Valley City State women's basketball head coach Vanessa Johnson earned her 100^th career win as the Vikings took a 64-55 victory over University of Minnesota Morris.
 
With Wednesday's win, VCSU improves to 4-1 on the season while handing Morris a loss in its season opener.
 
The Vikings struggled to find their rhythm in the first half, shooting just 35 percent from the field. After a free throw from Tilda Mauritzson, a breakaway layup from Ellie Braaten gave the Vikings a 7-6 lead in the first quarter. Abby Aslesen with a 3-pointer to hold a 12-10 lead after the first frame.
 
The Cougars took a 13-6 run including a 3-pointer by Maddy Grove early in the second quarter but the Vikings tied it back up at 21-21 on a Mauritzson free throw. Morris finished with an 11-8 run over the final five minutes of the half to hold a 35-30 advantage at the break.
 
Coming out of the locker room, Ashlyn Diemert hit a jumper in the paint to spark an 11-4 run for the Vikings, capped by a 3-pointer from Braaten to hold a 41-39 lead. The Vikings held on to finish the third quarter with a 49-45 lead.
 
Morris managed to close the gap to 58-53, but an Elyse Hebrink 3-pointer helped the Vikings hang onto a sizeable lead they would hang onto the rest of the way.
 
VCSU finished the game shooting 36 percent from the field (25-69), 26 percent from the 3-point line (7-27) and 44 percent on free throws (7-16). Morris shot 42 percent from the field (25-59), 22 percent on 3's (2-9) and 33 percent from the charity stripe (3-9).
 
Ellie Braaten finished with a career-high 16 points while Abby Aslesen added 12 and Madison Spacher totaled 11. Braaten added three assists and two blocks while Aslesen chipped in a pair of blocks for the Vikings.
 
The Vikings finished with 41 rebounds Wednesday, led by a career-best 11 boards by Spacher. VCSU also totaled 19 steals in the game.
 
Morris was led by 16 points from Claire Stark and 12 points by Maddy Grove. Savanna Pelzer chipped in six rebounds and four assists for the Cougars.
 
UP NEXT: VCSU travels to Dakota Wesleyan on Nov. 12 for a 7 p.m. game.