Valley City – The Valley City State women’s basketball team defeated Dickinson State 65-58 after a back-and-forth contest at home. Neither team held more than a nine-point advantage Wednesday but the Vikings finished strong, building a 61-55 lead halfway through the fourth quarter. The Vikings sealed the win with free throws down the stretch to ice the win.
 
VCSU improves to 10-11 overall and 4-3 in the conference. Dickinson drops to 6-15 on the season and 1-6 in the North Star.
 
The Vikings built an early 15-9 lead on a 3-pointer from Ashlyn Diemert but the Blue Hawks managed to keep it close, trailing 21-18 after the first quarter. VCSU held Dickinson scoreless over the first four minutes of the second quarter to build its largest lead of the game at 27-18. From there, Dickinson finished the quarter with a 17-8 run to hold a 35-35 tie at halftime.
 
Dickinson built a 47-43 lead on a pair of layups from Whitney Edwards, but Madison Wilhelmi gave the Vikings a lead for good with a 3-pointer from Elyse Hebrink. Dickinson’s Katherine Fox had a chance to tie the game with 5:43 to go after being fouled on a made layup, but missed the free throw. Ashlyn Diemert then hit a 3-pointer followed by a Hebrink layup to lead 61-55. The Vikings would secure the win with free throws in the final minute.
 
VCSU shot 44 percent from the field (27-61), 38 percent on 3-pointers (3-8) and 67 percent from the free throw line (8-12). Dickinson shot 40 percent on field goals Wednesday (23-57), 27 percent from 3-point range (4-15) and 73 percent on free throws (8-11).
 
VCSU held a 37-34 rebounding advantage and scored 25 points off turnovers Wednesday. Diemert led three Vikings in double-figure scoring with 21 points while JayCee Richter finished with 13 and Adriana Torres added 10. Hebrink tallied a team-high nine rebounds, and Ellie Braaten posted five assists and three steals in the game.
 
Dickinson’s Samantha Oase totaled 21 points, nine rebounds, two blocks and two steals Wednesday.
 
UP NEXT: VCSU travels to Mayville State on Friday for a 5:30 p.m. tipoff. Dickinson plays at Mayville on Saturday at 3 p.m.