
Madison Spacher to hold a 33-26 lead, and it's largest lead of the game, with 4:03 to go in the half. From there, RMC pulled back with a13-2 rally to hold a 39-35 advantage at halftime.
The Vikings held close early in the second half with the help of 11
Abby Aslesen points, but RMC began to pull away over the final six minutes of the third quarter. The Bears held an 11-point lead at 61-50 on a basket by Iliana Moran, but VCSU kept within single-digits to end the quarter trailing 64-55. Rocky then held VCSU to shooting just 17 percent from the field in the fourth quarter to pull away with the 82-61 win.
VCSU shot 34 percent from the field (20-59), 30 percent from 3-point range (7-23) and 74 percent on free throws (14-19). RMC shot 49 percent on field goals (30-61), 45 percent on 3's (9-20) and 68 percent on free throws (13-19).
Rocky Mountain led the rebounding effort 50-26 and totaled 19 second chance points. VCSU scored 17 points off of 17 Rocky Mountain turnovers, while RMC totaled just eight points off of nine Viking turnovers in the game.
Abby Aslesen scored 13 points while
Ellie Braaten added 12, including three 3-pointers.
JayCee Richter scored 10 points for VCSU, and
Elyse Hebrink grabbed a team-high five rebounds.
RMC's Sydney Dethman led all players with 27 points on 10-for-16 shooting and 3-for-4 on 3-pointers. Dethman and Paige Wasson each pulled down 12 rebounds for the Bears.
UP NEXT: VCSU hosts Trinity Bible College for a non-conference doubleheader Tuesday, Dec. 3. The women are slated to tip at 5 p.m. followed by the men at 7 p.m.
