MAYVILLE, N.D. (vcsuvikings.com) – 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.
(Photos courtesy of VCSU Athletics)