FOREST CITY, IOWA – The Valley City State women’s basketball team sank five of six free throws in the final 30 seconds of the game to defeat Waldorf Saturday, 73-70.
Macey Kvilvang posted a big double-double for the Vikings, scoring a career-high 28 points and pulling down 12 rebounds in the win. Maara Nelson added 18 points and five rebounds Saturday.
Valley City State improves to 7-10 overall and 5-6 in the NSAA. Waldorf drops to 1-16 overall and 1-10 in the conference.
“I’m proud of this group for finding a way to get out a win on the road. It was nice to see us make plays when it counted down the stretch and have players step up in big moments.” said head coach Vanessa Johnson. “We definitely need to get better at certain parts of the game, but I’m proud of the grit we showed!”
Both teams came to battle as Waldorf held a 21-20 advantage at the end of the first quarter. Over the next 10 minutes, Valley City State took a 13-2 run to lead by double figures, but a Waldorf three-pointer just before the buzzer closed the gap to a 33-26 Viking lead at halftime.
The Vikings led by as much as 11 points on a jumper from Maara Nelson early in the third quarter but Waldorf finished the quarter on a 16-8 run to lead 50-49 going into the fourth quarter.
Trailing 53-51, Dani Schwanke hit a 3 to regain the advantage and send the Vikings on a 9-2 run to lead by seven. Waldorf’s Sandra Christian hit back-to-back 3’s to close the gap to 62-61 with just under four minutes to play. Valley City State hit six free throws and a big 3 from Emma Nielsen to maintain the lead but Waldorf’s Tina Lair-VanMeter scored a three-pointer to make it 71-70 with 5 seconds to go. Waldorf had to foul to stay alive and Allie Critchley sank a pair of free throws to put it away for VCSU.
Valley City State shot 47 percent on field goals (27-58), 33 percent on 3’s (4-12), and 63 percent from the free throw line (15-24). Waldorf shot 39 percent from the field (24-61), 48 percent on three-pointers (12-25), and 83 percent from the free throw line (10-12).
The Vikings tallied eight steals and 15 assists as a team Saturday.
Waldorf had four players in double figures, led by Tina Lair-VanMeter with 18 points.
UP NEXT: Valley City State returns home on Friday to host Bellevue University. Women will tip at 5:30 p.m. and men will play at 7:30 p.m.