– Vikings Swept by Mayville State, Sat

Saturday

VCSU Bball..

MAYVILLE (VCSU) – The Valley City State women’s basketball team narrowly fell in a hard-fought conference battle to to No. 16 Mayville State University, 72-70.

Dani Schwanke led the Vikings with a career-high 22 points, team-high eight rebounds, and five assists Saturday, but wasn’t quite enough over the nationally-ranked Comets.

Valley City State falls to 9-11 overall and 6-3 in the North Star Athletic Association. Mayville State improves to 19-2 overall and 8-0 in the NSAA.

Valley City State held a tie with Mayville State halfway through the first quarter at 9-9 when the Comets began to pull away with a 20-12 lead at the end of the first.

The break between quarters allowed the Vikings to refocus as they came out strong defensively in the second quarter allowing only 10 Comet points in the next 10 minutes. A bucket from Emily Schafer with 4:34 on the clock gave the Vikings a 7-2 run to get within three points of the Comets at 21-18.

In the last two minutes of the quarter, Valley City State drew key fouls and sank four straight free throws from Taryn Dieterle and Adriana Torres to keep the Vikings within four points and trailed 30-24 at the half.

The Comets narrowly outscored the Vikings in the third quarter 19-17 to maintain a 49-41 advantage at the conclusion of the quarter.

The Vikings exploded in the fourth quarter, scoring 29 points over the final 10 minutes in their hunt for a comeback. The Vikings rallied on another 7-2 run capped by a second-chance basket from Torres to put the Vikings within three points at 51-48 with 7:55 to go.

The Vikings would close the gap to just two points on a pair of free throws from Schwanke with 2:31 left but Mayville State free throws allowed them to hold on to the lead the rest of the way. Another Torres second-chance basket at the buzzer wasn’t enough as the Vikings fell to the Comets, 72-70.

Valley City State shot 34 percent from the field (26-76), 32 percent on 3’s (6-19), and 71 percent from the free throw line (12-17). Mayville State shot 36 percent from the field (25-70), 31 percent on 3’s (9-29), and 87 percent from the free throw line (13-15).

In addition to Schwanke’s performance, Emily Schafer added 11 points for the Vikings while Adriana Torres added 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench. Macey Kvilvang tallied four blocks for the Vikings Saturday.

Kylee Heurung of Mayville State led all scorers with 23 points for the Comets. Jordan Zrust added 13 points and team-high eight rebounds Saturday.

UP NEXT: Valley City State returns home next weekend as they host Viterbo University on Friday, Feb. 7, for a conference doubleheader. The women tip at 5:30 p.m. and the men tip at 7:30 p.m.

MAYVILLE, N.D. (VCSU) – The Valley City State men’s basketball team fell behind early and was never able to completely recover Saturday as the Vikings dropped a conference game at No. 24-ranked Mayville State University.

The Comets jumped out to an early 16-2 lead on their home floor and led from start to finish in an 88-76 victory. Valley City State battled back to within four points on three different occasions in the second half, but the Vikings were unable to overcome the Comets and complete the comeback.

Valley City State drops to 8-15 overall this season and 4-5 in the North Star Athletic Association. The Comets improve to 17-3 overall and 7-1 in conference play.

Coming off a double-overtime victory at Presentation College on Friday night, the Vikings started slow on Saturday. Mayville State scored the first six points of the game and opened up a 16-2 lead just 4:12 into the game. Trailing 31-17, the Vikings put together a 10-0 run of their own to cut the deficit to 31-27 with 6:57 left before halftime.

Mayville State extended the lead back to 54-42 at the halftime break. The Vikings cut their second-half deficit to 63-59, 69-65 and 73-69, but could get no closer down the stretch.

Viking junior Kevin Schramm scored a career-high 30 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to lead the Vikings on Saturday. Logan Nelson scored 16 points and dished out a team-high four assists. Chris Thompson added 10 points, and Jalen Addison made three 3-pointers for nine points off the bench.

Valley City State shot 46 percent overall (31-67), 47 percent on 3-pointers (9-19) and went 5-for-7 on free throws. Mayville State shot 49 percent from the field (32-65), 46 percent on 3’s (10-22) and 70 percent at the free throw line (14-20).

The Comets held a 46-27 rebounding advantage, including a 13-4 edge in offensive rebounds. Both teams totaled 16 assists. The Vikings committed just 10 turnovers and forced 13 by the Comets.

All five Mayville starters scored in double figures, led by five 3’s and 23 points from Latrelle Franklin. Jalen Valverde finished with 18 points and six assists, and Max Cooper had a double-double of 10 points and 18 rebounds.

With five conference games remaining, the Vikings are now tied with Viterbo University for fifth place in the NSAA standings. They are just one game back of Waldorf and Dickinson State, who are tied for third place at 5-4. The top four teams host an opening round playoff game. Mayville State and Bellevue University lead the conference standings at 7-1.

Up next: Valley City State returns home for a big weekend with games against Viterbo University on Friday and Waldorf University on Saturday.