LA CROSSE, WIS. – Dani Schwanke hit a three-pointer with 0:21 to go in the fourth quarter to trail by just a point, but the Viking effort wasn’t enough as Viterbo defeated VCSU 74-70.

Valley City State drops to 6-10 overall and 4-6 in the NSAA. Viterbo improves to 6-6 overall and 5-5 in conference play.

Dani Schwanke‘s 18 points on 7-for-8 shooting paced the Viking offense Friday. Maara Nelson and Macey Kvilvang each added 16 points while Kvilvang also grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. Taryn Dieterle scored 11 points, good for her sixth straight game in double figures.

Valley City State trailed throughout most of the game but never allowed Viterbo to run away. The V-Hawks led by as much as 12 points with 2:09 to go in the third quarter but a 9-4 Viking run to open the fourth quarter closed the gap to just two points at 56-54. After a V-Hawk timeout, Viterbo took a 7-2 run to lead 63-56.

Trailing 69-65, Macey Kvilvang drew an offensive foul that led to a Maara Nelson layup to trail by just two points with 0:54 to go. The Vikings then had to foul to regain possession and Sophie Leinfelder sank a pair of free throws to hold a 71-67 V-Hawk lead. Dani Schwanke then hit a clutch 3 to trail by just a point with 0:21 to play. From there, Viterbo finished the game with free throws to take the win, 74-70.

Valley City State shot 57 percent on field goals (27-47), 30 percent on three-pointers (3-10), and 72 percent from the free throw line (13-18). Viterbo shot 42 percent from the field (24-57), 35 percent on 3’s (9-26), and 85 percent on free throws (17-20).

Valley City State led the rebounding effort Friday, 32-17. Viterbo scored 24 points off of 19 Viking turnovers while Valley City State only scored nine points off of eight V-Hawk turnovers.

Allie Wojtysiak led Viterbo with 10 points while Madison Lindauer, Kaitlyn Kennedy, and Sydney Koch each added nine.

photo courtesy of VCSU Athletics