DILLON, MONT. – Montana Western outscored Valley City State 21-9 in the third quarter on the way to a 73-57 win over the Vikings in Frontier Conference women's basketball Saturday night in Dillon, Montana.

The Vikings fall to 5-5 overall and 2-4 in the Frontier. The Bulldogs are 5-5 overall and 3-3 in the conference.

In the first quarter, the Vikings held the Bulldogs scoreless for the last four minutes the the quarter and went on a 9-0 run to take a five-point lead. The Vikings took the lead on two free throws from JayCee Richter with 2:02 to go in the quarter and the VCSU up 11-10. Ellie Braaten made one of two free throws and made a three-pointer in the final 1:11 to give the Vikings a 15-10 lead after the first ten minutes.

In the second quarter, Valley City State extended then lead to eight points. Montana Western started the quarter on a 5-0 run to tie the game. A layup by Mila Hawk made it 15-15 with 8:18 to go in the second quarter. The Vikings would then go on an 11-3 run to take their biggest lead of the half. A jumper by Richter started the run, then a layup by Tilda Mauritzson gave the Vikings a 26-18 lead with 5:08 to go in the first half. The Bulldogs would close the gap with a 10-4 run to get back to within two points. A three-pointer by Ava Bellach made the score 30-28 at halftime.

The Vikings got the lead back up to five early in the third quarter. A three-pointer by Aubrey Prunty and a basket by Abby Aselesen sandwiched around a Tayva Philips layup made it 35-30 VCSU. The Bulldogs would go on a 19-4 run to take a ten-point lead into the fourth quarter. A three-pointer by Bailee Sayler made it 38-36 Bulldogs. That was their first lead since they led 10-9 with 3:47to go in the first quarter.  A layup by Isabella Lund gave Montana Western its biggest lead of the game at seven points, 46-39. A three-pointer by Bellach with nine seconds to go in the quarter made it 49-39 Bulldogs heading into fourth quarter.

The Bulldogs pulled away in the fourth quarter with a 14-7 run to take a 17-point lead midway through the fourth quarter. A layup by Phillips made it 63-46 with 4:55 to go in the fourth quarter. The lead would stay between twelve and 16 points the rest of the way as the Bulldogs won 73-57.

The Vikings were led by Ellie Braaten who filled up the stat sheet. She had 15 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, and three steals. JayCee Richter was also in double figures with ten points. She added a team high nine rebounds. Cassidy Shute and Tilda Mauritzson each had six points. Abby Aslesen and Madison Spacher had five points each.

UP NEXT: The Vikings continue the Montana trip on Sunday, December 14^th in Butte as they take on #25 Montana Tech. Tipoff is at 4:00 p.m. Central Time.