Friday
Women’s College Basketball
VALLEY CITY (VCSU) – The Valley City State women’s basketball team defeated Dakota State University in their conference home opener, 82-72.
Senior Mackenzie Huber scored a team-high 26 points on 10 for 15 shooting and pulled down seven rebounds to lead the Vikings to their conference home-opening victory.
Valley City State shot 39 percent from the field (26-67), 22 percent on 3’s (4-18), and 79 percent from the free throw line (26-33). Dakota State shot 48 percent from the field (25-52), 27 percent on 3’s (6-22), and 33 percent from the free throw line (8-25).
Valley City State scored 30 points off of 32 Trojan turnovers Friday night. As a team, the Vikings also recorded 16 assists and out-rebounded the Trojans 39-33.
Vikings led early as they forced nine turnovers in the first quarter. With 2:31 on the clock, Macey Kvilvang blocked a Trojan shot recovered by the Vikings, allowing Maara Nelson to sink a 3-pointer from the corner. The Vikings led 20-12 to close out first.
The Trojans heated up in the second quarter as a Riley Peters 3-pointer with 5:03 on the clock brought Dakota State within one at 26-25. The Vikings would score the next five straight points to extend their lead in front of the home crowd and led 35-31 at the half.
Halfway through the third quarter, the Vikings began an 11-0 run capped by a 3-pointer from Dani Schwanke to build a 13-point lead. Valley City State would lead by as much as 19 in the second half en route to their home victory over Dakota State, 82-72.
Valley City improves to to 4-8 this season and 2-0 in the North Star. Dakota State falls to 5-11 overall and 0-2 in the NSAA.
In addition to Huber’s performance, Maara Nelson added 13 points and four assists while Macey Kvilvang added 12 points, team-high five assists, and three steals for the Vikings.
Dakota State was led by Jessi Giles with 19 points Friday. Morgan Koepsell added 15 points and eight rebounds while Savannah Walsdorf scored 13 points and pulled down seven boards for the Trojans.
UP NEXT: Valley City State hosts (RV)Bellevue University on Saturday, Jan. 11, at 3 p.m.
Men…
VALLEY CITY – (VCSU) Logan Nelson poured in a career-high 32 points Friday night as the Valley City State men’s basketball rolled to an 80-62 victory over Dakota State.
Nelson made six 3-pointers in the victory and scored 19 of his points in the second half, helping propel VCSU to its first conference win of the season. The Vikings led the final 27 minutes of the game, taking the lead for good on Connor Entzi‘s basket with 7:07 remaining in the first half. VCSU closed the first half with a 19-9 run to take a 39-30 lead into the break, and then led by as many as 21 points in the second half.
Valley City State improves to 4-11 overall and 1-1 in conference play. Dakota State drops to 4-13 overall and 0-2 in the conference. The win completed a doubleheader sweep for VCSU after the Viking women won the opener on Friday, 82-72.
VCSU’s men have now won three of their last four games. The Vikings are back home Saturday against Bellevue University. The women’s game tips at 3 p.m. with the men to follow at 5 p.m.
On Friday night, Nelson went 13-for-18 from the field and 6-for-10 from 3-point range as he matched his career high with 32 points. After Entzi’s basket put the Vikings ahead 22-21 in the first half, Nelson went on to score 11 of the next 13 Viking points – including three 3-pointers – as VCSU built a 35-27 lead and controlled the game the rest of the way.
“Logan (Nelson) has battled a lot of injuries and sickness before the (holiday) break,” said VCSU coach Ryan Montgomery. “He’s finally fully healthy and what we saw tonight was Logan Nelson at his best.”
Connor Entzi added 13 points and five rebounds for VCSU as he shot 6-for-10 from the field. As a team, VCSU finished the game shooting 49 percent overall (32-65) and 37 percent from 3-point range (10-27).
“I’m very proud of the way we played tonight,” said Montgomery. “We’re capable of shooting better than that, but to still win by as much as we did and control the game the way we did, that shows we’re a good basketball team.”
The Vikings committed just eight turnovers in the game and finished with 13 assists and seven steals. The Vikings won the rebounding battle, 38-31, including a 7-4 edge on the offensive glass. Chris Thompson finished with eight points and two assists, and Hunter McCalla had seven points off the bench. Kevin Schramm posted seven points and seven rebounds, and Jalen Addison finished with a team-high five assists to go along with seven points.
Dakota State had three players score in double figures, including 15 points by forward Josh McGreal. Gare Ewefada had 14 points while Gavin Schipper posted 13 points and five rebounds off the bench. Dakota State shot 41 percent overall (24-58), 42 percent on 3’s (11-26) and went 3-for-5 on free throws.
After VCSU went ahead 56-36 about five minutes into the second half, Dakota State chipped away at the lead with its 3-point shooting. The Trojans made six 3-pointers over the next seven minutes of play, cutting VCSU’s lead to 68-59 with 7:22 remaining. The Trojans could get no closer though as VCSU put the game away with a 12-0 run – including 10 straight points by Nelson.
Up next: Valley City State hosts Bellevue on Saturday for a doubleheader at 3 and 5 p.m. Dakota State travels to play at Dickinson State on Saturday.
