VALLEY CITY – The Valley City State women's basketball team used a team effort to defeat Dickinson State 79-52 Saturday at home. Every Viking saw the court Saturday in the home win.
VCSU picks up its first win in conference play, improving to 9-7 overall and 1-3 in the North Star. Dickinson State drops to 5-9 on the season and 0-3 in the conference.
Dickinson State opened with a 11-3 lead early in Saturday's game, but an
Elyse Hebrink 3-pointer sparked the Vikings to finish the first quarter on a 17-3 run to hold a 20-13 lead. Dickinson held VCSU to just 12 points in the second quarter but the Vikings held onto a 32-27 advantage at halftime.
Coming out of the locker room, Valley City State held Dickinson to just 10 points in the third quarter, totaling eight steals and scoring 12 points off turnovers in the frame. Holding a 54-37 advantage going into the fourth quarter, VCSU shot a game-high 53 percent in the final quarter to expand its lead to as much as 30 points late in the game. VCSU drew seven fouls and finished 5-for-9 on free throws in the fourth quarter to help the win.
VCSU shot 43 percent from the field (29-68), 33 percent from 3-point range (8-24), and 59 percent on free throws (13-22). Dickinson State shot 42 percent on field goals (20-48), 31 percent on 3's (4-13), and 80 percent on free throws (8-10).
Dickinson held a 40-30 rebounding advantage in the game, while VCSU totaled 18 steals to DSU's eight. VCSU scored 34 points in the paint, 33 points off turnovers and 15 second chance points Saturday.
Ashlyn Diemert finished with a game-high 17 points and six steals while
JayCee Richter totaled 14 points and
Abby Aslesen added 12.
Elyse Hebrink totaled six assists and five rebounds, and
Ellie Braaten added five assists for the Vikings. Diemert and Richter each added five rebounds Saturday.
Dickinson State was led by Anhelica Shanrock who scored 14 points, and Samantha Oase who totaled 11 points, seven rebounds and two blocks.
UP NEXT: VCSU hosts No. 22 Mayville State on Friday, Jan. 10 at 5:30 p.m.
