BELLEVUE, NEB. – Kaylee Denker hit a running mid-range jumper from the free throw line as the horn sounded lead the Bellevue University Bruins to a 70-68 win over Valley City State in Frontier Conference women's basketball Friday night in Bellevue, Nebraska.

The Vikings are now 2-2 in the Frontier Conference and 5-3 overall. The Bruins improve to 1-3 in the conference and 5-4 overall.

The first quarter was close the entire quarter. The biggest lead of the quarter was a five-point lead by Valley City State. After a three-pointer by the Bruins Drasoni Kyles gave Bellevue a 3-2 lead 2:20 into the first quarter, the Vikings went on a 6-0 run to take that five-point lead. A layup by Tiyana Schwinghammer started the run and gave Valley City State a 4-3 lead. Abby Aslesen capped off the run 45 seconds later with a layup to make it 8-3 Valley City State. A layup by the Vikings' JayCee Richter made it 14-12 VCSU, that's when the Bruins went on a 13-2 run to take their biggest lead of the half. A three-pointer by Danielle Coyer started the run and gave the Bruins their first lead since 3-2. A basket by Kaylee Denker made it 17-14 Bruins after the first quarter.

The run continued in the early stages of the second quarter. A layup by Dru Zoucha capped the run to make it 25-16 Bruins with 5:57 to go in the first half. After a free throw by Jhanel Coleman gave Bellevue a 26-18 lead, Valley City scored the next ten points to regain the lead. Two free throws by Ellie Powell gave the Vikings the lead back at 28-26 WITH 1:34 to go in the first half. A Coyer three-pointer eleven seconds later made it 29-28 Bruins, then VCSU took the lead right back on basket inside by Richter to make it 30-29 Vikings with 22 seconds to go in the quarter. That would be the score at halftime.

The Vikings started the second half on a 6-2 run to take a five-point lead, equaling their biggest of the game. A layup by Olivia Backus gave Valley City State a 36-31 lead with 7:50 to go in the third quarter. Two minutes later, Schwinghammer made one of two free throws to make it 39-34 Valley City State. Bellevue would then go on a 13-2 run to take the lead back. A three-pointer by Emma Russell gave the Bruins a 44-41 lead, the seventh lead change of the game. A Zoucha three-pointer capped the run and made it 47-41 Bellevue with 2:16 to go in the third quarter. A free throw by Tilda Mauritzson and a bucket by Madison Spacher would cut the lead to 47-44 with 1:38 to go in the third quarter. But the Bruins ended the third on a 6-0 run to take a nine-point lead, 53-44, heading into the fourth quarter.

The lead would grow to eleven, the biggest of the game for either team, when Joy Beran scored off a loose ball to make it 55-44 Bruins with 9:33 to go in the fourth quarter. Valley City State then went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead down to four. Two free throws by Mauritzson made it 55-51 Bellevue with 6:30 to go in the fourth. An 8-2 run by the Bruins would get the lead back to ten points. A three-pointer by Zoucha made it 63-53 with 5:35 to go in the fourth. The Vikings would roar back with an 13-3 run to tie the game with under a minute to go. Aubrey Prunty finished the fast break with a layup to make it 66-64 with 50 seconds to go. Then after a Bruin turnover, Richter scored inside to tie the game at 66-66 with 30.1 seconds to go. The Bruins scored on their next possession to retake the lead at 68-66. A nice bounce pass by Abby Aslesen fed Richter for the easy two underneath to tie the game up at 68-68 with 6.3 seconds left in the fourth. After a timeout by the Bruins to set the offense, Denker would hit a jumper from the free throw line at the buzzer to give the Bruins the win 70-68.

Abby Aslesen led the Vikings with 18 points and six rebounds. JayCee Richter scored 14 points, and Ellie Braaten had eleven points and five assists. The big difference in the game was that the Vikings made just one of 23 from three-point range.

UP NEXT: The Vikings head to Madison, South Dakota to take on #4 Dakota State on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 5:00 p.m.