WOMEN

MADISON, S.D.  (VCSU)– Mackenzie Huber scored a career-high 29 points Saturday afternoon as she led the Valley City State women’s basketball team to a 72-61 road win at Dakota State University.

Huber finished with a monster double-double, scoring her 29 points on 12-for-18 shooting and pulling down 12 rebounds in the victory.

The Vikings trailed 17-11 after the first quarter but outscored the Trojans 61-44 over the final three quarters. VCSU rallied to tie the game at 30-30 heading into the halftime break thanks in big part to 17 first-half points from Huber.

The Vikings closed the third quarter with an 18-9 run as they took a 48-41 lead into the final period. Dakota State would get no closer than five points the rest of the way, and Valley City State put the game away by going 7-for-8 on free throws in the final minute.

Valley City State improves to 11-11 overall and 8-3 in the North Star Athletic Association. Elsewhere on Saturday, Mayville State defeated Bellevue University in a first-place matchup. Heading into the final three games of the conference season, Mayville leads the standings with a 9-2 record while VCSU and Bellevue are both 8-3. The Vikings host Mayville to end the season, meaning VCSU still controls its own destiny to at least a share of the regular season conference title.

Viking senior guard Hannah Schlecht played 38 minutes on Saturday as she turned in an all-around strong performance. Schlecht scored eight points, pulled down 10 rebounds and also dished out eight assists. Sophomore guard Gabby Martin scored 11 points, and both Alli Vandal and Dierra Diegel finished with eight points.

One night after setting the VCSU single-game record with six blocks on Friday, senior Kaitlin Connor broke the single-season blocks record with another four on Saturday. Connor now owns the VCSU block records for a career (113), single season (37) and single game (6).

Valley City State finished the game shooting 47 percent from the field (27-57), 15 percent on 3’s (2-13) and 70 percent at the line (16-23). The Vikings held a 42-32 rebounding advantage. VCSU finished with 19 assists and 15 turnovers. Dakota State had 11 assists and 14 turnovers.

VCSU held Dakota State to just 35 percent shooting (20-57). The Trojans were 5-for-22 on 3’s and 16-21 at the line. Alexis Robson led the Trojans with 16 points, and Jessi Giles had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Up next: Valley City State will close the regular season with four straight home games. The Vikings host Viterbo on Friday, Feb. 8, and then host Waldorf on Saturday.

 

Men…

MADISON, S.D. (VCSU)  – For the sixth time this season, the Valley City State men’s basketball team came up just one or two plays short in a conference game.

The Vikings dropped a Saturday road contest to Dakota State University, 74-71, which is the sixth NSAA game this season that Valley City State has lost by three points or fewer.

VCSU is now 5-17 overall and 2-9 in the NSAA. Dakota State moves to 9-18 overall and 4-7 in the conference.

The Vikings trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half, but ripped off a 12-0 run to cut the deficit to two points and entered the locker room down 35-30 at the half.

Dakota State led 67-57 entering the final three minutes before VCSU made one more push. A pair of 3-pointers by Jake Skelly and Connor Entzi highlighted an 8-2 run as VCSU cut the deficit to 69-65 with 1:23 to go. Defensive stops gave the Vikings two more possessions to make it closer over the next 45 seconds, but VCSU was unable to convert on the offensive end.

Baskets by Entzi twice cut the lead to three points in the final 15 seconds. Dakota State made two free throws after his first basket at 15 seconds remaining, and the Trojans were able to run out the final six seconds after Entzi’s last basket cut the deficit to 74-71.

Entzi finished with a game-high 21 points to lead the Viking offense. Michael Cornelious corralled 18 rebounds and scored 14 points for a big double-double. Logan Nelson added 16 points, and Skelly scored nine points and had eight rebounds.

Valley City State shot just 39 percent from the field (28-71), 18 percent on 3’s (4-22) and was 11-for-17 at the line. VCSU had a 49-39 rebounding advantage, including a 16-8 edge in offensive rebounds.

Dakota State shot 40 percent overall (27-68), 30 percent on 3’s (7-23) and 87 percent at the line (13-15). Carson Rentz came off the bench to hit four 3-pointers for Dakota State as he finished with 20 points.

Up next: Valley City State will close the regular season with five straight home games. The Vikings begin their final stretch by hosting Trinity Bible College for a non-conference game Tuesday at 7 p.m.