DICKINSON, N.D. – The Valley City State women's basketball team made a late comeback against Dickinson State Friday night, but the Viking run fell short as Dickinson's Tinley Pierson sank a fadeaway bucket in the paint as time expired to take the 65-63 win.
 
The Vikings went 12-for-14 on free throws in the fourth quarter to help the late surge, and Ashlyn Diemert posted a season-high 24 points Friday night including a perfect 4-for-4 performance from the free throw line. VCSU drops to 9-9 overall and 1-5 in conference play. Dickinson improves to 7-10 on the season and 2-4 in the North Star.
 
The Blue Hawks opened the game with a narrow lead that grew up to 33-24 at halftime. Dickinson led by as much as 13 points early in the third quarter on a basket by Kayden Steele, but VCSU found its momentum late in the third quarter. Trailing 40-32, VCSU found a 13-8 run capped by a layup from Elyse Hebrink to trail 48-45 with 1:35 left in the third quarter.
 
Diemert opened fourth-quarter scoring to bring the Vikings to trail 51-49. VCSU drew enough fouls early in the final quarter to shoot in the bonus with 5:30 to go. Ellie Powell sank a pair of free throws to keep VCSU within one possession, and Ellie Braaten made two free throws to tie the game at 55-55 with 3:49 remaining. VCSU then took its first late lead 57-55 on free throws by JayCee Richter with 3:20 to play.
 
VCSU only led by as much as three points on a Braaten free throw, but the game remained close down the stretch with the teams holding a tie at 61-61 with a minute remaining. Tied at 63-63, VCSU used its full possession to wind down the clock. The Vikings looked to draw a foul under the basket with three shot attempts by Richter and Braaten, but Dickinson's Pierson finally grabbed a defensive rebound and called a timeout before the clock expired.
 
With 1.8 seconds to go, Katherine Fox found Pierson under the basket on the in-bound who hit a fadeaway bucket in the paint for the buzzer-beater win.
 
VCSU shot 32 percent from the field (22-69), 16 percent from 3-point range (3-19) and 80 percent on free throws (16-20) Friday. Dickinson State shot 44 percent overall (24-55), 23 percent from beyond the arc (3-13) and 82 percent from the free throw line (14-17).
 
VCSU held a 44-40 rebounding advantage, including 15 on the offensive glass. VCSU totaled 10 assists and 14 turnovers while Dickinson posted 13 assists and 15 turnovers in the game.
 
Three Vikings finished in double figure scoring Friday including Diemert (24), Richter (16) and Abby Aslesen (10). Richter grabbed a team-high nine rebounds while Diemert and Aslesen each pulled down six. Hebrink dished a team-best five assists and Braaten tallied four steals for the Vikings.
 
Dickinson State was led by Steele who scored 24 points and pulled down eight rebounds Friday. Samantha Oase added 14 points, six assists and three blocks, and Fox scored 13 points for the Blue Hawks.
 
UP NEXT: VCSU travels to No. 24 Jamestown for a conference doubleheader on Saturday afternoon. The women tip at 3 p.m. followed by the men at 5 p.m.