VALLEY CITY – The Valley City State women's basketball team took a late surge Friday night but ultimately fell short to No. 22 Mayville State, 90-73.
 
JayCee Richter finished with season-best double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds Friday night, but it wasn't enough to keep up with Mayville's Mackenzie Hughes who scored a career-high 37 points.
 
VCSU drops to 9-8 on the season and 1-4 in conference play while Mayville State improves to 13-4 overall and 3-2 in the North Star.
 
VCSU kept up with the No. 22 ranked team in the first quarter, holding a 10-7 rebounding advantage and tallying five steals in the opening frame. The Vikings gained an 11-9 lead on a bucket by Tilda Mauritzson from Elyse Hebrink, but Mayville took an 8-3 run to hold a 17-14 advantage after the first 10 minutes.
 
The Comets began to pull away in the second quarter utilizing its full court pressure to stifle the Viking offense. Mayville outscored the Vikings 24-11 in the second quarter to build a 41-25 lead going into the locker room.
 
From there, the Vikings wouldn't let the Comets pull away any further. Mayville led by as much as 22 points on a 3-pointer from Jes Mertens, but 3-pointers from JayCee Richter, Elyse Hebrink and Ellie Braaten helped keep the Vikings within reach.
 
VCSU opened the fourth quarter with a 13-6 run capped by a Diemert basket to close the gap to trail 76-62. The Vikings earned a key defensive stop on a shot clock violation to continue its momentum. Ashlyn Diemert then drew a foul for a classic 3-point play to bring the score 76-65 with 3:20 to play.
 
After Diemert and Olivia Backus fouled out late in the game, Mayville held on with free throws down the stretch for the 90-73 win.
 
VCSU shot 40 percent from the field (24-60), 20 percent from beyond the arc (5-20) and 67 percent from the charity stripe (20-30). Mayville shot 50 percent on field goals (32-64), 36 percent on 3-pointers (10-28) and 70 percent from the free throw line (16-23).
 
The Vikings held a 39-38 rebounding advantage and scored 16 bench points Friday. Mayville totaled 18 assists and 20 turnovers in the game while VCSU finished with 10 assists and 21 turnovers.
 
In addition to Richter, Abby Aslesen (13) and Diemert (10) finished scoring in double figures. Aslesen and Madison Spacher each pulled down five rebounds, and Ellie Braaten dished a team-high four assists.
 
Mayville's Jes Mertens finished with a double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds Friday, while also totaling eight assists and seven steals for the Comets. Mayville totaled 10 3-pointers, 43 paint points and 25 points off turnovers.
 
UP NEXT: VCSU continues conference play on the road next Friday at Dickinson State. The Viking women tip at 6:30 p.m. CT followed by the men at 8:30 p.m. CT.