ABERDEEN, S.D. – Dani Schwanke‘s all around play led the Valley City State women’s basketball team to victory over Presentation College Friday night, 84-56.
Schwanke’s season-high 20 points included five 3-pointers in her 32 minutes on the floor. She also pulled down nine rebounds, tallied a career-high seven steals, and dished out four assists in the Vikings’ win Friday.
Three other Vikings scored in double figures as Mackenzie Huber also scored 20 points, Maara Nelson added 12 and Adriana Torres contributed 10. Freshman Allie Critchley pulled down nine rebounds for the Vikings.
As a team, the Vikings also held a 42-28 rebounding advantage and tallied 13 steals Friday.
The Vikings improve to 9-10 on the season and 6-2 in the North Star Athletic Association. Presentation College falls to 1-18 overall this season and 0-8 in conference play.
Both NSAA teams started out strong Friday night as they traded buckets early on. A basket from Huber to open the second quarter would give the Vikings a double figure lead they would never give up en route to the road win. Valley City State held Presentation to just 10 points in the second quarter as they held a 52-30 lead at halftime.
The Vikings continued to extend their lead through the second half. A bucket from Taryn Dieterle would give the Vikings a 31-point lead – their largest lead of the game – with 4:36 to go. The Saints could not come back as the Vikings held them to just 10 points in the fourth quarter and took the 84-56 victory.
“I am proud of our defensive effort tonight.” said head coach Vanessa Johnson. “We worked hard on both ends of the floor and bought in to our team concepts. It was a great team win tonight.”
Valley City State shot 48 percent from the field (25-52), 40 percent on 3’s (8-20), and 81 percent from the free throw line (26-32). Presentation shot 33 percent from the field (21-63), 29 percent on 3’s (6-21), and 50 percent from the free throw line (8-16).
Tone’ Oglesby led the Saints with 27 points and four steals while Lynnae Mitchell added 10 points.
UP NEXT: Valley City State travels to Mayville State Saturday, Feb. 1, for a conference double header. The women tip at 3 p.m. with the men to follow at 5 p.m. Listen live on KOVC 1490 AM.